“No matter how prepared you think you are for the death of a loved one, it still comes as a shock, and it still hurts very deeply.” – Billy Graham
^^Rick’s POV^^
After returning back from Yula mountain, I didn’t return back to home but first visited the hospital to check on my patients. It has been more than four years since I joined the Grasal military hospital as a surgeon.
I like my profession. I have seen patients revive as well as lose their life under my daily observation. I am not a god that can revive everyone but still I try my best.
After that incident, a month ago I couldn’t concentrate on surgeries so asked the hospital management for a change in duty from surgery to consultant for a few months.
I told them that I want to try other responsibilities besides only being a surgeon and that would help me to broader my knowledge. They made a condition that if some serious surgery case appeared in the hospital I had to join. I accepted.
None in my family was from the medical field but was in the financial and investment sector. Maybe I took an interest to be a medical practitioner because of some circumstances in my past. My family neither rejected nor accepted, me being a doctor.
I think they gave me freedom of choice. They seemed to be even happy that I wasn’t taking part in the Jones family business (my family).
After finishing my work within an hour, I returned back to my home.
Today evening, we had a grand celebration between Roy and my family. Both Jones and Smith were family friends for three generations. Later our grandparents decided to turn friendship into a relationship.
It was decided that the firstborn children of the opposite gender of my generation of both families will get betrothed even when I wasn’t even born.
As a result, I, the first grandson in the Jones family got betrothed in childhood to the granddaughter of Smith-Ria.
After I returned back to Osmin, four years ago I was notified that Roy was also promised to marry my little sister Serene. During my childhood, I had known that Roy used to treat Serene very well. He had only patience with Serene and Ria. Sometimes I used to think about who was Serene’s biological brother; me or him.
Roy and Ria were said to be step-siblings, with the same father but a different mother. Roy’s mother was said to be the third party and was dead when he was four years old. Ria was only two months younger and Roy was seven months younger than me. My sister Serene was two and a half years younger than me.
Roy and I were best buddies during our childhood, later we missed some years. But thankfully the relationship between us hasn’t changed despite losing contact for years. My sister Serene, Roy, and I had grown up together until I was ten. I had seen Ria only a handful of times during those ten years.
Later due to some incidents, I was hospitalized for three years. Then after some other things happened and I had to stay far from the Jones family.
Ria was like a fairy with a beautiful voice when she was small. Now she had turned to matured beauty. I had always taken her as my lifeline.
When I felt I couldn’t live further, she was the reason for me to hold on to my life.
And finally, today evening was going to be both of the couple’s wedding.
Even if I was getting married today, I had to fulfill my responsibility as a doctor.
None was in the living room of the mansion when I reached my home. The house was unusually quiet. As soon as I entered the house, Jones’s family butler appeared before me huffing and puffing.
“Sir, why didn’t you receive the call or called back after receiving the messages.”
“Anything wrong?” I questioned.
“Old madam’s situation suddenly got worse and all family had been to Grasal military hospital, half an hour ago. She may not survive today. She had been calling your name–”
Without waiting for him to complete the sentence, I run to the car that I drove by and speed up to the hospital. It had only been an hour since I had left the same place.
‘Why did I have to roam around the city after leaving the hospital? If I had directly returned back from the hospital to home then I could have helped her.’ I was regretting my earlier choice.
When I reached the hospital, all my family members had been waiting outside a ward. As I walked by my grandfather hurried me to enter the ward. My grandmother was calling my name.
I reached by her bed and held her hand.
“Rick, is that you? My boy you finally came. I waited for you for so long. You have grown up…how are those old fellows…you aren’t alone, your grandma is always with you even if your parents won’t care about you…don’t feel lonely…you will be all right…”
I couldn’t form meaning from what she was saying. Another family member said she was speaking nonsense because of being an Alzheimer’s patient but I think she was trying to console me. Maybe she wasn’t consoling the present me but my younger version.
“All of you shut up and leave the room. You all are disturbing the rest of the patients.” I spoke in a loud voice while reading her health report.
The room turned silent as only grandma and I remained in the room.
Her situation was worsening but she kept on holding my hand. She babbles something nonsense when she forgets and acts stern while she is lucid. This situation has been even before I returned back to Osmin.
“My boy listens to me before I forget…, never let hatred take over your mind. Sometimes what you know and what the truth may be different. ( She breaths with difficulty) Always remember the kindness of Mrs. Seema and her husband and yeah also that orphan girl, without her you couldn’t have survived…treat them better. ( Her heartbeat was erratic)
Live well and stay kind. Don’t have a manipulative heart like your parents or your siblings. I wanted to meet that old friend…Sigh, you go…I want to see your grandfather.” She was lucid this time.
I exited the ward and informed my grandfather to enter and in the same way, most of the family members meet her.
I sat on the bench while her word was playing on my mind. I couldn’t understand why she indicated my parents and siblings have manipulative hearts. What truth was she speaking and who the hell was the orphan girl?
My mind was turning into a mess. I decided to kick those thoughts out of mine and concentrate on the current situation. My grandma was the one who loved me the most. I observed her from the glass wall.
As she was talking, I saw her heart was very fast, and the oxygen level in her body decreased. I was about to enter when she stopped talking. I was at the door when I heard a beeping sound from the heart rate monitor. I rushed to her and checked her breath, she wasn’t breathing.
I turned limp, even when everyone was asking me. I couldn’t hear their words as my mind turned blank.
It was the same situation to me when I had seen that Ava had got shot in her left chest a month ago. Even if my mind were blank, at least I had questioned Roy that day.
But today, everything around me was slowly fading.
