Juvenal

Chapter 06

Surgery...

That was all she heard. Mabel looked as though she was in a trance. She sensed the whole world rotate faster below her feet and she felt herself stumble even though she was seated in front of Dr. Johnston. She wanted to turn to look at Edwin, but she knew that he must be listening intently to the doctor, as words which were merely sounding as though they were speaking in an alien language did not seem to make any more sense to Mabel. She did not know what to do. She did know what to think. She did not know what would become of her father. She did not know what would become of her. All she knew was that nothing was going to be okay. Nothing was going to be the same anymore.

After a long time, what felt as though two lifetimes were passed right in front of her eyes as her blotched sight had been staring at the pictures behind the doctor's chair unfocused, Mabel felt Edwin pull her up by her hand. She turned to look at him and, feeling as though she was walking in a dream, she found herself following him out of the doctor's room. She did not know for how long, but she walked behind Edwin as he pulled her, guiding her towards her father's ward room.

As her tears started to make her cheeks feel wet, Mabel pulled her nose up and stared at Edwin as he locked the door to his cubicle behind them and made her sit in front of his table. Mabel stared around her. She had thought that they were going to her father's ward room but she had been wrong. Her eyes took in her surroundings and it finally fell on Edwin as he sat in front of her.

"Mabe, are you okay?"

Edwin asked after staring for a long time at her. Mabel did not reply. Edwin sighed and snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. That seemed to pull her back into reality.

"Hey, Mabe... can you hear me?" Edwin asked.

Mabel's eyebrows raised up as everything fell into place in front of her eyes. She seemed to be as though she was woken up from a long sleep. She nodded slowly at Edwin, as his question finally seemed to make sense in her brain.

Edwin shook his head, as though he was feeling disappointed at her.

"Mabe, you have to be stronger." He said in a small voice and Mabel stared at him. She knew that Edwin was trying to help her, but she did not understand how she could be stronger when she felt as though her whole world had been shattered below her feet.

"Your dad's going to be alright, Mabe." Edwin said after some time. He seemed to be talking alone, but he did not mind it. He knew how much Mabel actually loved her father and he did not want to think about what was going through her mind at the moment. "Everything will be alright." he repeated, and Mabel nodded slowly.

"Yeah Eddie... everything has to be alright." Mabel sighed, rubbing her forehead, and wiping her eyes. She took a deep breath and left Edwin's cubicle. She wanted to be closer to her father.

"Daddy..."

Mabel whispered, taking her father's hand in hers. She was standing beside his bed, while he was about to go to the operation theater. After consulting her father's medical test reports, Dr. Johnston had said that her father needed to be taken to the surgery immediately and if it was delayed, it would be too late to save her father. Mabel had not been able to say no and had agreed when the doctor had said that her father would be operated on later in the evening. Edwin had said again and again to her that Dr. Johnston was the best neurosurgeon of the country and that there was nothing to be worried about as long as he was the one operating on her father, but Mabel had not been able to stop her worries from blinding her senses.

She was feeling tired. She did not want to be the one to take on decisions. Even though she was literally an adult at twenty one years of age, she did not feel any more different than she was when she was sixteen years old. She needed an adult in her life. A more mature person and another responsible adult who was not her. She needed her mother to be taking the decisions which she was taking at the moment. When she had called her mother to let her know that her father was to be taken into surgery in the evening, her mother had nodded and she had come in the afternoon for a few minutes to visit her husband and had left soon, saying that she was needed at the bank. Mabel had wanted to say no and that she wanted her mother to be there with her, but she had been unable to say so when she had looked at her mother looking at her as though she too was tired from everything that was going on around her. Not knowing what her mother was going through, Mabel had not wanted to judge and had nodded at her mother's decision, as she had left the ward room earlier, after making Mabel promise to update her on any progress.