Always and Forever

Chapter 2

Mark rushed off the couch and pulled his t-shirt over his head. He grabbed his keys and ran out the front door. Conveniently, there was a bus as soon as he got to the stop which is pretty weird for this time of night (or . . . extremely early morning). He didn't have time. No, he had no time at all. The doctors had said that he had to come in and it was urgent. That was enough to send Mark head over heels; especially for Jules.

"Come on bus, hurry up," he murmured under his breath. He knew it wasn't the driver's fault. He knew he couldn't do anything about the speed of the bus. Mark was stressed out. This you can probably expect from somebody whose wife has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. He had a ounce of happiness though, because he would be able to see his wife again. Able to hold her hand.

Seconds felt like an eternity. You know what they say, 'time slows down when you're in a hurry'. Mark could easily relate to that. He was worried for his wife. And was that so strange? No, not at all. To be completely honest, he looked homeless. Wow, that was out of the blue but it was also true. He hadn't got any sleep so his face was quite grey, and his hair looked like a mop. Or a banana, you choose.

Eventually, the bus arrived at the hospital. Mark jumped out and ran like he'd never run before. The automatic doors swung open and he arrived at the receptionist's desk panting. The receptionist looked quite weirded out.

"I . . . I," he stopped for breath. "I was called in. My name's Mark. The doctors said it was an emergency. Please be quick."

"Follow me." Something was stern about the lady's voice. There was just something Mark didn't like about it and he couldn't pin it down.

The woman left her desk and urged Mark to follow her. They went down a long corridor with the words 'Maternity Wing' printed out on each door. The lady knew something was urgent as she had a rather quick pace. They went up 3 flights of stairs before finally arriving on the third floor. They began a gentle jog as they covered the final distance. Without a word, the receptionist opened a door and pointed inside.

A man wearing all blue opened the door. "Mark right? Hello. How are you? Do take a seat." He patted his hand on a seat opposite him. Strangely, he didn't wait for a reply to any of the questions he asked. This made Mark worry, police officers often make small talk before saying bad news. And quite frankly, Mark had had enough bad news for one day and he didn't think he could handle anything more. "I'll get straight to the point. While we were performing surgery, your wife became unconscious. The nurses are trying to find out the reason but it isn't looking good."

"B . . . but she's alive right??" Mark managed to stutter in a very worried voice.

"Yes, she is alive. And we are doing everything we can do to keep it that way," the nurse assured him.

"So, I can see her? I didn't come all the way over here to not be able to see her right? You could have said what you just said over the phone!" Mark was getting frustrated. He wanted to see his wife and was sick and tired of the hospital saying no.

"Of course, you can come and see her. She's in a bit of a state though. Right this way . . . " The nurse got up and left. Mark was hot on his trails, was he excited? Yes, but was he gut-wrenchingly worried and depressed at the same time? Yes!

The nurse opened a door and pointed in. There were 4 nurses all working around. They looked like smurfs which would have normally sent Mark into hysterics. Not today. When he saw Jules he opened his mouth wide in pure shock. She had one of those oxygen mask things on and tubes going up her nose. He ran over to her.

"Jules," he paused. There was no reply, "You're going to be OK honey. Just . . ." his eyes welled up. "Just hang in there for me. Hang in there for your mum and your dad." Mark sighed. "Jules I don't know if you can hear me but I love you so much." Mark turned to one of the nurses, "Is she going to be OK?"

"Hopefully. We can only hope now. We are going to run some more tests soon," one of the other nurses piped in. Not the one Mark had turned to. The one he had turned to just gave him a kind smile.

"How long can she stay like this?"

"Unfortunately, if she is still like this in roughly . . ." the nurse checked her watch, "Seventeen hours, I'm sorry but she'll be lost forever."

"NO!" he began hyperventilating like a 4-year-old who had just been told their tablet was being taken away. He took Jules' hand and placed it in his gripping it firmly. Then he whispered into her ear, "You'll be fine. You'll wake up soon I'm sure of it and I'll be sitting here next to you until you do."

*Don't forget to comment, heart and follow me. It spurs me on to write more! New chapter is out this afternoon if you're lucky!!!