Till Eternity

CHAPTER 4: SHATTERED

'MOMMY! COME QUICK ,SARAH'S CRYING!',  Zoey screamed breathlessly as she burst in her mother's bedroom, causing  her to snap out of her dream. She instantaneously stood up from her soft pillow, rubbing her half asleep bloodshot eyes, hair in a half-assed braid. Blinking her sleepy eyes, she gave Zoey a confused look,to repeat her sentence and so she did. As a reflex, her body began to tremble and her heart rate sped up, spreading a terrifying  emotion throughout her body.  Her mind was soon stuffed with all kinds of questions, waiting to be answered. 

Abruptly  entering her room, she saw Jessica massaging Sarah's head in soothing circles as she lay on her bed, eyes filled with tears. The lights in her room were dim, just a simple yellow lamp illuminated it and things were barely visible from a distance but from what Lorrie could see, she portrayed  extreme pain. She kept on rubbing her own head every second, like Jessica's calmative message wasn't enough to reduce the pain. With every rub, She winced, brows furrowed tight with pain. Seeing this, Lorrie went and sat beside her, caressing Sarah's pain-filled face, stroking her silky hair with her motherly touch and kissing her cheek with her candy lips, every time she groaned.

'what's wrong honey?' Lorrie spoke in a terrified yet hushed tone even though seeing her in such a state wasn't easy. She didn't want to make the situation more tense by letting out her fears. She had to stay strong and collected.

'MOM, my head's throbbing. It's been a week now but today it hurts the most. It's like someone's drilling right into my skull.  I can hear and feel it....' and before she could say anything else, she started to vomit blood. Her situation was intense. It felt like all the oxygen had been pumped out of her lungs and she was desperate to breath and so began to gasp. Lorrie immediately held her hand and rubbed her delicate skin, somehow finding her self extremely helpless in the situation. Jessica felt as useless as her mother because all she could do was stare at her sister's angelic face and cry. With every spill of blood, her grip tightened in her mothers hand, as if saying 'Never let go'  and her hazel eyes squinted with unbearable pain. Gradually the sudden fits of heaving decreased and after an hour, it ended. Jessica and Lorrie wrapped themselves around the pale girl. They hugged her so tight, that she felt a tender feeling of relief in her heart.

  'I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!' she whispered in her mother's ear and burst out crying. She felt like a baby, completely dependent on her mother. Sarah strongly believed that her mother should've been the last one to know about this but proved to be helpless as she had tried her best  to keep it a secret from everyone, but the cover had to be removed, one day or another. Sarah chapped her dry lips and buried her creased face  in her mother's scent,sobbing hysterically on her bony shoulder while Lorrie tried to hush her, kissing her tear soaked face again and again and again, like a mother who'd found her lost child in a mob of strangers. 

'MY LORD!'  Lorrie said in a tensed tone, looking directly at her daughter's swollen eyes and pale face that resembled that of a druggie who was facing with-drawl symptoms. 'Jess, call an ambulance!'

It had been 5 hours and no news was broken even after long hours of C.T scans and countless  X-rays. Both, Jess and Lorrie waited in the hospital room with pajamas and crocks, while Zoey stayed at the neighbors place. They sat with eyes wide open, trembling hands and anxious ears, just to hear a word of Sarah's well-being. Being sleep deprived, they had developed dark bags under their eyes and hadn't sipped even a drop of water since their arrival, let alone a stale bread. The observant nurse roaming around in the corridor soon gave a verdict to bring themselves coffee in order to stay active and healthy. Considering her experience and extensive knowledge, Lorrie gave Jess a confirmatory nod after which, she sprinted off. Just as Jess went out, the doctor came in towards Lorrie's direction. She could literally hear every thud of the doctors brown lace-up shoes against the smooth, yet slipery tiles of the hospital and every step he took, felt like hours. 

'Miss Lorrie, we apologize to have taken so long but various tests and observations had to be conducted for confirmation.' He paused for an answer. Maybe a ''no it's alright doctor'' would've been better but there was utter silence. 

Shrugging after the awkward silence and the unresponsive behavior of the depressed woman he continued,'' I'm extremely sorry to tell you that the x-rays showed numerous lumps in various parts of the brain and we believe your daughter is suffering from a  brain cancer known as Ependymoma.'   He spoke with grief in his eyes. 

He was frightened of how the unstable looking woman would react to this and so hurriedly added, 'She is not on a critical stage but it may fatal any time. This type off cancer is mostly found in teens and like other cancers, the causes are unknown. The severe headaches she had been receiving and the blood vomits she experienced some time earlier are now self explanatory...'

No. 

No.

No.

It was like her husband's disappearance wasn't enough. It was like the difficulties she had faced earlier weren't enough. God had to take this test too? Why her? Was she somehow cursed? 

The ground where she stood tore apart and so did her soul. It was shattered into a billion pieces . She stood there, unable to move a muscle and stared  at the doctor's aged face with eyes that portrayed a dead soul. A soul so wounded that it couldn't bear any more pain. She looked at the doctors lips but couldn't hear a word because the sound of her thumping heart had substituted it. She looked at the ceiling and felt like it was shrinking . Everything seemed to be moving around her. The cool room moments ago somehow felt hotter than fire, causing her moisture laden skin to excrete beads of perspiration which spilled from her forehead, down her chin until  her entire body was bathed in sweat.  Shaking her head, fists clenched,  unable to stand any longer, impotent eyes unable to focus- she collapsed. 

AN: Writing this chapter was hard  because some one I know is recently suffering from brain cancer. I do not know the type and the one mentioned in the chapter was taken from the internet only. Hopes and prayers be with him. Also, compliments and critics welcomed. :)