Prologue
Nathan woke to something unusual - gasping.
Pain. Coming from Jasmine’s room. He glanced at his digital clock. 4:27. He
signed, heaving himself out of bed and down the hall. He walked, stopped at her
door, then let himself in. A wave of heat washed into his face, almost knocking
him backward. Then he saw her. Her skin; grey like cement. Covered in sweat.
Just before he asked what’s wrong, an aching cough filled the air. She reached
for a tissue, then saw him standing at her doorway.
“Nathan,” She gasped. “I haven’t slept all
night. I got this nasty cough…”
“I know. Are you alright? It’s four in the
morning,” Nathan replied. She opened her mouth to speak, but an eruption of
coughing cut her off. She cleared her throat afterwards.
“I feel horrible. My throat aches from coughing
and I’m having… trouble breathing.”
Nathan worried about her. It definitely wasn’t just a cold. Something serious. Severe. Maybe even
deadly.
“It looks bad. Should I take you to the
hospital or something? I don’t think we should wait around to see if it’s just
the Flu or something,”
She paused, and he could see a glare of fear in
her eyes. Tears for forming through the corners of her eyes, and Nathan could
do nothing but feel bad for her.
He gently lifted her by the shoulders. She was
light; limp and weak.
“Can you walk?”
“Um… I think so…” She hesitated, as if she
wasn’t sure how to walk. She placed a foot onto the floor. Then the other. She
was standing. She let out groans of pain every couple of steps, but she seemed
to manage. For what felt like half an hour, they finally made it to the door. Nathan
tried to reassure her, telling her it’s going to be okay, not really knowing
for a fact that he was right. He tried to make his voice sound steady and
confident, hoping it will make her feel the slightest bit better. He pushed
open the wooden door, led her off the porch, across the driveway until they
stood next to his car. A crack of thunder split the air.
“Come on. The hospital is only forty-five
minutes away.” She nodded for the second time, sweat filtering through her pretty
dark hair. They both got in the car, but Jasmine went to the back seat. He
guessed she might want some space to rest. Nathan flicking the keys until the
engine rumbled with life. He took off – aware he was well over the speed limit.
It was worth it. For Jasmine. He loved her more than anything. He couldn’t stand
think about losing his wife like he lost his parents. Her and their son was all
he had left. But ma-
Another cough. Than another. It was all getting
to his head, worrying what virus had claimed Jasmine. He rolled down the
window, letting the soothing breeze ruffle his hair. Rain blazed down the
streets, creating ripples of water alongside the slanted streets. He was on the
highway now, passing through cars, soaring under tunnels; yet he still had
twenty minutes left until they arrive at the hospital.
“Jasmine, you hold ‘in up back there?” Nathan
asked. No response. He looked around to see that Jasmine was laying with her
eyes closed. He shook her, but she didn’t wake up. She didn’t even move.
“Oh, shit!”
He
slammed on his breaks and quickly pulled over to the side of the highway. He
unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed into the back. He checked her heartbeat.
He let out a long sign of relief at the fact that
her heart was still regularly beating.
Maybe she passed out, he thought to himself. He jumped back into the
driver’s seat and securely fastened his seatbelt again.
Thirteen
minutes later they arrived at the hospital, but Jasmine was still unconscious.
He carried her into the lobby through the emergency doors and placed her onto a
dull metal chair next to the front desk. He talked to the lady behind the
counter.
“Please, I need help. My wife woke up with a
terrible sickness, and I… I’m pretty sure its severe.” He glanced at the
women’s nametag neatly lodged on her left shoulder. Melissa.
A couple minutes after Melissa sent doctors to
carry Jasmine to the examining room. She didn’t let Nathan inside to see what
was going on.
But he didn’t argue. There wasn’t a point. They
probably wouldn’t let him in anyway. He sat in the chair he had placed Jasmine
in before and waited. He waited silently. On the inside he felt like screaming,
but he held that urge deep inside of him like helium in a rubber balloon. He
couldn’t pop just yet.
He remembered
Evan, who was being watched at his uncle’s house. He thought about how
depressed he’ll feel when he hears about what happened to his mom. Nathan felt
depressed himself. He tried to picture what life would be like without his
wife…
No, Nathan. Your acting ridiculous! Why do you
think she’s going to die? It’s just a stupid little virus! Get a hold of
yourself and pull it together, He told himself, but not completely sure if he
was able to trust his own advice. Everything had happened so fast his mind was
having trouble processing it all at once. It all gave him a long, painful
headache.
Hours passed. Yet nobody told him anything yet.
He saw an old clock hung up above the emergency doors. 7:46 in the morning. Just then did he realize how tired he was. He
had been distracted by his wife the whole time. He was completely exhausted. His
body wanted to rest. He forced himself to stay awake. If the doctors came with
news about his wife, he had to be there to hear it.
A few more minutes flew by. Then a couple more.
Another half an hour.
He felt like he wanted to faint. He couldn’t
take it anymore. He let his eyes give in to the darkness, and he soon faded
into a deep sleep.
Nathan was dreaming. He was dreaming about
Jasmine and Evan. They were all playing in the cold, snowy weather a couple
months back. They were both having so much fun. Throwing snow at each other,
making snow angels – he would do anything to go back to those times again. It
was Winter. It’s nearly Summer now. He hoped the-
“Nathan? Nathan, wake up!” Someone said,
shaking his body. He slowly opened his eyes. He soon adjusted to the blinding
white lights of the hospital.
“Nathan I have something important to tell you,
but it’s not good.” She told him. Nathan already got the clue. Jasmine was dead.
As if Mellissa read his mind, she told him:
“No. She’s not dead. But it’s almost as bad.”
She explained. He saw a frown form through her lips. Nathan didn’t know how to
react. Jasmine isn’t dead! He felt like it was the happiest moment of his
entire life. Then he heard the bad news.
“Nathan, I am so, so sorry, Nathan. But…
Jasmine…” She hesitated for several seconds. The last few words came out
horribly wrong.
“Jasmine has Lung Cancer, Nathan.”
END OF PROLOGUE
