Lifeline

Chapter 24; Gone.

Listen to the song above on repeat while reading this Chapter.

"They say you never know the value of someone until they're gone... But I knew her value before she left..." by Kendra Wilson, A.K.A meeeee.

"Both of you, go home and get some rest, I'll call you if there's any improvement." I told my parents.

They hadn't left the hospital since Emily's surgery, it's already been two days.

"Honey, she's right." My father stood up and extended his hand out to my mom.

She was the hesitant one among them, but eventually she accepted to leave with the promise of returning in a few hours.

They had been using my car since they arrived and it hadn't really been a bother seeing as I'd been glued to Ethan's hip.

Speaking of Ethan, he hadn't left my side throughout this ordeal. He told me he had filed for a leave from work and I couldn't help feel bad that since we began dating he's been neglecting his job.

I internally sighed and opened up the curtains.

Emily hadn't gotten up yet and today was the first of November.

Call it mother's intuition, but something felt wrong inside of me. It's like my body cells were preparing for something beyond me.

I hated this feeling. I needed to get some sleep before I became insane.

"I got some food." Ethan whispered as he entered.

He walked over to the sofa I was sitting on and placed a long kiss on my forehead.

"Thank you. I needed that." I smiled at him.

"The food or the kiss?" He teased.

I could only chuckle.

"How are you?" He seemed to ask me this same question every six hours or so.

"Considering I wasn't the one operated upon, I'm okay." I smiled.

"I was thinking of taking a little nap before you came in, is that okay?" I asked

"Sure love. I'll be right here."

If there's one thing I love about Ethan, it was his ability to always keep his word.

"Thank you." I told him, "for everything." And I really was grateful.

He nodded and placed one kiss on my forehead and another chaste kiss on my lips.

"Get some sleep."

That was all he said before I got comfortable on the couch and fell asleep.

***
I knew I hadn't been asleep for long, but a constant sound woke me up.

I looked around the room and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

I heard sounds from the bathroom, meaning Ethan was in there.

I'm sure I was just paranoid.

I stood up from the couch and walked over to Emily's bed.

I took a long look at her and realized something.

Her feet and hands were all swollen.

Also, she seemed to have a fever.

But those two things weren't what scared the living daylights out of me.