The chronicles of Alex Hua and the agents of shield book one

Prologue

Even before his mom got sick, Alex thought about death a lot. He wondered whether his father was still alive, how his grandfather narrowly escaped death in Vietnam, and when his uncle lost his life crashing in a blizzard. But even then it took a back seat in his mind. He knew death existed, knew it hurt when people left. However it seemed like a necessary part of life and it would just happen when it was your time.

Now his mom had stage four skin cancer and he couldn't think further from the opposite. How could it be possible that it was his mothers time to die? She was still fairly young with Alex being only twenty four. It wasn't fair! But honestly, who would be so accepting of their parent dying?

He walked into the same hospital they've practically lived in for the last four years and made his way to the correct hospital room.
She still lay in her bed looking pale, he skin blotchy and he couldn't help but think she looked even frailer than she did a few hours ago. But that was probably just the guilt talking to him. The nurses convinced him to go home and shower or change into some new clothes. He didn't like leaving her for long.

And the chair he spent so much time on, still placed next to her bed. The fabric moulded into his body when he sat on it, like it remembered him every time.

She wasn't conscious, but he reached over and gently squeezed her hand anyway, just incase she could sense him.

"Hi, Alex", one of the lovely nurses came in smiling, "we kept an eye on Elizabeth but she stayed sleeping the whole time".

"Thank you", he replied solemnly.

"Would you like any food? I can have someone bring something up".

"No, thank you, I've already eaten. But thank you so much for looking after me and my mother".

She smiled and said the usual 'if you need anything just ask', but Alex never did. He didn't want to bother anyone and he didn't need anything except his mom anyway. So he would stay out their way and hope they would keep her here as long as possible.

He stared, mapping each of her features and ingraining them into his mind so he would never forget. He wouldn't forget the curl to her hair, or the beautiful long eyelashes she used to have. He could still hear her joy filled voice and happy laugh, but he hadn't heard that one in a while. He couldn't forget these things. He had nothing else left.

Sudden coughing broke him out of his trance. His mom struggled with breath as her lungs strained under the pressure. She had no energy to pull herself up so Alex jumped up and rolled her onto her side, letting her chest expand and gulp down the air she desperately needed.

It always frightened him when this happened. His chest constricted and his stomach dropped, worried this was it. But he kept calm, raising shaky hands for the cup on the side and guiding the straw to her mouth.

"It's okay, just a cough. Drink some water".

She could barely do that and it made him feel sick. He had to help her lay back down and it had been hard to tell recently whether or not she was awake. Her eyes flickered and stayed in some half open half closed state. But then she spoke.

"I'm so proud of you, my beautiful son. You're going to be okay, I know you are".

Alex stared at her for a moment, completely confused. This was the most she'd said in weeks, and so out of the blue.

It worried him too. He didn't want her to believe he could do this on his own. He selfishly wanted her to force herself to stay as long as possible. He knew she was suffering, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't imagine letting go.

"I'm not going to be okay without you, mom", he ended up replying.

She stared at him with that reassuring smile he saw often as a child as she held out her hand.