Raf

Chapter 2

My eyes shot open. It was 4:59 AM, the sky outside was a dark, dark blue. The sun had yet to come out, and not a sound could be heard in the Mayer house. Other than faint sobbing, coming from the kitchen. ‘Wait, what?’ I asked myself. I nearly tripped over my feet rushing downstairs to the source of the sobbing. My socks slid across the hardwood floor, and I tumbled over, landing on my rear end in a room with my crying mother. I felt like laughing at my clumsiness, but I had to hold it in for my mom.

              “What’s wrong?” I stood up and brushed myself off. I moved in closer to Mother, and let her head rest on my shoulder as her tears streamed down her face and landed on my favourite hoodie. She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t manage. “It’s okay,” I told her, although that probably wasn’t true. I had no clue what was going on, and I was fine, so what could she be upset about?

              “Sweetie. Please go back to bed, you need some rest,” she advised. I shook my head.

              “I need to know what’s wrong,” I told her. She looked up at me, and I could see in her eyes that something tragic had happened. Then, it hit me. Why wasn’t Uncle Daren comforting her? “Where’s Daren?”

              Mom didn’t say anything. Instead, she fell to her knees. She broke down and sobbed violently, gasping for air. Something was wrong with Uncle Daren.

              “Mom, get it together. I know you’re upset because of something, but I can’t understand and help you if you don’t let me. What happened to Daren? Where is he? Talk to me, Mom. Talk, dammit!” I hollered. She suddenly stopped crying, and gasped at me.

              “Kate.. Something’s happened to Uncle Daren. He’s in the hospital.”

              “What?! Why aren’t you with him?!”

              “I was waiting for you. The ambulance came, and the paramedics said he had a heart attack. I could’ve gone in the ambulance, but I wouldn’t want to leave you.” I’d heard enough then. We needed to be there for Daren like he’d always been for us.

              I grabbed the first jacket I saw and helped Mother into it. I zipped it up for her, because her vision was blurry with tears. I shook the fabric to make sure there was a set of car keys inside the pocket, and heard a jingle in response. Within two minutes, both she and I were dressed and ready to go to the hospital. I had my hand on the door when we were about to go and worried for a second. I wondered if my mom would even be able to drive, she was pretty torn apart.

              We managed to hit the road without much difficulty, thankfully. I rode shotgun and held a box of tissues in my lap. I reached over when I saw Mom’s eyes water up, and wiped her eyes for her. She’d never been like this. Not even for me.

              For once in my life, I could understand her pain to a certain extent. When you care about someone, it hurts more than anything to see them suffer. It hurts more than any physical pain you can experience, if you care enough about the person. Uncle Daren’s heart attack didn’t make me cry, but finally, I could see where Mother’s tears came from. I could see why she cried for me. She cried because people she loved were in pain and she had no way of helping. I can tell that Mom wouldn’t think twice about taking Daren’s place. I admired that about her.

              The car ride seemed to take forever to reach the hospital. There weren’t any parking spaces left near the door, so we had to walk a bit more than I would’ve liked to in the cold, crisp, autumn’s day. Leaves of various shades of red, yellow, brown and orange crunched under my feet. I held Mother’s cold hand as we walked through the steel double-doors of the hospital.

              The air smelled of disinfectant fluid and broken dreams inside. It was a scent oh-so-familiar to me. I looked around at the people in the lobby. I saw faces of defeat, tears, and tired eyes. Why didn’t this place sadden me? Why wasn’t I like these people? I was dying, but without emotion.

              We had to wait until he calmed down to visit Uncle Daren. My mother and I went for a walk through the corridors.

              “Listen, Kate. Don’t talk, listen. Just listen to me,” she said, in a stern, motherly tone. “I know you’re an atheist or something, but I really need you to help me here. Daren might not make it. Please just pray for him with me. Please, Kate.”

              “No.”

              “Why on Earth are you behaving this way?”

              “Mother, tell me this; why are you praying to a God that never helped me when I was sick? Why are you trying to be a ‘good Christian’ when you know I’m dying and this God guy is just letting it happen? I’m dying, Mom. I’m going to die; and probably before you do. The only way I am to live is if a miracle happens. So don’t pray for Daren. We’re just going to have to cross our fingers and hope he fights through.”

              Mom gasped. She stared at me, wide-eyed. I couldn’t tell whether she wanted to hug me and tell me everything would be alright, or hit me in the face for being so blunt and offensive to her religion.

              She turned and wiped her tears one final time. Then, she faced me.

              “Y-You’re right,” she said.  We started walking to the ER.