Love in a Hopeless Place

2: Tragedy

A/N: Alrighty, chapter 2! Yay! We also now have cover art that I drew. I just used a base and made it from there.

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When you opened the door, you gasped, putting your hand over your mouth. You saw your grandfather lying on a hospital bed, tubes coming out of his arms, a breathing device in his nose and machines everywhere to monitor his vital signs. He looked so peaceful as he slept, the heart rate monitor beeping at a nearly sluggish pace in the background. You silently made your way to one of the two chairs beside his bed.

"Papa?" You said, worried that the noise would harm him in his fragile state. "Papa? Papa, wake up. It's me. I'm here."

Your Papa's eyes opened slowly, and you sucked in a quick breath. He called your name softly, and you nodded and smiled weakly. He smiled back at you. "I'm so glad you came to see me. It means a lot to this old man." You smiled even wider at this. "You must be terrified to see me like this, with all these machines hooked up to me." You nodded again, not trusting your voice to speak, afraid that you would cry and make him hurt more. "Missed you," he whispered. Those words were what finally broke the dam, and you started sobbing. Your Papa reached up, put his hand on your arm and smiled, trying to comfort you. That only made you cry harder.

"I can't lose you. Not you. Not after all I've lost." You said just loud enough for him to hear.

"I know. That's why you won't lose me." Even him saying it, you knew it was a lie, without knowing the double meaning behind his words. "I'm going to die, but you'll never truly lose me until you forget me."

You took his hand and held it close to your face, your forehead resting on your knuckles. "As long as I live, I'll never forget you. I am so grateful that you and Nana raised me since Mum and Dad were killed. Thank you for keeping me sane and not giving up on me." After your little speech, you heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." The fragile man called.

"Dave?" Your Nana called, peeking her head around the hospital room door. "Dr. Abbot called. He said I should come to see you."

"I asked him to call you." You said, letting go of your Papa's hand and patting the seat beside you, inviting her to sit. She walked over and sat down next to you.

"Hey, Sidney." He said with a wide smile. That wide happy smile turned into a sad one. "To think that I'll be dying soon, huh?"

No one had anything to say to that. You felt tears fall down your face for the third time that evening. Your Nana just smiled at him sadly. "We knew the day would come eventually." She started crying softly.

"Don't cry, you two. It'll just make me feel bad about having to leave." He chuckled quietly.

His breathing was slowing down. You were getting worried. Was he falling asleep, or was he dying? The heart rate monitor spiked and then emitted a long beep. With that, you knew he was gone. He was even still smiling. So typical of him to smile. You immediately snapped out of your trance and hit the nurse station button. "We need a doctor! His heart stopped!" You shouted into the little microphone.

"Doctor Abbott to room 563 immediately, Doctor Abbott to room 563." The intercom announced calmly.

Dr. Abbot appeared as fast as it took to run from his office to the room. "What's going on?" He asked.

"H-his heart stopped!" You stammered out between sobs.

Dr. Abbot looked at the monster screen, seeing his last heartbeats. "I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do. He's gone."

"H-he can't be, though. He was alive just a few seconds ago!" You sobbed, "N-no. No. H-he can't be gone."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Dr. Abbott said.