THE LAST PROMISE

CHAPTER ONE: NO WAY!

I never imagined I'd be running down the hospital hallway like this, heart hammering, hands trembling uncontrollably. Just a few hours ago, I was laughing and all chatty with my daughter, feeling like life was on a gentle slop of happiness. And now? Now I'm here, surrounded by antiseptic smells that punch me in the gut, a smell I've always hated, but today it barely registers... because it was the least of my problems.

"Get the CPR machine! Check her heartbeat! Stop the blood! Move! Let me fix the oxygen!" The doctor's voice bounces off the sterile walls, but it barely registers. All i see is her. My little girl, my daughter, lying there helpless, face covered in blood. She so fragile..she had my husband's sea blue eyes, that warmth in her smile, that spark that made her impossible not to love. And now, all I feel is pain so sharp I think it might shatter me.

I can't stop staring. My chest tightens as if something is squeezing it from the inside. My hands curl into fists. Part of me want to scream, part of me wants to collapse right there on the cold floor beside her.

A nurse gently grasps my arm.

"Please, ma'am...step out for now."

But how could I step out? I wanted to stay. I wanted to hold her, touch her, whisper to her that everything would be okay. But I stepped out anyway, carrying my broken hopes with me. I remember how, just moments ago she was telling stories in the car, her little voice bright and sharp, asking, "Are you okay, Mum? You can talk to me you know." especially when i stop talking for a second. She was eight, barely able to tie her shoelace without tripping, and yet she carried herself with such Innocence and wisdom, it made me laugh.

And now...my dress is soaked in her blood. My tears have streaked my makeup. My hands tremble like I've been struck by lightning. I fell to the floor, unable to stop the sobbing. The pounding of my heart drowns out everything. I can't breathe properly; the world feels hollow and distant, like I've been ripped out of reality.

The doctor finally emerges. I ran towards him, desperate.

"Ma’am… I’m so sorry. We tried…"

Those words hit me like daggers. My heart sinks. My knees buckle. I push past him. I cannot believe this. I fall beside her again, holding her tiny, delicate hands in mine. They’re still warm, and yet… they feel so fragile.

"Baby? Baby? Oli? Please wake up...mama is here...babyy..." I whisper, voice cracking. My tears streams onto her blood-stained dress.

No response.

I raise my voice, crying louder, ignoring the other people in the hospital. My voice is raw, broken, filled with desperate hope and unbearable fear.

Tears streak my face from every direction. I barely noticed my makeup is ruined, my hair sticking to my face. The doctor, seeing my state, steps aside. The nurses gave me a momentt, silently understanding that my world is shattering.

Hours pass...or maybe minutes, I cannot tell. I try to hold her, to carry her back home, insisting she's asleep, insisting this is all a nightmare...but the doctor restrains me gently. My driver comes to collect me. I drag myself through the hospital doors, my legs numb, every step heavy with grief.

The car ride home is a blur. My hands still tremble. My heart still pounds. My mind replays the accident over and over again, the image of her small body sprawled on the road, her teddy stained with blood, I took it because it was favourite. My fingers ache, wishing they could rewind time, wishing I could protect her from everything.

When I enter my house, the staff look at me with pity, mumuring under their breath, shaking their heads, everyone was scared to talk to me. I walked straight into her room. Everything she loved is there untouched, frozen in time...her drawings, her tiny shoes, her storybooks stacked neatly on the shelf. I kneel beside her bed, staring, broken. Even sleep seems to be afraid to come near me tonight.

I feel pain I've never felt before. I have lost everything in a heartbeat..my daughter, my reason to smile and the only memory of the only man I had ever truly loved.

I held her teddy as though it was her, whispering promises I cannot keep. "I'll always protect you... I'll never leave you...I love you, Olivia..." But these feel empty in the echoing silence especially knowing the cannot bring her back.

The cannot erase the red stain of reality.

And in that moment I made a vow who so ever had took my child away from me will pay, I will take everything they've ever loved.