The Battle

Crossing Paths

I kept my head down as I made my way through the busy streets of London. I tapped impatiently on my phone before putting it up to my ear.

“Pick up. Pick up” I muttered as the phone made its first ring. “Hello?” My brother questioned through the phone. “Andrew Lockhart, get a plane ticket back to London, now” I commanded.

“Why? What happened?” He asked. “It’s mum” I whispered. “What happened?” He quizzed, sounding extremely worried.

“Andrew, she’s gone” I sighed. “What?” He screamed into the phone. “The doctor said she would live for a year” He muttered, his voice cracking.

“Well, that doctor was wrong. Get a flight back here” I instructed and he sighed.

“Fine, I’ll be there next week”

“No, you need to be here by Friday”

“Why?”

“We’re burying her on Saturday” I answered, moving my phone to my left ear.

“You’re kidding” He choked out. “That’s two days away!” I sighed, stopping myself from walking any farther. “Just please get back here, we need you” I whispered.

“Okay, I’ll be there tomorrow” And with that, he hung up. I pulled my phone away from my ear and started to typed a text to send to my sister in Glasgow.

“Jessie, you need to come home. Mum lost her battle.”  

I typed another text to my other sister in Liverpool.

“Anne, get a plane ticket back to London. We need to arrange mum’s burial” 

And then there was my brother in Leicester.

“James, need you back here. She’s moved on…..” I sighed, closing my phone.

I collided with someone who was wearing sunglasses, a coat and a hat. The impact made both of us drop our phones. I grabbed mine and stood up as he grabbed his.

“Sorry” He muttered and I nodded, studying his face. “You look familiar” I whispered and he looked up at me before walking off.

I shoved my phone into my pocket before arriving at the coffee shop. I needed to unwind, with all the events that happened and with only me in London with my mum; I needed a rest.

You see, mum battled with cancer for over 3 years. The doctor said that she would live for one more year but, obviously, she didn’t make it.

Her heart stopped the night before while I was sitting there. I saw that she was having a hard time and she was exhausted. I finally let her go.

She was fighting for her family; for us, but she was exhausting herself in the process.

Even though it pained me when the green line went flat, I was relieved that mum was in a better place now, where there were no more hardships, no more pain and no more tears.

I had 4 siblings and we were scattered all over the United Kingdom. I didn’t exactly know why but they just started to leave one by one as mum battled cancer for them.

Yeah, I could say that I was a little mad at them for leaving mum at her time of need, but they were my siblings; we were stuck with each other.

I went through my wallet as I walked up to the counter. Ordering a big cup of coffee, I paid for it and left the establishment.

I needed the fresh air so I decided not to take my car with me. Suddenly, my pocket started vibrating and I picked it up, seeing ‘Paul’ on the screen.