Chapter Twenty-seven.
'It's easy for you to judge me, when you haven't walked a mile in my shoes.' Lina further pointed out.
'You're only making silly excuses, Lina.' Catherine shot back.
'If you really had any reasonable excuse, you wouldn't be beating about the bush right now.' She stated.
'I do not owe you any explanations.' Lina barked.
'You can as well think what ever you want, I honestly don't care.' She added.
'I do not answer to you. And I am entitled to live my life as I deem fit.' She proclaimed.
'Wow!!' Catherine's tears rolled freely down her cheek.
'I actually gave you a benefit of doubt, Lina. I thought I knew you well enough.' She spoke.
'I trusted that you wouldn't just leave for no reason. I believed you would have never just abandoned us all.' Her voice withered, along side her shattering heart.
Her face fell to the ground, and she wept heartbrokenly.
Lina expression faltered, starting to reconsider her previous choice of words.
The way she addressed Catherine may have come off on a wrong note, but she definitely can't take her words back.
Not when she wouldn't even think of telling anyone else, what happened to her as an intern years ago.
Especially not her baby sister.
'You broke my heart, Lina.' Catherine voiced, pulling Lina out of her puzzlement.
'I had no one to defend me, when I got bullied on several occasions.' She added.
'You were bullied?' Lina blurted, unable to believe her ears.
'There was no one to tell my secrets to, or have the girlie chat with after school.' Catherine went on, ignoring Lina's question.
'I had to grow up all by myself and very quickly also, just because my sister disappeared and my parents cared about nothing else in this world but her.' She spat.
'I lived in your shadows, Lina.' She pointed.
'I had to live my life behind the scenes. Nobody cared - not mom, dad or Christopher. Nobody had my back.' Her voice trembled, revealing the depth of her pain.
'The only times we got together as a family, and have conversations, it was always about you.' Catherine said.
'I'm so sorry, Catherine.' Lina muttered.
'I lived my life all by myself, despite having a family of my own.' Catherine wept.
'I have cried and prayed several nights for nothing more, than for you to return home, so I can have a normal and happy family again.' She went on.
'You hurt me, Lina.' She proclaimed.
'And it hurts me more that you feel you owe me no explanation.' She added.
Her cumbersome anguish pulled her down to the floor.
'I am so sorry, Catherine.' Lina approached her, kneeling too.
'Let me make it up to you.' She said.
'Tell me what ever it is you want me to do, and I will do it.' She added.
'There is no need telling you what I want. You will never do it anyway.' Catherine retorted.
'Catherine, please.' Lina pleaded.
'What would you have me ask for, that I haven't before?' Catherine questioned.
'I have asked you to stay, and you told me you couldn't.' She said.
'I have also asked you to give me an explanation, which you also made it clear, that you do not answer to me.' She added.
'I have nothing more to ask of you, Lina. I'm done.' She concluded, moving away from her sister.
And rose to her feet, heading for the stairs.
'Catherine?!' Lina called out to her.
'The reason I left was because our father.....' She gasped, placing her palm on her heart, which was starting to race in a very unusual manner.
'Our father did what?' Catherine queried, still backing Lina.
A deafening silence ensued after she spoke.
'Lina, please stop wasting my time.' She turned to face her sister, and realised she was curved up on the floor.
'Lina?!' Catherine muttered, taking a step at a time, closer.
She took a peek at Lina, standing at arms length, and saw that her eyes were closed.
'Lina?' She called her name again, stooping down to touch her.
'Stand up.' Catherine uttered, placing her hand on Lina's shoulder, giving her a gentle shake, but Lina didn't even flinch.
Then, she realised Lina was unconscious.
'Lina?!!' She shouted, grabbing her sister more firmly.
'Wake up!!!' She voiced, giving her a rigorous shake.
'Please, stand up.' She added and jumped on her feet.
'Mom!!!' Catherine yelled, running up the stairs.
'Dad!!' She added, heading for her parents bedroom.
She pounded her fist on their door severely, yelling 'help me'.
Natalie yanked the door open, with Nathan behind her, both astound to see Catherine calling for help.
'What happened?' Natalie questioned, engulfed in fear.
