Her Light Faded Away
2104 Words
"I WILL PAY FOR THE HOSPITAL BILLS," Amelia spoke to her granddaughter who just finished changing clothes after taking care of Ania.
It's been two weeks since Ania was diagnosed with active tuberculosis. Fortunately, no one in their family or Ania's class was infected. It was a relief for those people who had contact with Ania, and it is almost a miracle that no one was affected.
Ania was isolated in a room, and she had to wear a mask all the time. The people who went in and out of her room need to be fully covered, and every part of the room has to be disinfected well to avoid contamination and further infection.
"Ania had already eaten her lunch. Don't worry too much," Amelia reminded Aela, who was busy staring at her sleeping daughter.
"She seemed to be sleeping a lot these past days," Aela commented with worry. She doesn't know if that's normal because Ania sleeps right after eating.
The old woman sat down beside her. "Maybe it's her way to fight the disease back. You know, I read somewhere that our body uses sleep to be stronger. Maybe that's what Ania is doing."
"I hope so," Aela sighed. "The bill will cumulate, I'm sure of that. Ania needs to stay in the hospital for almost three months. Can I afford it?"
"We can afford it," Amelia reassured her. "Don't forget that you came from a well-off family. The bill is just a penny. What's important is that Ania will recover."
Aela massaged her temple as her eyes started to get weak with each second. She didn't have enough sleep for the past weeks since she had to be awake at all times to check on her daughter.
Although her grandmother offers help to look after Ania in the morning, she still can't get sleep because of her body clock. No matter how sleepy she is, she can't sleep if it's morning.
Looking at Aela's sleepy appearance, Amelia touched her shoulder and spoke. "Go home for now. I'll take care of Ania."
"Are you sure you're not tired, nonna?" she asked, her sleepiness evident in her voice. "You just came from a business meeting."
"I'm fine. You should sleep and take a rest now because, in the evening, it will be your turn," the old woman answered.
Aela just nodded before checking her daughter for the last time. She just grabbed her small sling bag that contained her phone and wallet before leaving the hospital.
When she was just a few steps towards their house, she saw Arianne waiting for her at the entrance. She's carrying a basket of fruits that mainly consists of citrus ones like oranges and grapefruits.
"Aela!" she exclaimed while waving at her best friend.
"Is that for Ania? She's still in the hospital until now," Aela answered while looking down at the basket of fruits.
"Oh, yes," Arianne answered. "Actually, I'm going to visit Ania but I have to give you something. Grandma Amelia told me you're here."
She rummaged through her handbag with her one hand, looking for something. After a few moments, she grabbed something from the inside and showed it to Aela.
"These are sleeping pills," Arianne spoke while extending her hand towards Aela. "Grandma told me you had difficulties sleeping these past weeks, so I thought of giving you some. It will help you fall asleep. Just don't take so much."
Aela smiled before receiving the pills. "I really need this. But tell me, it won't make me sleep for the whole day right?"
The lady laughed at her question. "Those pills were created by our lab. It will just make you sleep for a maximum of eight hours. No need to worry about it. Just make sure you only drink one pill a day."
"Thanks for this, Arianne," she responded. "Please text me once you arrive at the hospital and tell me what my daughter is doing. She might look for me once she wakes up."
Arianne nodded before bidding goodbye to her friend. On the other hand, Aela immediately entered her bedroom. She picked up one pill and drank it with a half glass of water.
After a few moments, she felt herself getting sleepy. The texture of the bed became more comfortable to her feeling as if it was inviting her to lay down on it.
Aela succumbed to it and slept like a baby for hours. When she woke up, it was already afternoon. She just took a short bath before leaving the house.
On the way to the hospital, she coincidentally saw a familiar face on the streets. Ignacio was checking some male suits inside a luxury store when Aela saw her.
Without giving it much thought, Aela crossed the streets to talk to Ignacio. She didn't think of the consequences of her actions, but she did what she thought was the right thing to do.
"Ignacio," she spoke when the man stepped out of the store carrying an elegant paper bag with a brand logo.
The man's mood immediately turned sour. "What are you doing here?" he asked with irritation in his voice.
Aela immediately went straight to the point. "Ania's in the hospital," she informed him, hoping that he would show some loving emotions for his daughter.
However, Aela witnessed the opposite. Ignacio's eyebrows furrowed more while staring at her. "So? What does it have to do with me?" he asked.
Aela was taken aback. She didn't expect that her ex-husband would react so nonchalantly to the news of his own daughter's unfortunate situation. She was expecting that he would be worried or even asked about her health.
But Ignacio failed her once more. She's starting to wonder if Ignacio really thought of Ania as his child or if she is also just someone that he wanted to get rid of in the first place.
"Ania's your daughter, Ignacio," she added. "She was diagnosed with tuberculosis. It might be better for her if you will visit her once you have free time."
Ignacio spat out an insulting laugh at Aela. "I already told you not to show your face to me. Now you're telling me to visit your daughter?" he taunted her before laughing sarcastically. "Should I file for a restraining order so that you won't show up before me?"
