All Men Are Not The Same

Temporary Life

Maddox raised his eyes to look at the tall man who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
He immediately recognised his mum's cousin, uncle David although he had not seen him for years.

"David! What a pleasant surprise!" Miranda exclaimed in an overjoyed tone, contrasted by the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Miranda, just look at you. What have you done to yourself?" David nearly cried as he placed a hand over Miranda's  left shoulder.

Miranda looked down, trying to prevent the tears from falling off her eyes.

"Where is your husband? Hasn't he come to see you?" David asked with a mixture of concern and anger. "He has not, right?"

"He... he does come at times. When he is not busy with his work," Miranda stammered, trying to defend her husband.

"At times? What do you mean Miranda? How long will you defend him?" David blurted out annoyingly.

"I'm not defending him, David. I'm not," Miranda whispered in a voice holding some unexplainable emotions.

"Then, why did he lie to me?" David muttered.

"Lie?" Miranda asked, startled. "What do  you mean?"

"Miranda, yesterday night I called Evan. I asked him about you. He pretended that it is only yesterday that he got the reports and that he came to know it is Leu..leukemia," David stopped as he saw the growing pain in his cousin's eyes.

"And?" Miranda asked.

"And... nothing more. It's just that when I was coming here today to see you, I did not know that your chemotherapy treatment has already started. And seeing that you have already lost nearly all of your hair, I could figure out that you have been undergoing such treatment since some weeks at least. To be honest, I did not even recognise you Miranda. I... I saw your son and then I saw it's you. Maybe...I would not have recognised you otherwise," David paused and wondered if he should be saying all this to his cousin who was fighting between life and death. But some unfathomable force kept pushing words out of his mouth.

"Miranda, how come your husband did not even know that you are suffering from blood cancer until yesterday?" David blurted out. "How come? Did he lie to me? Or he did not even come to see you and that's the reason for his ignorance of your illness so far?"

Miranda shook her head in desperation as she buried her face in her palms. She did not have enough courage to answer all these questions, and especially, not in front of her son.

Maddox was lost amidst the conversation between his mum and his uncle. He was only trying to understand the depth of his father's hatred. He broke out of his thoughts when he saw his mother crying while holding her head which seemed to be a burden to her. The little boy went to sit beside her, caressing her back.

"Mum, you know I can't see you cry."

Miranda took some deep breaths before she could muster some courage to hold herself. She placed a comforting hand on Maddox's legs and raised her head to look at her cousin.

"David, yes... Evan did not come to see me, but maybe... not because he does not want to, maybe because he does not have enough time. Maybe... maybe he is having to work very hard. You know, the chemotherapy is not really working on me. The doctor said, I will have to undergo a bone marrow transplantation. And... and this will cost a huge amount of money. Maybe... Maybe Evan is just working really hard to gather money for my operation. Maybe he wants to save me. Maybe... just maybe."

"I really hope and pray that your assumptions turn out to be the truth, Miranda," David said, his voice holding intense pain, "I really do."

At that particular moment, Miranda suddenly started coughing. Maddox quickly reached out for the glass of water which was on a small table near Miranda's bed. As Miranda tried to sip a little of it, she choked and began coughing more severely.

"Mum, are you ok?" the little boy wailed.

Miranda's face turned red as thick tears flowed down her cheeks. Even if both her son and her cousin were patting her back to help her breathe, it was in vain.

"Uncle, please, please do something. Please call the doctor!" Maddox yelled.

David rushed to call the doctor who reached within less than a minute. The latter ordered Maddox and David, as well as other visitors to go out of the room.

With a heavy heart, uncle and nephew left the cancer ward and went to the corridor. They leaned against the wall, waiting.

After a few minutes which seemed like an eternity, the visitors were allowed to enter the room again. David went to meet the doctor while Maddox went to see Miranda who was lying idle on her bed, a breathing aid covering her mouth and nose.

"Mum, why is all this happening to us? Why is our life getting harder?" Maddox asked naively.

Miranda lifted the breathing equipment off her mouth trying to answer her beloved son.

"Baby, you know, the worst thing about life is that it wasn't meant to be easy. And the best thing perhaps is that life itself is temporary. It all ends someday. The day you breathe your last." Miranda replied in a sore voice caused by her incessant coughing.

"Mum, put it back! Don't force yourself to speak!" Maddox said in an agitated voice.

At this moment, an officer came and urged everyone to go out saying that the time allowed for visitors was over. Maddox leaned over his mother's bed and kissed her forehead. Miranda closed her eyes, letting out some tears.

"I will come and see you again, mum," Maddox said, holding his mother's hands in his. Miranda held his hands tight for a few seconds before loosening her grip, but she did not say any word.

As Maddox let go of Miranda's hands, he felt like his whole world was slipping away. He had a strange feeling as he saw the grieved look on Miranda's face. He turned away, fearing that he would break down in front of his mother, and walked to the exit door. Standing at the door, he turned back to look at her once more. He then left the room in tears, not knowing that it was the last time he ever saw his mother alive.