Fated Enemies

Flashing red and blue lights and an alarming siren signalled as the double doors of the emergency room burst open. Pushed by several nurses, doctors, and other medical staff, a lone hospital stretcher flew through the medical centre toward the doors to the operating room. Upon seeing the pale familiar figure being flown away, Daisy Louis stopped in her tracks, and her pupils shrank.

What the hell happened?

She stiffly turned her frozen body, and seeing the paramedics disappear into the long corridor for the OR; Daisy felt like her spirit had departed. She nearly dropped dead in that instant. Her face paled.

No, what the hell was going on?

‘Why is my mum being rushed to the operating room?’

It isn’t even more than ten minutes yet since Daisy left her mother’s side for the restroom to empty her bladder, dwell in sorrow and spill out her tears.

Daisy turned back with wide eyes to look towards the entrance they had just wheeled her mum out from, and it wasn’t any emergency ward. In fact, that has been her mum’s ward since she was transferred to this hospital last week. But her mum suddenly being flown away by that team had caused a stir in her hazy mind. In the heat of the moment, the scene had looked too familiar that the blue clothes won by the paramedics backed against the low lights coming from her mum’s ward had given her the light illusion. The hazy scene had tugged her mind, and seeing a familiar scene rolling out in front of her, her mind rewound down memory lane.

That fateful morning, over a month ago, when her mum suddenly collapsed in the kitchen, they had rushed her to the hospital to receive a shocker. Just like she had just been wheeled out, her mum had been wheeled immediately from the emergency room to the operating room to have her breasts removed without even giving her family room to digest the news. She had been battling breast cancer for four years without telling even her husband.

Fortunately, the surgery was successful, and her radiation therapy followed. Afterwards, they transferred her to a bigger hospital with higher technological facilities to help her recover and recuperate properly and effectively.

Mrs Louis had been saved even before they had her transferred. The woman was out of danger cause the surgery had been successful. But seeing her mum stuck in unfamiliar-looking machines making beeping sounds she only thought were unpleasant broke her heart. It’s already over a week after the surgery and days after she was transferred here, but Daisy had to every day watch her mum lay there lifelessly. Even though the hospital had assured them that Mrs Louis would be out of the coma soon, it didn’t in any way help the sickening emotional state Daisy was in, as the only thing she wants is to see her mum open her eyes and talk to them again.

She isn’t the only one that feels that way; her father too, Mr. Louis, and her kid sister, Violet Louis, also.

Ten minutes ago, Daisy had left her dad, her boyfriend, Edward, and her friend Cindy in her mum’s ward to go clear her head. Edward had wanted to accompany her, but she had stopped him, wanting to be alone for a few seconds.

After crying bitterly and begging God not to take her mum away just yet, she came back only to meet this heart-wrenching scene.

‘Why is my mum suddenly being wheeled to the operating room? What the hell happened?’

When she finally snapped out of her thoughts and turned to run after the paramedics, they had disappeared into the operating room with the door shut immediately. She froze and turned back to the ward to see her dad standing just in front of the entrance with bloodshot eyes, looking extremely downcast.

Her heart squeezed.

Through her hazy vision, she could see her boyfriend and Cindy standing over there and staring at her sympathetically as if waiting for her to take in the shock before looming over.

Her knees grew weak, and just when she fell to the ground, Edward reached out and held her in his arms. Seeing his woman tremble in his arms, his chest tightened. He felt helpless cause he could do nothing to stop her pain. He could only accompany her and watch her break for her mum.

Her tears flowed while her lips trembled.

“Your mum was calm when she suddenly started to jack. We were frantic. I immediately turned on the alarm while your dad rushed out to get the doctor. The doctor pumped her chest, but they had to wheel her to the theatre. Your dad just signed up for another operation.”

When Edward uttered those words, Daisy burst into tears and sobbed loudly. She let out her agony and cried in his arm.

“Noo… n.. oo… no…” were the only muffled sounds she could cry out.

‘In just ten minutes, things had turned grave.’

“It’s going to be okay,” Cindy consoled her, patting her back.

Mr Louis standing at the ward’s entrance, stared at the trio wearily, his chest heaving and his breath deep and heavy. He looked extremely downcast.