'It's Lina.' Catherine retorted, pointing a finger down the stairs.
Natalie started to rush downstairs before Catherine finished talking.
'What happened to her?' Nathan asked, following suit.
'She passed out on the floor.' Catherine replied.
'What?!' Natalie exclaimed, now taking two steps at a time.
She got downstairs, and her feet halted for a moment, in realisation that her child was indeed laying unconscious on the floor.
Natalie literally ran to Lina, and grabbed her body.
'How did that happen?' She asked.
'We had an argument and she was saying something to me, when....' Catherine words were interrupted by her mother.
'You were arguing with her?' Natalie spat, shifting her glare to Catherine behind her.
'This is not the time for another argument, let us get Lina to a hospital.' Nathan countered, proceeding further and lifted Lina in his arms.
He walked to the door and said to his wife.
'Grab my keys.'
While Catherine rushed to open the front door.
They got out of the house, heading to Nathan's wagon.
Nathan got in the back seat with Lina, setting her down on the chair, with her head on his thigh.
Catherine sat in front with her mother, as she drove to the hospital.
The drive to the hospital was as cold as steel.
Natalie's darkened eyes, clouded with unshed tears, fixed intently on the road.
'Did she show any sign of being sick as you spoke?' Nathan asked Catherine, rubbing Lina's cheek thoroughly.
'No, dad.' Catherine turned her face to the back seat.
'Are you sure?' Natalie questioned.
'Yes, mom.' Catherine moved her gaze to her mother's.
'We were both talking when it happened.' She stated.
'I really hope nothing happens to my child.' Natalie rebutted, her eyes visibly revealing her anxiety.
'Nothing is going to happen to her. Just calm down and get us to a close by hospital.' Nathan commented, and Natalie nodded, her earlier unshed tears finally finding their way down her jawline.
In a few minutes, she halted in front of a hospital.
It wasn't their family hospital but it was the closest to their house.
Natalie got down from the car to help Nathan carry Lina out of the car.
But before she could, Nathan already got out of the car, lifting Lina in his arms.
He proceeded to the hospital door, with Catherine and Natalie following suit, ignoring the hospital security trying to access the situation.
Catherine got the door, and they walked into the hospital.
The emergency room staff sprang into action after sighting the family burst into the lobby.
They took Lina from Nathan, setting her down on a stretcher and took her to the emergency room, while a nurse tried getting some information from her family.
'What happened to the patient?' A nurse named, Anna interrogated with her pen hovering over her clipboard.
'We were having an argument and... she passed out.' Catherine hesitated, her eyes welling up in tears.
'Has she ever passed out like this before?' Nurse Anna's expression remained neutral.
'No, not any event that we're aware of.' Nathan shook his head.
'Does she have any medical conditions we should know about?' Nurse Anna asked, her eyes scanning the family's faces.
Natalie thought for a moment. 'Lina does not exactly live here, so we're unaware of any medical condition of hers.
'But, she's been stressed lately. That's all I know.' She stated.
'Has she experienced any symptoms like dizziness, headaches or chest pain?' Nurse Anna continued.
'No, but she's been crying lately since we lost our grandmother. And she cried a little too much tonight also.' Catherine spoke up, her voice trembling.
Nurse Anna nodded, jotting down notes on her clipboard.
'Do you at least have the contact of a doctor of hers, we can talk to?' She asked.
'No, but I will contact a colleague of hers in the Middle East to help get that information.' Nathan chipped in.
'Great.' Nurse Anna flipped the cover of her clipboard over.
Then she handed a stack of papers to Nathan.
'Please fill out this registration form to the best of your ability. We'll need it to process your daughter's admission.' She stated.
'The doctor is already accessing her and we'll keep you updated on her condition.' She added.
Natalie nodded, as her eyes wandered to the ER section, where the emergency staff who took Lina went in.
'We'll do everything we can to help her. You need not worry about anything, she's in safe hands.' Nurse Anna assured them with a smile.
'Thank you.' Natalie and Catherine said almost in unison.
The family watched anxiously as Nurse Anna disappeared into the treatment room, leaving them to fill out the registration form and wait for the new about Lina's condition.