The Titanic: A New Life

Chapter 20

Peter, Emily, and I waited outside in the waiting room, huddled close together. I was in the middle of this small group of three.
    "Is Hazel gonna get better, momma?" Peter asked as he looked up at me, fear darkening his already jet black eyes.
    "I sure hope so," I whispered softly, my voice hoarse and solemn. I didn't know what was going to happen to my baby. I wasn't even sure if she'd survive.
    When Jillian and the doctor emerged, I instantly noted that she was on the verge of tears and the doctor looked grim.
    "I'm sorry to say your sister has pneumonia," he explained to me, refusing to meet my cold, unforgiving eyes. Unforgiving to the world for taking the people I loved. Unforgiving to the people who had made me suffer. Unforgiving to everything that ruined my life a little more. Each day, a brick was being taken down from the wall I built to prevent myself from giving up on what people called life. As I lost more and more, more bricks were torn down. And soon there would be nothing left of that wall.
    I didn't trust anyone anymore, except for myself, Jillian, and the children.
    "She needs an expensive vaccination," the man continued solemnly.
    "She's not my sister!" I shrieked, bolting up from my seat as Emily and Peter remained. "She's my daughter!"
    The doctor's eyes turned glassy as he stiffened. Even he seemed upset, and it wasn't even his child that could be lost.
    "Alright," he agreed quietly, afraid to shatter me in my vulnerable state as my vision blurred with unshed tears. I had cried too many times in my life, and I was just adding to the list. "Your daughter has pneumonia."
    We left Hazel at the hospital that day, and, when night came, I laid awake in bed, imagining how scared she surely was without her mother by her side.