Till death do us part

Chapter 45: She's ready - Present time

Cora's POV

I sighed as I waited for the coffee machine to prepare two cups of coffee. One for me, one for Rose. It had been a while since she last enjoyed a cup of coffee, she longed for one. I needed one to keep up with the fatigue I was battling.

I yawned yet again, hoping and wishing for the machine to go faster. I never realized just how slow these things go...

"Cora?"

I blinked a few times before turning around, seeing Andrea stand in line behind me. "Andrea," I paused a bit. "Hi."

She smiled a bit. It was clear she too wasn't sure what to say or how to act. After all, we hadn't seen each other since Rose's accident... "How are you doing?"

I slowly nodded. "I'm ok," I took the two cups of coffee. "Though I'll be feeling better after this."

She looked at the cups before looking back at me. "Do you need that much to wake up?"

I chuckled. "No, one is for Rose."

As soon as she heard that, her smile dropped. "Rose?" She seemed unsure then. "H-how is she doing?" She paused a bit. "I'm sorry, I haven't checked up on you two..."

"It's alright," I looked away then. "I haven't reached out either," I gulped. "I guess the situation with Rose consumed me completely," I then looked at her again. "These past couple of weeks really consumed me."

She looked apologetically at me.

"I was spending all my time here," I gulped. "I was living in a cocoon," I looked away, at nothing in particular. "Nothing else came through to me, it was just Rose and the hospital," I then finally looked back at Andrea. "I was completely cut off."

She stepped forward and placed her hand on my shoulder. "How is she doing?"

I smiled a bit. "She's doing better," A bigger smile appeared on my face. "Much much better."

Andrea smiled too. "And with that, your time here had a purpose, Cora," She said, gaining my attention. "You were needed here, you were exactly where you needed to be."

I looked down then, smiling. She always knew what to say to make me feel better. "Thank you," I looked back at her and saw she was still smiling. "I hope we can see each other more often again."

"I'd love that."

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I arrived back at Rose's room and was surprised to see Rose's fathers standing in the hallway. I walked to them. "Hey," I said, greeting them with a hug. "What a nice surprise!"

They smiled at me but I could tell they were both very unsure about being here.

"Are you here to visit Rose?" It may seem like an odd question to ask them, but I knew they had a hard time seeing Rose in here. They made it clear they didn't want to see it. Maybe they were here for me?

But, surprisingly, they both nodded.

"We want to see our little girl," Rose's dad said softly, almost as if he wasn't sure. "It's time."

Rose's father nodded in agreement. "Our princess needs us."

I smiled at them and nodded. "Of course," I then walked to the door of the room, which was closed. "Come on in," I opened the door and got in. "I'm back."

Rose's fathers looked into the room. They smiled immediately, I wondered if Hope's presence helped them...

Rose smiled at me. "Coffee!"

Hope looked at me. "I want something too!"

I chuckled at Hope before handing Rose a cup of coffee. "Enjoy."

She immediately drank it. "So good," She exclaimed before she looked up and saw her fathers. She smiled. "Fathers!"

They both smiled. I'm guessing they wanted to make sure their last visit wasn't a fluke. She really did remember them. She really did know who they were. And right here, they finally got proof.

Rose put the cup of coffee down before extending her arms. "Come here."

Her fathers walked toward her and immediately went in for the hug, also hugging Hope in the process.

I smiled at the sight. It was amazing, it was everything I wanted and more. It was perfect. Yet, I couldn't help but think about the future...

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I woke up early the next day. I guess sleeping in a chair isn't that comfortable... I blinked a few times and noticed a nurse in the room. She seemingly had just entered as she looked at us.

I looked at her. "Good morning."

She looked at me, seemingly surprised I was awake. "Good morning," She then looked at Rose. "She's still sleeping?"

I looked at Rose and nodded. "She sleeps well," I then looked at the nurse again. "She's resting well."

The nurse nodded before taking a clipboard with papers. "She's doing really well," She then walked to the machinery that was attached to Rose. "Really well." She added.

I watched her every move, I tried to understand what she was doing here and what she was trying to say. "Yes," I simply said. "She is."

The nurse wrote something down before nodding. She then looked at me. "Our team has discussed Rose's cases last night," She said, gaining all my attention immediately. "We think she's ready," She then smiled a bit. "She can go home."

When she said that, things just stopped. I should've cheered and been happy. I should've laughed and been grateful. But I wasn't. I was worried. I was scared. Was Rose really ready? Was I ready? How would it even work? At home? At work? With Hope?

The nurse seemed to catch on to my insecurities. "Shall I have a doctor come by? To talk everything through?"

I looked at her and slowly nodded. "That'd be a great help."

She nodded slowly. "I'll have the doctor come by in 30 minutes or so. Hopefully, your wife is awake by then."

I nodded again.

She smiled politely before leaving the room.

I sighed and looked at Rose. She's ready to go... Ready... Why couldn't I believe that? What if she's ready but I'm not? It's so easy here though. If something goes wrong, people are here to take care of her. I can't do that. I wouldn't know what to do...

Maybe... Maybe I'm not ready to have her go home. Maybe she needs some place safe to recover completely first. Before coming home.