Twice Upon Them

Chapter 6 | Kayla | An Unexpected Meeting

Yes, I unpublished this chapter (sorry about that!). I didn't like the way I wrote it - I started off with Zahra's POV and it looked more like a filler chapter, and I think you guys deserve better especially after yet another long wait - so I decided to write a whole new chapter. Besides, I think this one is way better compared to my first draft.

Please inform me about any grammatical mistakes. I've typed this up in a hurry (and it's like midnight right now T_T).

Anyways, updates will be more frequent now!

Cover/banner made by @WiseLemon (thanks, I love it!).

Enjoy!

***

I was about thirteen when I started hating the sight of blood.

I vaguely remember why, though. I remember that Mom, Dad, and I went to the hospital to visit someone. She was really sick - I did not even know her at the time, but I felt anguish as I looked at her while she was in immense pain.

"The patient has experienced fever, fatigue, and weight loss for the past several weeks. She has been hospitalized for a total of three months and two days; we suspect that the symptoms she's displaying are of cancer, but we can't easily diagnose her yet since there may be another cause of her illness," the doctor briefly explained. "Let's just hope that it won't be as anything as serious as that."

Mom glanced at the woman hesitantly. She was now sleeping under the sheets of the hospital bed. Sweat started collecting on her forehead, and her nose was a bright pink. I looked at a nurse who examined a machine hooked up next to the woman. She then placed a nasal mask over the woman's nose after wiping her face with a wet towel. I bit my lip nervously and looked away, paying my full attention back to the woman's doctor.

"Are you sure? She used to be a friend of mine...She often complained about experiencing pain every now and then..." my mom relayed to the doctor.

The doctor - or more specifically, Dr. Craig, judging from his name tag - glanced at his patient. "Has she ever specified where she felt pain? Her family only knew that she was experiencing severe pain only a week prior to her hospitalization."

My dad intervened into the conversation between Dr. Craig and Mom."I remember a time when she had trouble breathing. As far as I know, she doesn't suffer from asthma. Could it be...?"

The doctor seemed to understand what he was hinting at, judging from his slow nod. "It could be. Her respiratory system is declining, and along with her fever, she has been coughing up blood. We haven't detected any tumors...but there is a possibility that she has lung cancer. I will run a few tests once she wakes up to confirm so."

"Who is she?" I asked my dad quietly.

"A friend," he responded briskly. "Don't worry about it."

"The patient has woken up," the nurse informed us. My eyes flit over to the woman, who was slowly blinking her eyes, trying to adapt to the harsh white lights in the room.

"Please bring her meal," the doctor replied before walking over to the woman. The nurse nodded in acknowledgement, and left the room silently. "How are you feeling, Sarah?" Dr. Craig inquired softly. "A little better?"

The woman, or more precisely, Sarah, merely nodded her head. Her name sounded very familiar. I asked my parents who she was.

"Just a friend," my dad reiterated. "Come on, Kayla, it's best we go home. Aren't you supposed to be staying at my apartment tonight?" It was only a year since my parents were divorced. Since then, I always stayed with Mom during the weekdays and spent time with Dad during the weekends. The two were still friendly towards each other, but I always noticed the uneasy tension between them.