The ward grew quiet as patients drifted off to sleep. Pacing footsteps softened and eased. The room lights switched off one by one. But at the end of the corridor, a brightness prevailed, framing the curtain's edge.
"And Toby dug up all my roses again. That's where he buried his bone, do you remember?" Ronnie closed the door easy behind her. "That's right," Kyle's mammy answered for him, sitting on his bedside holding his hand, rubbing it with the other. "What a rascal he is."
Ronnie caught Kyle's father's eye. The click of the door waking him from his light slumber. He nodded hello, perking upright in the chair, shamed for falling asleep at a time like this. Ronnie gave a short smile, wanting him to know it was ok.
Feeling a change in the room, Kyle's mammy turned around. Her face lifted when she found Ronnie, as if the miracle maker had arrived. She was wearing the same grey cardigan as yesterday, eyes topped up with mascara. The strong stench of dry shampoo stuffed Ronnie's nose. "Oh Kyle, Doctor O'Neill is here to see you." A hand wrenched Ronnie's heart. She grew stiff, refusing to let a stupid surname take ownership in Kyle's company.
"Kyle, can you hear me love?" His mammy was standing up now, leaning over Kyle, stroking his head. Her husband at the other side, watching his son with eyes that gave away all his prayers. Kyle could barely open his. His cheeks quivering, trying to make a smile that never came. His skin wore a light-yellow tint and he had lost so much weight his face had collapsed on his features.
Ronnie gripped the foot of the bed. Kyle's arm lay limp by his side, too heavy to move, but his fingers stretched towards her as he made a sound that cost more than he had to give. Ronnie gave Kyle her hand, moving along the side of the bed. His warm skin, a delivery of hope.
*
"Time of death, three minutes past four."
When there was nothing more to do, Ronnie left Kyle's parents alone with him and walked as quick as she could through the quiet, dimmed ward to the disabled bathroom. She locked the door and pulled at the handle over and over again until she was convinced it was locked. Ronnie doubled over, suffocating her cries. She punched the floor with her fist. The pain was instantly overwritten. Her heart inundated with bigger things.
YOU ARE READING
Meant To Be
Fiksi UmumRonnie and Zac had love all figured out until life got in the way, and when their paths cross in Tennessee, survival is the only thing on their minds. Paediatrician Ronnie Gormley told her husband they would have children when they turn thirty. No...
