Seeing the Light

Chapter 10

Rose's POV:
'I'm so lucky to have you...' she had said. To me. To me! She was so sweet! She was so nice! And she was so pretty! And she was my... I guess I could call her best friend? Could I? Well... I would have to ask her... but what if she rejected me? What if she said 'no, I'm not your best friend and never will be?' Oh no, I could never face the embarrassment...

I brushed my teeth and looked at myself in the mirror.. No, I had to ask her. Or I would never know. Eliza told me. Or else she would have been living her life never knowing... wondering... if I thought the same. I stared at myself, hair tied up into a low ponytail, baby hairs wet, face moist, and towel hanging from my arm. I was going to ask her.

I layed on the mattress next to Iris'. I was nervous and thrilled, but also terrified. My mom was slightly snoring indicating that she was deep in her sleep. I saw and felt Iris fidgeting, so I knew she was still slightly awake. Now... was the perfect time to ask her. I took a deep breath. And I said it.

In my head.

I couldn't say it... I just couldn't. But Eliza did. OH WHAT TO DO? A few minutes later, I couldn't sleep and knew that if I didn't ask her right now, I wouldn't be able to sleep. And I said it. Actually actually said it.

"Iris..." I whispered. "Are you awake?" I made sure to be aware of my mom and also ask as planned. "Yes... what is it?" she replied in a drowsy voice. I couldn't hold it in. "Am I considered your best friend?" Iris simply replied,

"Yes."

And then I heard heavy breathing.

Iris' POV:

It all came back.

"Do... wake?" The man said while pointing to my mom. I slightly nodded and I felt a sharp pain run down my spine and to my arm. I had to bite my lip to stop from whimpering. After waking my mom, he brought our two beds closer before leaving near the front of the van.

My mom looked in pain and I started wishing I didn't wake her up. We stared at each other, not being able to talk, move, or even smile. Minutes passed and as I was getting more conscious, my mom wasn't. She seemed to get more and more pained and pale. She was sweating and when the man came again, he called people over.

More talking, rustling, and worried glances. "She's... left." I heard someone say. I tried looking at the man to ask what had happened to my mom, but I couldn't turn my head. The pain was vivid and any movement brought a wave of pain. I stared at the people around my mom and my vision was getting blurry. I was losing consciousness again. I struggled to see my mom clearly and she seemed to be doing the same.

"Minutes left.." A woman said, looking at my mom. My head cleared up again and I saw my mom's eyes water with tears. She made an effort to reach her hand out to mine. I did the same but the pain was overwhelming on my arm. A good 3 minutes passed with painful efforts to touch each other's hands.

My mom turned even more pale, her hair drenched with sweat and she coughed. She looked at our struggling hands and she stretched her arm out with a painful look on her face.

I felt her cold fingers brush against mine. And then she closed her eyes, letting a teardrop roll down her face. I whimpered and everyone came over to my mom. My vision blurred again as I saw the woman check her pulse. "Dead..." I heard her say.

The man turned my head to his direction and held my hand. "It's okay..." he whispered to me. That's when I knew-

I screamed. My throat dried up, my face turned red, but I still screamed with every breath I had inside of me. I coughed and felt warm tears run down my face. I sat up and squeezed the cold blanket that was covering my legs. I screamed again and pain ran down my arm. I looked at my fingers and could feel her fingers brush. I rubbed the tip of my fingers rapidly as if to try to erase the touch. Erase the memory. Erase everything. My fingernails scratched and was ripping my skin, but all I could think of was to erase her touch.

I sobbed and sobbed as the tips of my fingers turned red and my hands bled. Rose was comforting me, but I could only see my mom. Dead. I screeched but it was rasp and dry. I got up the bed and ignored everything Rose was saying. I started pacing and pain ran through my body, but I only saw my mom. I was screaming and felt like the walls were closing in as I paced back and forth. I shook my hands, stomped, and screamed. Dead. Dead. Dead. My hands grabbed my hair and they slid down to cover my face. I screamed and cried at the same time as my hands muffled the sounds. I found the wall and sobbed as I slid down. My chest heaved with pain, my hair was tangled, and I was shaking.

I pounded the ground and put my head between my curled legs and hands around the opposite shoulders. I couldn't breathe and the pain inside of me wasn't getting better. My mom was dead. I watched my legs shake and tears drip on the floor.

My mom was dead and I didn't even know.

Rose's POV:
I watched as Iris screamed. Her whole body shook as she wobbly paced back and forth, rubbing her hands. She had started bleeding and she wasn't listening to anything I was saying. I felt tears whelm up and my mom told me to not interfere.

Her screams were full of pain and seeing her on the floor hurt me. She was in so much pain and I couldn't do anything... My mom was crying and she ushered me to her when she became quiet, but still crying. "Iris..." I gently said. I hugged her curled body and could feel her shaky breaths. "Do you remember everything?" I asked her. She nodded. She lifted her head to look at me. "Why didn't you tell me that my mom had died as soon as I woke up?" she asked. "That's the first thing you should have told me!"

I looked down at my fingers and sighed. "I thought it wasn't the right time to tell you?" She sobbed and laid her head onto my lap. Her warm tears wet my pants as I rubbed her back and tried to calm her down. The night quickly passed by like that...