7 Minutes Until the Rest of Our Lives

Chapter 4: Hospitals

            Everything was a blur. It went from home, ambulance, hospital all in 5 seconds. I was pacing as Peter was sitting, watching me. We waited for what felt like an eternity, my anxiety growing more each minute that had passed.

"Miss Martin?" I heard someone say. My head shot up at the sight of the doctor. I rushed over with Peter not too far behind.

"Is she okay? What happened?" I asked in a panic. Peter tried to calm me down by touching my shoulder gently but I wasn't paying attention.

"She's stable right now but we don't know for how long. She has gotten worse since the last time she was seen by a doctor. We don't know exactly what happened but her lung collapsed. She might have been coughing so much from the build-up in her lungs. That could be how it happened. You can see her now. We put her on a machine to help her breathe." Me and Peter nodded at everything the doctor was saying. Really listening to the news that was just given to us. It was a lot to process. I kept my eyes on the ground as we walked to her room. I hesitated to walk in. Scared it was going to look worse than I could've ever imagined. And I couldn't have been more right. Her eyes were shut as there was an IV in her arm, a tube down her throat, and a clip on her finger. She looked pale and motionless as she laid there.

"Mom?" I said, quietly. I couldn't talk much louder than that. I walked slowly over to a chair next to her bed as Peter went to the other side. We sat in silence as she slept. Watching whenever she would twitch. After what felt like hours of waiting, she finally stirred awake. She looked around the room as if she had no idea where she was. Then her eyes landed on Peter, who gave her a soft smile, which she tried to return but failed. Then she turned slightly to see me. I just stared at her, not knowing what to do. Do I cry? Do I hug her? Do I say something? Would it be better if I kept quiet? While it was all running through my head, she patted the bed next to her. It wasn't a lot of space but I made it work, not wanting her to hurt herself as she tried to move for me. I knew what she wanted to say. I knew she wanted to stop fighting it. I knew she wanted to give up. I started to cry. I could tell by her eyes; she knew why. She raised her shaky hand and touched my cheek. I couldn't look at her. I wanted to but my eyes wouldn't move off of the floor. I then felt her move her hand. I noticed she had a notebook and a pen. I watched as she struggled to write what she wanted to say. When she finished writing, it was really hard to read due to how shaky she was. When I read it, my stomach instantly dropped. Peter noticed this and took paper from me to read himself. Peter could never read inside his head so he read it quietly out loud.

"I'm done fighting. I can't do it anymore. I love you so much Anna. But you need to live your life and forget me. I'll always be with you." I stared at her, with disbelief on my face.

"You have to keep fighting!" I shouted. "You have to stay here with me! I can't do this without you. Please Momma," I begged, my eyes swelling up with tears. "I'm not leaving this room, this spot, until you've changed your mind." She just stared at me, tears running down her face as well. She shut her eyes and nodded. I was stunned for a moment.

"You'll keep fighting?" I asked her, grabbing her hand. She nodded once again, trying to smile, which was difficult with the tube in her mouth. I sighed a cry of relief before squeezing her hand tighter. "Thank you, Momma." I said in between sobs. Peter just stood there, sniffling here and there. After a little while of us watching TV, the nurse came in to let me and Peter know it was time for her medicine and it's supposed to put her to sleep.

"Are you staying with her tonight, honey?" Nurse Pattie asked me. I hesitated for a moment and looked at Peter.

"You can stay if you want to, Anna. I'll check on you in the morning." He gave me a reassuring hand squeeze. I smiled at him and looked at my mom. She had already started dozing off when she nodded slightly at me. I gave her a sad smile and turned toward Peter.