Her Lost Identity

Her Lost Identity [23] ~ Hospital Coffee

A/N: I'm awfully sorry for the wait. I had so much trouble with his chapter! I wrote it about three times. I hope you like it!

Chapter 23

The sounds of footsteps passing me made me stir, waking me up from my deep yet uncomfortable sleep. A smell of coffee travelled up my nostrils making my throat itch because of the sharp reminder of my thirst. I let out a soft yawn before stretching out my arms and legs. It wasn't long before I remembered where I was: hospital.

Nathan wasn't by my side anymore, he had left and I had no clue where too. I saw two short nurses by my mum's side, one checking her pulse and the other pouring milk into her cereal and stirring her coffee. The feeling of relief took over as I saw my mum was alright. As I stood, the nurses became aware that I had woken up and told me that my brother went to get him and myself something to eat and drink. For a moment, I was confused because the only brother I had was Kevin. Then it clicked, yesterday, Nate had told the nurses he was my brother. I nodded at them before they left, leaving me alone with my mother.

"I'm so sorry, I should have been there," I whispered to my mum who was sat up in her hospital bed. "I should have stayed home."

"Don't be sorry," my mum told me, her voice kind of rough. "It would have happened whether you were there or not. Plus, my condition can't keep you from living your life."

"I know, but..." I mumbled whilst tucking the tired black thin hair behind her ear. Just as I was to continue, she interrupted me.

"No buts," she laughed lightly but ended up coughing. It tugged at my heart to see how weak she was and how she could die any time soon. She took a sip of her tea and asked, "And what's this about Nathan being your brother?"

"Ah, the nurses wouldn't let him stay unless he was a relative," I explained, mentally laughing to myself about how it must have looked the way we slept on the chairs, extremely close.

"I didn't want to bring this up, Lilian but... I'm going to die," she told me. No shit, Sherlock. "I mean, any time soon. It could be today, it could be tomorrow. It could have been yesterday."

"Mum, we you don't have to talk about this," I told her, pretending I didn't want her to worry when it's me who's upset about it.

"Baby, I've given you everything I own in my will. I don't have much, it's just the house. The house is worth a lot, though. You can't have it until you're legally allowed to own it but until then, someone will keep the key. It's yours. I don't know, maybe when you're older, you can live in it," she told me, smiling ever so slightly at me and not because it wasn't genuine but because she was tired and worn out. "Or if you don't want to live there, you can sell it."

"Mum, you don't have to-," I began but she cut me off.

"I want too," she told me, her voice softening up. "I've made so many mistakes with you and I know a house can't make up for it but it's the least I can do."

She cupped my face with her hands and planted a soft kiss on my forehead and whispered something in my ear that I couldn't understand. I would have asked her what she had told me but the moment was too perfect to spoil.

After my mum and I's moment, she had told me to go find Nate, let him know I was awake. Doing what she said, I wandered down the hospital corridor in search for Nate. I didn't know where the hospital canteen was because I hadn't been here since Nate broke his leg but I soon worked it out, thanks to the signs.

I saw Nate standing in the cafeteria queue. He was the last in the queue and was holding a tray with what looked like two coffees and two sandwiches. Creeping up behind him, making sure he didn't hear me and also making sure I didn't look like a complete idiot, once I was close enough, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him from behind. He jumped slightly and almost spilt the coffees. As he turned around, I gave him an apologetic grimace. He just rolled his eyes at me, shaking his head and smiling.