Till death do us part

Chapter 19: Hope - Present time

Cora's POV

"Do you remember that?" I asked as I looked at Rose. I showed her a small smile. "You were so surprised I actually asked you to marry me."

Rose frowned, it was obvious she forgot again...

I looked down briefly before forcing a small smile onto my face. "It's ok," I patted her hand. "You tried." It seems like I always said the same lines to her. I always had to force a smile so I wouldn't upset her. Was this even the life I still wanted?

Rose looked from me to her left hand. She raised it and seemed to look at her wedding ring. She brought her hand closer to her face, as if she wanted to inspect her ring closer. Part of me was really upset about this sight. It showed how she even forgot the sight of our wedding ring.

I sighed and got up. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee," I gulped. "Do you need something?"

She briefly looked at me before shaking her head and going back to inspecting her wedding ring.

I sighed and left the room. I walked to the coffee machine further down the hallway. I was waiting as the plastic cup was filling with coffee. I looked down, at the wedding ring I was wearing. I let out a deep sigh. I remembered so clearly how happy Rose was when I proposed, how happy she was at our wedding. How can she have forgotten all about that? It can't all be gone, can it?

The machine beeped, my coffee was done. I took it and slowly made my way back to Rose's room. I noticed just how slow I was walking back to her, to my wife. As if I didn't want to go back, as if my body was fighting my decision to go back...

I got back in the room and saw Rose was still observing her ring. I sighed and sat back down next to her. "You seem to like the ring."

She looked at me, she frowned.

"I'm Cora," I gulped, trying to swallow the tears. "I'm your wife." I sighed and looked down.

"I didn't know I liked girls."

I looked at her. "Yes, you do," I hated how she spoke of herself in the past tense. As if the person she was back then, really was gone. "We love each other," I said, trying to get that through to her. "We got married because of that."

Rose frowned a bit, she was thinking. She looked away briefly before looking at me. Then her eyes widened and I heard how the heart monitor beeped faster.

I looked at Rose, she was afraid. "What is it?" I then followed her gaze and saw we had company. "It's alright," I smiled. "These are great friends of ours, Rose."

Rose gulped and looked at them, she got a hold of my hand and grasped it tightly.

"Hey," I said to them. "Come in."

They got in and were clearly shocked to see the state Rose was in. "Hello, Rose."

Rose was still grasping on tightly to me, she was so scared. I couldn't blame her, she had no recollection of who these people were. She hadn't 'met' them here yet. Instead, she looked at me. Somehow, she seemed to trust me, even though she often forgot who I was...

I looked at Rose. "These are our friends," I motioned to them. "Dara and Naheed."

They both showed a small smile as they waved awkwardly at us.

Rose was still breathing fast, she looked at me. She seemed so lost.

"Naheed is the boy who drove you to school and back," I said as I got closer to Rose, to give her more comfort. "And Dara is his wife now, and she's my best friend."

Rose looked at them. "H-hello."

"Hello, Rose." They tried again.

I looked from Rose to them. I smiled at them. "It's nice of you two to stop by," I smiled at them as I felt Rose grasping on more and more. "We appreciate that."

They both nodded but clearly were shocked to see how Rose was acting. I did warn them, just like everyone else, about Rose's condition. Somehow most of them didn't seem to think it was that serious until they're here, facing Rose.

"I was just telling Rose about the letter we got from you guys, about the wedding," I looked at Rose, and saw she was nodding. "And about our proposal."

Dara smiled. "You were really happy when Cora proposed, Rose, do you remember that?" She tried.

Rose shook her head and looked down, she always felt so bad for not remembering things.

"It's ok," I repeated the same line. "You tried."

Naheed walked closer which cause Rose to get more scared. I motioned him to keep his distance. He sighed and seemed upset.

"Rose," I said to her, gaining her attention. "Why don't you watch some tv while I talk to our friends?"

Rose gulped. She eventually nodded.

"Good," I kissed her head and got up. I walked with Dara and Naheed to the hallway. "I'm sorry about that." I said, I didn't know why I always felt the need to apologize for Rose's behavior. I mean, she didn't do anything wrong... I just felt bad to see her friends and family so upset... 

"I didn't expect that," Dara said to which Naheed nodded. "How do you deal with that?"

Good question... "I try," I simply replied. "She only has me."

"So she remembers you then?" Naheed asked.

I looked down. "It was nice to see you guys again," I looked at them, showing them a small smile. "I really do appreciate that you two came by."

They showed me a small smile too. 

"Of course," Dara said before stepping closer and pulling me in for a hug. She held me tightly in her arms. "Call me," She said softly. "For anything, I don't care what time."

I let out a breath and nodded.

Naheed patted my back, showing his support that way.

"Cora!"

I pulled back from the hug. "That's Rose," I wiped my tears away. "I have to go back."

"We would join you but..."

"I know," I smiled at them. "Give her a kiss from me."

"We will." They then left.

I walked back inside and saw Rose was looking at me. "I'm here," I sat down by her side. "I'm here." I repeated.

She looked around, as if looking for Naheed and Dara. "Are they gone?" She asked, looking at me then. "The two people that were here."

"Our friends," I clarified. "Yes, they are."

She nodded and seemed to calm down.

I looked away briefly. Then, I got a text. I took my phone and smiled when I saw the message I had gotten from Dara. The message was a picture of her giving my kiss to their guest at home.

Rose seemed to have seen the text too as she asked: "Who is that?"

I looked at Rose. I guess this is my chance... I got closer to her and showed her the picture I had just received. "Her name is Hope," I looked at Rose's face and finally saw something change in her eyes, as if she remembered something... "Do you know who she is?" I asked her.

She opened her mouth but nothing came out, she stared at the picture until she gulped. She looked at me.

"Do you know who she is?"

She gulped again. "She's our daughter."