MEMORIES OF THE HEART

SECOND CHAPTER

«Miami, Florida»

She felt like everything was spinning around her, like in a whirlpool, and even though everything was in absolute darkness, gradually the voices that emerged from her surroundings, seeping through her ears to her subconscious, pulled her out of the collapse. She weakly opened her eyes and felt a sharp pain in her vision due to the intense light falling on her.

"Oh my God, Laur, my love..."

She heard her girlfriend's familiar voice filtering through her ears and felt her warm and soft hands caressing her face. Then her eyes adjusted to the intense light and she could discern the image of her girlfriend's hazel eyes.

"Ashley..." blinking several times to fully wake up and clarify the surroundings.

"Yes, my love, I'm here," distributing kisses on her cheeks. "Oh Lauren, you don't know how worried I was. Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Do you want me to call your doctor?"

"What happened...?" salivating excessively, because she felt her mouth dry.

"You fainted at the doors of this clinic. Doctor Campbell called me to inform me that you had fainted, and I didn't understand why you came to see him without me, until he explained your situation."

Then, her clouded thoughts cleared up, remembering what had happened and therefore, she looked away from her girlfriend.

"Why didn't you tell me that your symptoms had returned?" grabbing her cheeks to guide her to confront her, so that she couldn't escape her gaze. "If you had told me..."

"It wouldn't have changed anything, only made you worry more," she completed with resignation.

"Lauren..."

"No, Ashley. This is my reality. I am condemned and..."

"No, don't say that," Ashley interrupted immediately. "Campbell talked to me about the possibility of a heart transplant and..."

"Did he also explain that it is a remote possibility given my medical history?" Lauren interrupted with a frustrated gesture, placing her hands on top of her girlfriend's, which captured her face, and pushing them away from her cheek while maintaining eye contact.

"But you have money, Lauren. We can look for contacts, call in favors, ask your father for help."

"The last thing I want is for my father to intervene."

"Can you put aside your pride when it comes to your life?"

"I don't want his help," she replied firmly, furrowing her brow.

"Then what do you propose?" Ashley returned the harshness of her voice. "To give up? To ask me to stand idly by and watch you slip away without being able to do anything...?" And her determined voice was overwhelmed by tears that rose up her throat and, in the form of tears, were reflected in her hazel eyes.

Lauren was moved to see her crying and her defenses crumbled, so she hurried to sit up slightly from the hospital bed, and hugged her girlfriend's body, who released sobs battered by tears. She felt guilty for being so inconsiderate.

"I'm sorry," he apologized near her ear, with her chin resting on Lauren's shoulder. "Forgive me, we'll solve this. We'll find a way, but for now, I don't want to talk about it until I come to terms with it. Please, love, understand me."

Ashley pulled away from her body to admire her glassy green iris and nodded, then planted a chaste kiss on her lips. She understood how difficult the news must have been for Lauren and would allow her to come to terms with her new fate as she had asked.