Relentless

43

The world stopped in that moment.

"Cora?" Michelle's tearfilled voice filled my ears before I dropped my phone, letting it fall to the ground as I fell with it. Mia started screaming and crying as I laid on the ground.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't breathe.

I couldn't even cry.

I just laid there, lifeless as Mia started hitting my face while she screamed and cried.

I didn't know how long I was laying there before the front door swung open. "Cora? CORA!" Colby yelled and ran towards me as Mia laid on top of me, trying to get me to come back.

"Baby! Look at me! What happened?" He asked as he held both sides of my face. I couldn't respond.

I was frozen, still trying to comprehend those words.

Your dad had a heart attack.

"He's dead." I whispered feeling my heart shatter at those words.

"What?! Baby, who's dead? Come on, come back to me." He begged as I felt my chin quiver. "D...d" I started but couldn't choke the word out, and just pointed to my phone. "Cora, sweetheart you're scaring me, come on, come back to me baby." He begged as he took Mia with one arm and tried to calm her down.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

The pain filled my chest so badly that I thought I was going to have a heart attack myself. "Cora I'm calling 911 unless you tell me what happened!" Colby yelled and held my face in his. He sounded so scared.

"H-heart attack." I whispered as he looked at me with confusion. "You're having a heart attack?" He asked as I started to break down, "n-no!! No! W-we have to g-go!" I screamed as Colby flinched at my sudden outburst,

"Cora, hey. Calm down. Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on." He said calmly as Mia cried and reached for me.

"I'm going to bring her to her room will you be okay for just a second?" He asked calmly as I brought my shaking hands to my mouth. "W-we h-have to g-go. H-he's d-d-dead." I stuttered as I shook so badly. "Wait just one second, please just give me one second." he said and ran Mia to her bedroom.

I clutched my chest as I begged my body to breathe.

Was he dead?

I just talked to him a few hours ago! He was fine a few hours ago. He couldn't be dead.

I needed him.

Colby came running back down the hallway as I sobbed into my hands, "hey, it's okay I'm here, what happened? Please tell me baby I can't help you if you don't tell me." He said and pulled me into him, scratching my back gently, "m-my d-dad had a h-heart a-t-t-t." I said and trailed off, not able to finish the horrid sentence.

"Oh god, okay..okay..where's your phone?" He asked with a thick voice as he pulled away to look me in the eyes, I shakily pointed to my phone which was on the ground a couple feet away.

"Okay, it's gonna be okay baby, please keep breathing for me." He said and grabbed my phone, typing something into it. I shook my head and threw myself into his chest as he held my phone to his ear, "shhhh hey, I'm right here." He mumbled and kissed my head.

"Hey...shes right here....not really...okay....yeah....we will...are you doing okay? Okay...see you soon." He said as I cried into his chest, "he's dead." I whispered as he held me tighter, "no baby. He's alive right now. He's in surgery, we have to go though." He said as I pulled away to look at him.

"I can't do this Colby..." I whispered as he looked at me with sad eyes. "You can, he's strong like you. I'm right here with you." He said quietly and held both sides of my face. "He was okay a couple hours ago...he was okay...h-he can't be gone." I whispered and brought my hands to his forearms, holding onto them for dear life.

"He's still alive. He's not gone, he's gonna pull through but Cora we have to go. You have to be there. Come on honey, we have to get up." He whispered and stood up, reaching out to help me up.

"I can't do this. I really can't do it." I said and brought my hand to my chest, "you can do this, I'm right here with you, we are gonna get through this." He said and walked me to the bedroom. He sat me on the bed and kissed my forehead, "I'm gonna take care of everything. Just keep breathing for me okay?" He asked as I nodded slowly.

He kissed my head one more time before disappearing into the closet. I heard him talking to someone so I would assume he was on the phone.

I couldn't believe what was happening. I just needed my dad to be okay. I needed him to pull through more than ever right now. I couldn't cope with the idea that I could have had my last conversation with him.

That last hug we had at the airport could have been the last hug I would ever get. I couldn't handle that.

I couldn't just sit here though. We had to go. I had to be there when he woke up. I had to see him.

I got up and walked to Mia's room, she was thankfully asleep so I wouldn't have to smile for her. I could just pack. I zoned in on grabbing all of her things quickly.

I didn't even realize Colby had come in until he was holding my hands, "Cor." He said when up looked up at him.

"We have to go..we don't have time. We have to go. Do we even have a flight? Oh god how are we supposed to get to him if-" I rambled until he pressed his hand to my lips.

"Sam's getting our flights right now, I'm going to pay him back as soon as I have a minute. He's going to take us to the airport. I just need you to not unwravel on me okay? I need you to be okay." He said causing me to shake my head, "don't worry about me..worry about my dad." I whispered as he rubbed my cheek with his thumb.

"I am Cor, but I'm also worried about you. Please understand that." He said as I nodded.

We finished packing as Sam knocked on the door, "hey kiddo." He said as I opened the door, "Sammy." I breathed out and hugged him, "how are you holding up?" He asked as I shrugged, "been better, thanks for taking us to the airport." I mumbled as I pulled away, "it's not a problem, we should go though the flight leaves in less than an hour." He said as Colby came out with our bags and Mia in his arms.

"Here, I can take her." I said and held my arms out to him so he could hand her over. "Mama." She mumbled as she rested her head on my shoulder, "hi honey, we are going to go see papa....yeah...he can't wait to see you." I whispered as tears stung my eyes.

We got the car packed and were on our way to the airport. Colby held my hand tightly as Mia slept in my arms. I was surprised she was able to sleep because I was shaking so badly. I was scared shitless that I wouldn't get to say goodbye to him.

I was so scared he was going to die.

"Thank you Sam. I seriously owe you." I said as we got out of the car, "no way Cor, just keep me updated. Love you guys," he said as Colby grabbed our bags. "Love you too." I said then closed to door.

We made it through security with no issues and got to our gate as they were boarding. I called Michelle really quick before we boarded,

"Hey sweetie." She answered as I bit my cheek, "hi, how is he?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer. "He's...he's alive. Just get here as soon as you can okay? I'll see you when you get here." She said as I brought my shaky hand to my mouth.

"Okay....I'll see you soon.." I whispered and sniffled, trying to keep it together. "And Cora?" She asked before I could hang up. "Yes?" I whispered, "he loves you so much. Please know that. He loves you." She said which broke me.

I needed him to be okay.