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A little girl sat next to her brother on a bench.
Waiting.
Her head rested on his shoulder as she pondered all the possible ways things could be alright.
"Do you think mommy is going to be okay?" She asked.
The young boy sighed. "I hope so."
"C'mon kiddos. Your mother wants to see you."
Their Grandpa invited them to see their mother. The two carefully approached the hospital room, anticipating what they would find. The little girl grabbed onto her brother's arm like a koala and squeezed it tight. Depending on her brother to be the only person to comfort her in the moments ahead.
She fought the tears but failed. What laid in front of her was a women. But she was not the mother she knew. She was not mother who would dance around kitchen with them. Or the mother who would sing them lullabies at night. Not the mother who would tell stories about their father. Or the mother who would stargaze with them. She was not the mother who would jam out to ABBA with her daught at midnight. Or the mother who whispered I love you with a tender kiss on the forehead.
It wasn't her.
"Have you been fighting with the other boys again?" She asked the boy, who put his head down.
"Peter?"
"They killed a frog Ava was playing with. They smashed it with a stick. Then they pushed Ava and told her she was a stupid baby." He mumbled before he looked at his sister.
Their mother sighed. "You're just like you're Dad. He was an angel." She then started to sing something that was hard to understand.
"Merideth, you got presents for Ava and Pete don't ya?" Their Granpa refocused as there wasn't a lot of time for the women.
The women could barely move but her cold, lifeless fingers twitched next to the two wrapped gifts. Their Grandpa helped her out, putting them both in Peter's backpack.
"You both open it when I'm gone okay?" She whispered. As the two children nodded. But Ava didn't want to accept reality.
She wasn't ready for her mother to be gone.
"You're Grandparents are going to take good care of you both. Just until you're Daddy comes back to get you." She reassured as she proceeded to lift her hand toward Ava and Peter.
"Take my hand."
Ava stepped forward and grabbed it.
"You're going to be okay mommy." Ava's voice cracked as she realized what was going to happen, even at her age. Tears fell out of her small blue eyes and her nose started to run. Little sobs came out of her mouth as this was her last moment with her mother.
