OTHERS: Five elements

CHAPTER 3.3: LIGHTNING

2 August 2021, 09:45 PM

Evelyn was smiling while looking at Ruby. And then, her body went still. 

- "Eve?"

Her eyes rolled back.

- "Eve?!"

The machines beeped erratically. Blood soaked the sheet beneath her. The nurse took our daughter from her arms to check her vital signs and clean her up. The doctor snapped into action. 

- "She's losing too much blood! We need to stop the hemorrhaging—now!"

- "The uterus isn't contracting; the blood vessels remain open. Oxytocin!"

A nurse hurried with an injection, but nothing changed. Blood was still soaking the sheets.

- "No response. Give me ergometrine!"

- "Her blood pressure is dropping!"

- "Massage the uterus! We need to get it to contract!"

I felt hands grabbing me, pulling me away.

- "Sir, we need you to step out. Your wife is experiencing postpartum hemorrhage." 

- "No! No, I can't leave her!" I shouted, fighting against the nurses.

- "Richard, we need to work—she doesn't have much time!"

My chest was heaving, panic tightening my throat. I looked at Evelyn—pale and motionless. My world was falling apart.

- "Please! Save her."

The door closed behind me. And I was left alone. Waiting. Hoping. Seconds passed like minutes, minutes like hours. The clock on the wall ticked unbearably slowly, yet everything around me spun too fast. I was trapped in a vacuum of fear. I was afraid. More than ever in my life. I closed my eyes and began to pray. 

- "God, please... Please, don't take her from me..."

I was never a particularly religious man, but at that moment, I had no one else to turn to. All I wanted was for the door to open and for someone to tell me that Evelyn is okay. That she survived. That she fought and won. My mind was screaming. I remembered every second of our life together. The day we met in college, when I first saw her in that tight dress. She laughed as she danced, her curly hair bouncing around her, and I couldn't take my eyes off her. The d

And then, the door opened. The doctor stood before me. I stood up abruptly, my legs weak like rubber, but I managed to stay upright. My heart pounded wildly in my chest, uncontrollably.

- "I'm sorry. We did everything we could..."

I didn't hear the rest of the sentence. Everything around me faded. Sounds became distant and muffled, as if I had sunk underwater. She didn't survive. The words were simple, yet they hit me like a bullet to the chest. I just stared at the doctor, trying to process what I had just heard. My brain refused to accept it. My heart couldn't bear it.

- "No, that's not... that's not true..."

- "She was strong. She fought until the very end."

I took a step back and leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. My hands were covering my face. The world closed in around me, shrinking into a black point of pain. And then, I heard a soft cry. I lifted my head and saw a nurse approaching with a small bundle in her arms. Ruby. My daughter. 

- "Mr. Johnson..." she said softly. "Would you like to hold her?"

I trembled and looked at the tiny creature my wife had brought into this world. Our child. Her final wish. Slowly, I extended my arms. The nurse gently placed the baby in my embrace. Ruby was so small. So fragile. Her tiny hands were clenched into fists, and her dark eyes blinked as she searched for warmth and safety. I pressed her against my chest. And then, the tears finally came. The tears that had been trapped inside me, building up until I could no longer bear it. I cried, quietly and broken, as I rocked my daughter in my arms. Evelyn didn't survive. But a part of her was here. In my arms. In Ruby.

In that moment, I swore I would love her enough and I would give her the life Evelyn would have wanted. But the pain didn't fade. The pain would never fade. I knew I had to be strong. For Evelyn. For Ruby. Night had fallen, and I stood by the hospital window, holding my daughter. The outside world carried on, but mine would never be the same again.