Bear's Mission: The Beginning (Creed Mc Book 0.5)

Chapter 11: The Day That Wounded Us All

The day Kylie fell ill. None of us would have thought it was nothing more than a small illness; like the flu. One thing lead to another and just like that, her flu turned into something more serious. Which led us to standing over her small tombstone after her funeral. Our MC's cemetery for our families is on a piece of land a mile from the MC itself. She has a small black concreted fence that does around her grave in a square. At the small gated entrance to her grave are two gargoyles like statues. They sit on concreted pillars but the entrance. There's a weeping Angel statue off to the side near her tombstone. Flowers litter around her enclosed area. Her tombstone has her footprints, her date of birth and death date. A picture of her is engraved into it. Her name is in cursive pink lettering that says Kylie Rose Archer. If I could go back in time and tell the doctor to do more testing and what not; she wouldn't be in the grave today. I feel like it's my own fault as a mother, I should have known. The whole funeral, I kept replaying the last three weeks of Kylie's life before she was taken too soon. It kept replaying the day my daughter just collapsed and coded in her hospital room.

It started out as a small cold. The cold apparently was something she couldn't fight off. Her immune system just couldn't fight anymore. My beautiful fourteen month old daughter quickly went from a cold to the flu. Just as quick, it went to bronchial pneumonia. My daughter was under an incubator inside a tent. The only way any of us could touch her was through the holes that had gloves. Kylie couldn't understand through her fogginess why we couldn't hold her like we always done when she was sick. The night the machines sounded was the most horrific thing I have ever heard. Kylie coded and we watched helplessly as the doctors and nurses tried to revive her. What felt like forever to us wasn't in reality but for Kylie's body and her brain... It was long enough to do damage. Her flat line begin to have rhythm again. The doctor took off with her to run some tests as we waiting helplessly in the room for answers.

"Kylie has brain swelling as well as blood clot. She has to have emergency surgery now."

Those were the words we were told and we waited and waited for hours. They were to drill two small holes into her skull to relieve the pressure and while doing so. They were going to make an incision in the Dura to drain the blood clot. Hours had passed with no word. A doctor came out the doors with blood on his scrubs. The words that haunt me forever still play in my head.

"I'm sorry but Kylie didn't make it. I'm sorry for your loss. The nurse has her in room 3 for the family to say their goodbyes."

The whole MC crowded our little girl's room. There she was lifeless on her bed. I hit the floor as I sobbed for our girl. Bryant, he crawled into her bed and held onto our Angel as he cried into her wrapped up, what would have been hair. The room was filled with people hugging one another as they too cried. That's the day the Angels took our baby off into the light.

Slowly, everyone from the funeral dispersed as I stay seated at the bottom of her grave. My hand is softly moving the loosen dirt around. As the tears never end. If I could have taken her place, I would. But, I have four other children to live for even through my sorrow and depression. I fight daily to live for our children. I'll make sure the twins know their sister. They'll be reminded each day of their baby sister. They'll be reminded every day how much she loved them. The twins aren't old enough to remind her like Kaiser and McKenzie are.

Bryant's arms slip under me and scoop me up as he walks with me in his arms back to our truck. Before we pulled out the paved pathway, I fell asleep with tear stains on my cheek.