Aela's veins became evident as her blood boiled upon hearing his words. She already saw Ignacio's true colors when he divorced her, but now, she's seeing a much worse version of him.
She's starting to question herself as to why she fell in love with such an awful man. She doesn't know what she saw in him that made her sacrifice everything just so they can be together.
"I must be dumb," she spoke in her mind, disgusted by her previous acts as a lovesick fool.
Aela composed herself before responding. "If you don't want to visit your sick daughter, just say it. You don't have to make such excuses just to get away with it," she spoke with a loud voice that was enough for the other people around them to hear.
The people immediately went to whisper their comments and words about Ignacio, which the latter noticed. He gritted his teeth because of Aela's audacity to humiliate him in front of several people.
"You're just using your daughter to get some money from me, and you're just using the visiting reason," I can just give you money to pay for her medicine. Why bother visiting her?"
The whispers became louder. Ignacio didn't know that he just made himself look more like a villain because of his words.
A woman stepped up and exclaimed to him. "What kind of father are you?! You're daughter's suffering, yet you still think they're after your money? A person like you doesn't deserve to be called a father!"
"That's right!" a man added with his deep voice. "If you don't want to visit and take care of your daughter, just say it! You don't have to give accusations to this lady!"
"Such an insolent man! You don't deserve to have a child!"
Ignacio couldn't control himself anymore, and his anger burst. "Shut up!" he shouted at the people around him. "I'll sew your mouths and you don't shut up!"
But the people didn't back down. "Look! He's even threatening us!" a woman spoke before shouting. "Police! Arrest this man! He's threatening us!"
Before the authorities could arrive, Ignacio immediately fled the scene. Some people who took pity on Aela tried to block his way, but they didn't have enough force to stop a huge man like Ignacio.
"Thank you for defending, everyone," Aela smiled at the people who helped her. "How can I repay you?"
A woman touched her hand. "There's no need to give us anything. Just take care of your daughter. We will pray for her recovery."
A MONTH PASSED QUICKLY and Ania's health improved. She began eating more food than usual, and her fever had gone down for several weeks. Aside from that, the child stopped coughing.
"It's a good thing. She's having improvements with regards to her health," the assigned doctor spoke to Aela.
The mother couldn't help but tear up because of the news. She hugged her daughter, who was smiling widely upon hearing the doctor's words.
"Just a few months, mi figlia," Aela said while caressing Ania's hair. "You'll recover. You will be healthy again."
"Then I can visit more penguins?" Ania asked innocently. During her isolation, it's usually her toy penguin that she's hugging, while she imagines that it's her mother.
Aela smiled sweetly. "Of course. We will do anything you want once you get out of the hospital. So try your best to be healthy again, okay?"
Ania nodded repeatedly. "I promise that I will be healthy again, Mamma. I want to see more penguins," she answered before resting her head on her mother's chest.
"I want to stay with you longer, Mamma," she added and grabbed Aela's fingers tightly as if she didn't want to let go. "I want to live for more years until you're old."
However, Aela's hopes and Ania's promise were suddenly thrown into the depths of the ocean when, one day, Aela arrived at the hospital with the doctors and nurses panicking.
"What's happening?" Aela asked worriedly when she saw a lot of hospital staff outside Ania's room.
She pushed the nurses out of the way to get inside, just to see a doctor resuscitating her unconscious daughter. The doctor is using a defibrillator, sending electrical charges on the child's body repeatedly in hopes of stabilizing her daughter.
"What happened?!" she shouted at the nurses. She just left the room for a few moments to go to the comfort room. She did it a lot of times before, and nothing happened to her child even if she was alone.
"Please calm down, madam. We're doing our best to save her," a nurse comforted her but Aela pushed her hand away.
"She was fine when I left her! She's already getting better! How did this happened?!" she shouted at every staff. "What did you do?"
Another nurse tried to stop Aela from entering the child's ward. "We don't know what happened, madam. Please let us save her. We will do our best."
Aela cried outside the ward while calling for her child's name. The doctor kept on reviving the child, using the machine to kept her alive. But their efforts were in vain.
The lines on the vitals machine became straight as a continuous high frequency beep echoed inside the ward. Slowly, Ania's body stopped working as she succumb to her illness.
"Ania! Ania!" the mother shouted as she ran towards the wards to hug her daughter. She locked her in her embrace while gently slapping her small face.
"Ania! Wake up! Please!" she spoke repeatedly, pleading her child to open her eyes.
But her words fell on deaf ears. Ania's eyes were kept close despite her mother's pleas. Aela cannot believe it. Just a moment ago, her daughter had her meal and played with her before sleeping. She just left her for a few minutes and suddenly, her child was gone.
Aela's cries and shouts reverberate not just inside the ward, but also in the hallway of the hospital. A mother's despair is too much for the people to watch.
She tried so hard to wake her child up, but no matter how hard she tries, she can't escape the truth that the light of her life is already gone
"Time of death, 3:47 PM."
- Writer
