Say The Word

Chapter 44- They Say Hope Is A Powerful Thing

  If you said "No, they are not going to show up." You would be right, painfully so.

Minutes melted into hours, my legs were the equivalent to jelly at that point, and El was still unmoving. Concerned nurses went back to their jobs after a few quick conversations, leaving me unbothered in front of the glass window. (Every so often scaring me with their snow white uniforms through the reflection, but that was on me.)

Even now, I was not sure why I just decided to stand there. The mere thought of me leaving her alone made me feel uncomfortable — what if she woke up, and nobody was there to be beside her? Surely, anyone would feel a little lonely, knowing that they had gone through a life threatening surgery and then waking up without anyone by their side.

"Mon ange..." My father's voice pulled me away from my hyper focused staring, as if had I kept staring she would have woken up sooner. "How long have you been here?"

I shrugged.

He kept looking at me, his face melted into something unreadable. "Have you had anything to eat?"

My finger gestured towards an empty bottle of orange juice one of the nurses bought for me.

And again, my father looked at me, the same look in his eyes, only more intense. His hands in the pockets of his long white coat, looking like they were having some trouble staying down, their movements added to the creasing of the coat.

There had always been a certain understanding between him and me, about our feelings. I could never seem to fully open up to him, nor could he; and he could never really understand my feelings, nor could I understand his. Usually, we just end up on some middle ground of sorts, or we just ignore it and move on.

"You want to have some lunch then? I have some time until two," he checked his watch, its glass still as clear and shiny as ever.

"Okay." I looked over to El, checking up on her one last time before leaving.

Her eyes were open.

Her eyes were open.

"Pa" — I physically stuck myself to the window — "I think...I think she's awake."

"Quoi? Je vais appeler son médecin*," was the only thing he said before disappearing into a right turn.

"Yeah, sure," I replied into the air, eyes fixed on El, giving her a little wave as we make eye contact.

Her eyes seemed to crease into crescents.

▪▫▪▫▪

"I didn't think you'd be here; guess I really shouldn't leave your letters out in the open, huh?" El gave me a weak laugh.

Her hands were colder than exposed metal in the winter, face pale enough to blend into the bed sheets, lips so cracked they were practically begging for water or moisture of any sort. I held her limp hand in my own. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine; those doctors just came in and gave me another dose of the pain killers, the gas wore off, the pain in my brains lessened. I should probably be fine until night, according to them, at least."

"Why isn't anyone here?"

"I'm assuming the maids and butlers are working. I know one of my older sisters is in Bali, and my brother is in Paris; they won't make it until maybe tomorrow morning. The other sister is most likely somewhere back home in the Philippines, for a family gathering of sorts, I don't really know what kind. Who knows where my father is. My mother is in Malaysia right now, so she can't make it back until...well...it's not specified. I wouldn't know either," she said, listing off her family members one by one, like she was recalling a grocery list.