Always and Forever

Chapter 3

Love. It's a strange thing really. They say kissing somebody is like eating chocolate: sweet and addictive. What they don't say is that it's bad for you. Because chocolate is, and often kissing somebody can also be like that. But what if somebody made a bar of chocolate that was even nicer than all chocolate ever made before? And it gets even better, the extra nice chocolate wouldn't even be bad for you. In fact, the chocolate was as good for you as vegetables. You would instantly fall in love with it, wouldn't you? Well, Mark would. But his chocolate was Jules.

You can see why Mark was upset. It was as if the government had come in and banned the chocolate. Or the government had said you have seventeen hours to eat your chocolate before it all disappeared . . . forever. How would you feel about that? Would you be sad then? But what if the chocolate meant so much more to you? So much more that you don't actually want to have a life where the chocolate doesn't exist?

That's what Mark felt as he lay crouched down holding Jules' hand. It brought back so many memories. Memories of 7 years ago when they first got married. They were so happy together. They had not a care in the world when they ran out of the wedding venue's door and into the cab awaiting them. Ready to live life to the fullest. Little did Jules know she only had 7 years to do that. And secretly Mark thought to himself that he wished they had done more together while they could. He had always said that he wanted them to go on a world tour together sometime.

Jules would always laugh it off. She had a very important job as a designer and it would be nearly impossible to get the time off of work. 'Maybe when we retire' she used to say. 'If we have enough in the pension pot'.  She didn't take it seriously but she had no doubt that it would be one of the best times in her life if they ever did do it. But it was too late now, who knew how long she had left? Who knew if they could ever exchange a word again? Now Mark was starting to get angry. 'Why couldn't I see her when she was conscious and about to go into surgery?' he thought to himself. 

"We've called her parents and her sister to come in." Mark suddenly snapped back to reality. He was pretty sure they were talking to him. He didn't reply. There was no need for that. "They said they would be here in an hour." Mark nodded. It seemed as if words just . . . weren't needed. It was a strange feeling really. He was starting to feel sick all of a sudden. He rushed to the sink and threw up. Another nurse came up to him and patted him on the back.

Doctors say that traumatic experiences can result in nausea, vomiting and dizziness. Yep, he had all of those he thought as he let it all out in the sink. He began heavily crying and pulled out a tissue to clean up. For a second, just imagine this had happened to you. How distraught would you feel? It would be so so hard to take in. But hey! At least Mark had made an advancement. He was now at stage 1. It had well and truly sunk in.

Stage 1 will always have a lingering effect on you for the rest of your life. Even if you complete stage three you'll still get a little sad from time to time and that's okay. It's always most heavy at the beginning. Hence the fact that he just threw up everywhere of course. He turned the tap on and rinsed everything down. It wasn't too bitty so he could clear up well.

"Do you want to go sit outside? We have a waiting room if you like." The nurse offered. "I'm Dorine by the way." For some reason, he did want to go outside. So he nodded (he still didn't want to do words yet). And she led him down to the room. He took a seat not bothering to say thanks to Dorine. He pulled out his phone as well. Unfortunately, he didn't have his airpods on him so there could be no more sad music for a getaway.

He didn't know what to do and so, for the first time in a while, he slept. He dreamt of his and Jules' wedding day all over again. How they were so madly in love with each other. How they looked deeply into each other's eyes and could understand what they were feeling. 

"Wake up, it's me." Jules' mum was there and her father was next to her. Mark awoke from his slumber and smiled. Then he frowned, remembering that this hell was not a dream and he was living in it. 

"Hi, I wish I could have seen you again on better terms but . . . here we are." Mark attempted a smile but it was poor and obviously fake. Nothing could lighten the mood, most certainly not a fake smile. 

"Mhm," the mother started to cry as whipped out her hanky, "She's going to be OK right?" He didn't reply. It wasn't necessary. He just looked downwards sort of ashamed as if this was all his fault. "You ought to come now. Doctor says they'll start operating soon and we won't be able to go in for . . . well . . . until the 16 hours is up." When she said 'the 16 hours' that made Mark worry because it meant time was passing by quickly. It had been 17 hours for him.

He stood up and made small talk as they wandered to the room. There she was on the bed. Dorine told them that they would start operating in three minutes which made Mark cry. It meant that it could be the last time he ever saw Jules again. He had to make the most of it and so he just went and held her hand, placing his head on her stomach. He savoured every second with her. When he was told he had to leave he whispered in her ear, "You'll make it through." Mark swished back her hair with his hand and planted a kiss on her forehead. Then, he left.

Chapter 4 is out at at 6:00PM GMT on the 15th July. Follow to be notified when it happens and be the first to read it!!