ONE LAST REQUEST [Tom Hiddleston Fanfiction]

Chapter 1 : Reality hits home

Have you ever experienced what it's like to be in a car crash? I don't recommend it, but those who have, will know what I mean. The fast paced confusion of the initial first impact just happens so quickly that you don't really have time to process it, your system suddenly being shocked into action. Adrenaline soon charges through your blood stream, making you adjust to alertness, perhaps all too late. You aren't prepared for it, so naturally you adopt the shakes. No matter how hard you try to make your body stop, it just continues to shake and tremble uncontrollably. Then the tears start falling, your breathing becoming more erratic, and before you know it, you're having a panic attack. 

This is what happened to me several hours ago once the doctor's had left me and my mother had popped out for several minutes to get some fresh air. Reality hit home, and hit home hard. I was slowly dying. Every single second that slipped by was a second that I would never get back. All that time I'd wasted in the past chasing after the cute boys in school, or complaining over how long I'd have to watch to catch the next episode of my favorite TV show ... it all meant nothing now.

As much as I tried to hide my tears and emotional state of mind, I failed, and curled up in my hospital bed, bawling my eyes out, screaming out my pain in the hope it would make it go away. I knew my mum could hear my cries of anguish down the corridor, but what could she do? Yes, she could offer me words of comfort and the warmth of hugs and kisses, but they would not make me better. They would not help slow down time that was slipping away like grains of sand in a time turner. Immediately she rushed back to my side, wrapping her arms tightly around me, letting me cry into her chest like a child. She held back her tears, knowing that they would not help me, remaining strong. She rubbed my back, helping me to ease my suffering slightly. You never quite realize the power of a hug until you need one. They are the most powerful tools any single person can possess. Sharing the embrace of a friend, or loved one, even just for a few seconds, can make even the darkest days just that little bit brighter. Sharing the warmth of love between two souls, words can never quite describe the true feeling of it. No matter where you are, or how lost you become, a simple hug can bring you back home and help you forget about the world. 

I don't know how long we sat together, my mum telling me everything was going to be okay as she continued to hold me in her loving embrace, my tears stained all over her. The tears had stopped falling by now, my eyes so red and raw you could have sworn I'd been cutting a million onions. My sniffles had fallen silent as I could no long breathe through my nose with it being all bunged up. The only sound that left my lonely hospital room was the soft whispering of a mother, the ragged breathing of a terrified daughter, and the unsettling mechanic beep of a weary heart. No one passed, no one visited. It was just us two, sharing a moment of pain, trapped in a time bubble. 

The sky outside the blinds had began to turn crimson by the time we separated apart. I had cried all night, and neither of us had slept. I dreaded how many more sleepless nights my mother would have to endure because of me. I was making her suffer so much pain it made me even more upset. She cared about her daughter, and knowing that soon she will only have a son didn't bare thinking about. She wanted to treasure every moment together, every single second for what it was worth, knowing that soon it will be too late. We both sat together, my mum holding my hand as we waited for the dawn and the events the next day would reveal to us. 

A few hours later, the doctor entered, bringing me what looked like re digested, sloppy porridge to eat. Apparently it would be the only food I would be allowed as I would be going in later on that day for the operation to install a secondary heart. "This heart, although electronic, will help keep your body going and your heart rate as steady as possible. It will function alongside your existing heart, keeping you going, but unfortunately it will not be able to sustain you by itself". His voice was very monotone as he tried to explain it to me, how my second heart would work. Admittedly it did confuse me, but then as he explained it more, it began to make more sense. As our heartbeat is always changing and never constant, the second heart would help keep me functioning, even if my actually heart slowed down a little, or missed a beat.