Sleeping Ivory

Chapter one

The rain fell heavily, relieving its heartache from the gloomy day. The sounds were comforting and calming as the gray clouds. Ruth watched the rain as it fell on the room window earning the pitter-patter sounds resounding through the room. As she watched the rainfall on a gloomy day, a lone tear escaped. Another followed, followed by another until Ruth started sobbing softly.

It was like the clouds were crying with her. She clutched her chest as it ached painfully. The pains had been that way since that day. The pains of a mother in sorrow could not be fully understood. She squeezed her daughter's dainty hand tightly. The pain increased in ten folds as she remembered the incident that led to her daughter's current condition.

"Mrs. Karshall?" The doctor called as he came out of the operating room. His eyes scanned the waiting room as he adjusted his coat stained with the blood of the patient that had been brought in.

"Yes, doctor?" A woman replied. The doctor's eyes roamed around the room till they landed on a petite woman. The woman's eyes held fear and trepidation as she and a man who looked like he was in his early forties whom the doctor supposed was her husband rushed to him. In contrast to his wife, the man's expression held calm but the doctor knew that he was as scared as his wife.

"Please follow me to my office. We need to discuss a few things concerning the patient, Miss Ivory." The doctor said and turned to walk to his office, leaving the worried couple to follow him.

"Please sit," he said as he closed the door and went over to sit down. "How is she?" Mrs. Karshall asked the moment the doctor was sitting. Worry and fear for her daughter's life prevented her from being calm.

"She's alright" the doctor replied immediately, much to the relief of the distressed couple.

"The injuries she obtained from the car accident were fortunately minor and so we were able to perform the operation without any stress" he stated as he watched a look of relief pass over their faces.

"But," he added and the Karshalls took a deep breath waiting for the next statement. "Your daughter is in a coma".

"Wha-what?" Mr. Karshall exclaimed, not able to keep his calm facade any longer. Even he was afraid for his only daughter's life.

"When she was hit by the car, she suffered from shock, plus the traumatic severe head injury she obtained, it resulted in the coma she is in as at now," the doctor said wearing a sympathetic look on his face.

"Oh my gosh!" Mrs. Karshall exclaimed and fainted. Nurses were called to quickly attend to her and soon she was awake. "Do-do you know when she would..." Mr. Karshall asked. He couldn't bear to even talk about the state his daughter was in.

"Wake up? I'm not sure. It could be weeks, months, years, days if you are lucky".

"Oh god!" Mr. Karshall repeated with a painful groan following it.

The door opened and someone came in. Ruth didn't have to look up to know who it was as the newcomer sat beside her. Caleb took his wife's hands and hugged her tightly. She cried hard against his chest as he continued to hold her, giving her the warmth and comfort she needed.

Today was a bad day for them. It was their daughter, Ivory Karshall's birthday. It also was the day she got hit by a runaway driver. He still remembered the day as clear as day.

"Daddy!" Ivory shouted in glee as she spotted her dad across the road. It was her nineteenth birthday and her mom had planned for them to have dinner at her new restaurant. Seeing her father was much if a big surprise as she hadn't expected him to be there. He was supposed to be in Singapore, having a business meeting as usual.

"Princess" Caleb called back as he spotted his daughter. He had taken the first flight to New York. He didn't want to miss his daughter's birthday. Due to some delay and traffic, he ended up arriving late but just in time to catch her and his wife on their way back home.

The traffic light showed green and Ivory ran across the road to meet her father. In the course of her excitement, she failed to see the oncoming car that was coming right towards her. By the time she did, it was too late.

"Ivory!" Caleb shouted as he watched helplessly as the car hit his daughter.

The memory and pain were still fresh in his mind. Every passing day for the last two years since the incident, he kept blaming himself. If he had waited till when they reached home, she would not have been hit. So many ifs had run through his mind but he had suppressed them. Seeing her lying on the hospital bed with needles connecting her to the machine that helped to monitor her heartbeat, looking all fragile and pale, battling for her life, just reopened those questions.

A single tear escaped his eyes. It was all he could offer. He had to be strong; strong for Ruth and Ivory. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. She will be okay" he whispered, comforting Ruth but it sounded more like he was assuring himself.

She sniffled and looked up to meet his eyes. Her gray eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were stained with her tears. She turned to look at Ivory, her lips trembling all the way.

"Will she ever wake up, Caleb? Will she?" She asked, finally turning to look at him.

He wiped away her tears and leaned in to kiss her cheeks. "She will. She's a Karshall. A very strong Karshall. An ordinary coma won't be able to hold her down for long" he answered with a little smile.

Ruth looked away from her husband to her daughter who laid on her hospital bed looking pale and peaceful.

"I hope you are right, Caleb. Your Karshall genes better not fail," she said.

They both sat down on the sofa facing the bed, cuddled together, wrapped in each other's tears and sorrow as the gloomy clouds continued their sorrowful songs accompanying the rain.

Yay! New book and the first chapter is out. I'm super excited about this book. Please tell me what you think about this book. Creative criticism is allowed. Don't forget the drill : Vote Comment Follow and Share.

Keep on shining 🌟 🌟 🌟
Yours Crazily,
ME. XOXO