Black

Part 22 Cerulean Night

Amber's conscious faded in and out, hearing the faint distant voices of people in the background and sound of a beeping machine in the room.Her retina moved behind those closed eyelids; finger clipped with pulse oximeter fisted in the blue sheets of the ICU room. The water filled in her lungs again making her breath shorten; her chest that had ECG led wires placed underneath her breast tissues, constricted in pain. The monitor screen showed erratic pulse, lines rising and falling with each labored breath. Her eyes tightened, lips pressed together almost painfully in desperation to hold her breath. She tossed her head aside and her hand subconsciously touched the nasal cannula as if waking part of her foggy mind had known that she's in hospital. Nimble fingers adjusted the oxygen tubes closer to her nose in attempt to get more air to her burning lungs. She practically tasted the salt and water in her mouth;  gagging, her eyes flew open bolting upright and choked out the water on the bed sheet. Doctors and nurses rushed inside the room to her side helping her down and checked her oxygen for her and her pulse rate.
"Are you having trouble breathing now?" The male doctor asked adjusting the cannula for her and she faintly nodded before slipping back to sleep.

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"And Lyle was quite impressed with my strength for pushing the John around", Alan spoke removing his shoes to sit cross- legged on the back seat and started playing with his PSP.
"So you're hitting on her?" Ryan chuckled steering wheel and taking a turn to right. The rooftops of the houses in the view and trees to sidewalks were covered in white sheet of snow that had also made road slippery for him to drive. But in weather like this, he had had to go out and pick up Alan from his school.
"Lyle is pretty and so amazing!" Jennifer laughed at the younger boy reminding herself that these two brother aren't much different in manners.
"Hold it there till you're 18 young man", Ryan told his brother in rear view mirror who made a gruffing sound and  returned back to his game. Jennifer put earplugs in her ears on ipod and rubbed the foggy glass of the window with the cuff of her sleeve. Ryan glanced sideway at her and pulled the earphone out of her ear making her groan in protest. He remembered when he met for the first time asking favor for tutorship and she,at that time too, had earplugs in her ears giving him her cold shoulder.
"What?" She quirked her eyebrow as he chuckled himself at the memory but shook his head.
"We aren't going home?" Jennifer noticed the area where she hadn't been ever in her life and looked back at his face.
"I want you to meet my grandmother."
"We are going to see grandma? Cool!", Alan jumped up in his seat chiming in mirth of visiting his grandmother and leaned over his brother's seat hugging him from behind.
"Man, I'm driving here", Ryan scolded his brother as his control on the wheel loosened.
"What would I be doing there?" Jennifer asked shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
"It's not like I'm introducing you to her as my girlfriend or something..."
"What?" Both Jennifer and Alan jumped up in surprise at words who blinked back at them with blank face and corrected himself for the girl.
"I thought, she could be of some help for you."
"What help?" Ryan didn't answer her and she looked from his stoic face back to confused Alan deciding not to press further in front of the younger boy. Ryan pulled in the car in front of a small house and they dropped their hoods lower before heading towards the door. Alan knocked eagerly at the door feeling edgy on his feet to see their grandmother after a long time.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?" Jennifer questioned, uneasiness coating her voice as she adjusted the wool scarf around her neck protecting herself against the cold.
"More like she's expecting to see you." Ryan rubbed his hands to warm them.
The door opened revealing a old lady in a black coat smiling at them and Alan threw his arm around the woman making her chuckle. She's woman of healthy stature, grey hair were pulled back in a bun and there's a gold ring on her left hand.The corner of her eyes, that had crow feet given the age crinkled at the sight of them.
"Hi, beautiful woman!" Ryan kissed his grandmother on cheek that earned him a light slap on his shoulder.
"You must be Brooke!" The widow of Abram stepped forward to embrace her and invited them inside.