CHAPTER 16: ROSE

1 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳, 32 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 15 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴

1 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳, 32 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 16 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 1 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳,

32 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 17 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴-

𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨.

I can't stop. It's been an hour, 32 Minutes and 18 seconds since the doctors took Ryan to the operation room and every second is longer than I expected.

The nurses told me to wait outside and that they'll tell me the news as soon as possible but I haven't gotten any and it's making me worried.

I haven't even told Bree about this. Ryan told me not to.

What if the surgery fails And I have to explain everything to her? She will never forgive me. She couldn't say goodbye to Jack and now because of me, she won't be able to say goodbye to Ryan.

𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺.

𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.

I squeezed my eyes shut trying to think as positive as I could.

The last time I was this nervous was when dad died.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

"𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦," 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 "𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦,"

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦," 𝘐 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 "𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨,"

𝘐 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥.

"𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺," 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 "𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺." 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥…

"𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦," 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺," 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥.. 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘺.. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺," 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.

𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳, 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥.

𝘐, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳. 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯, 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺.

𝘈 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘵.

𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦.

I opened my eyes again to find them getting teary, I wiped them with my sleeves.

I get a lot of flashbacks of my parent's death and it scares me to death.

Dad was guilty about something before he died and he apologized.

But even after 2 years of his death, I still don't know what he was sorry for.

I have things he gave, I was scared to open because he looked scared when he handed it to me. I still have them hidden in my closet, scared to open them.

I'm scared those things might contain the truth to why he used his last words to apologize to me. And I'm scared, my love towards him might change after I find out the truth.

____________________

It's been 2 hours. I'm staring at the ceiling with my head back on the chair when I hear footsteps approaching me.

I quickly lift my head up to see a doctor walking towards me. He's the different doctor to whom I talked to. He's wearing a blank expression.

I stand up trembling, scared whether I'll get a good news or bad.

He stops few steps away from me and says "Mrs Hartford?" I nod. He puts his hand inside his pockets, I tighten my grip around my phone as he releases a sigh. "The surgery was successful," a pause and he smiles "your husband is okay now,"

I take a moment for the words to sink in.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭.

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

Ryan's okay..

I didn't loose him.

I find myself smiling as a tear escapes my eye "thank you," I whispered.

He nods "we're shifting him in another room, he's asleep for now but you can see him as soon as he's shifted,"

"Okay,"

He nodded then walked away.

I closed my eye clutching my phone to my chest.

He's okay. He's okay. He's okay.

I let myself sob in relief.

I didn't loose him. He's okay.

I keep repeating it because for the first time, the hospital gave me a good news. I didn't loose someone I care about.