Catherine

13

Blake, Eric and Mrs. Chandler rushed to him.

"Is my baby alright?" Mrs. Chandler, through her quivering lips, stuttered. Blake and Eric nervously waited for the doctor's response.

"Ms. Chandler is alright." All of them let out a breath of relief. "But," the doctor continued, "She could become worse anytime therefore we must be cautious. She'll be required to stay back here for a few more days until she is stable."

"That is alright. Thank you so much doctor." Mrs. Chandler thanked him through her tears of happiness. The doctor nodded and left.

Maria Chandler

Maria could not help but cry, looking at the state of her daughter.She leaned on the door watching, with her heart breaking a little more every second.  She wanted to be strong for her, but it was hard. She was stressed out, sad, lonely and helpless. But she would go on. Anything for her daughter.

 A few more days in the hospital meant that she had to work overtime, or she will not be able to handle the expense. She wanted to be at Catherine's side. But she can't.

 She was so thankful that Cat understood. Cat understood the hardships that her mother goes through to keep her alive. She understand the sadness that her mother goes through, knowing that her daughter will soon be gone. She understands that her mother is tired and helpless. And she couldn't be any more thankful for all that her mother does. Never had she complained that her mother is not there most of the time. And Maria is so grateful for that.

Maria walked slowly toward the bed and sat down on the chair next to it. She picked up Cat's hand and kissed it with love.

"My sweetheart, I love you. I love you with all my heart. Honey, I hope you know that I'm trying. I'm trying my best. Please forgive me that I'm not here for you. It 's just, I don't want you to leave. You're the only piece of Lucas that I have left. I'm trying to keep you alive because-" She broke down. She couldn't control her tears anymore. She tries to continue, "Because you're the only thing that's keeping me alive."

Catherine

Cat felt dizzy. She could feel herself coming back into consciousness. She opened her eyes and saw the familiar white ceiling of her hospital room. She turned her head slowly and looked around. She was alone. 

She tried lifting her hand but she couldn't. She felt very weak.

Suddenly the door opened and her mother walked in. Her eyes widened as she saw her daughter awake. With a huge smile, she rushed to her

"Cat, darling, are you alright? How are you feeling, honey?" She asked while taking Cat's hand gently and caressing it. Cat weakly nodded. 

"Let me get you a glass of water. You scared me to death, Cat. I thought I'd never see you again." Maria felt tears brimming up her eyes again. She stood up and turned around to pour her a glass of water, trying not to let Cat see her cry. She blinked a few times until they've gone away. "But I now know," She continued, "You're not going to up so easily, are you?" 

Cat smiled at her, weakly. Her mother looked at her, proudly, "That's what I thought." 

"You know, Blake and Eric were here too. They left just a while back." She spoke with a chuckle, "Well, no. Actually, I forced them out. It was getting too late and I didn't want their parents to get worried."   

Cat smiled wider. "Try to sleep, honey. You need rest." Her mother advised. Cat needed no more persuasion as she was already tired. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber.

Next morning, Cat woke up to the voices of her two friends. Wait, what? Friends? When did Blake become her friend? This makes her wonder. Why was the person who bullied her even here? Why does he care? Was it pity? Well, she had to find out. 

"Shut up! I'm sitting here, can't you see? So, you have to sit somewhere else!" Blake whispered to Eric, who was clearly annoyed that he wasn't getting the chair.

"No! You get up. I was here first!" Eric whisper-yelled back at him.

"Yeah, but you weren't sitting here."

"Still I came- CAT" Eric finally noticed that she was awake.

Blake looked her quickly and gave a huge smile.

"You're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Like crap." She croaked out. Eric rushed to the table that had the jug of water and quickly poured a glass for her.

"Can you help me sit?" She asked Blake. He quickly got up and helped her. Eric came back with the glass of water and helped her drink it.

He sat back on the chair before Eric could claim it. Eric gave an annoyed look while he grinned at him in mockery.

"Caaaaaat, you have to let me sit there! I was here first. So I should be sitting there! And now I have nowhere to sit!" He complained.

"It's okay, Eric. Let him sit there. You weren't sitting there as I heard. He sat there first." Cat softly told him with a smile. Eric glared at Blake and Blake smirked smugly at him. She continued, "You can sit here on the bed with me."

This threw Blake's smirk right off his face and Eric's lit up brighter than a Christmas Tree. Cat chuckled.

"By the way, why aren't you guys in school?" She asked with her eyes narrowing.

"Meh, who needs school?" Eric rolled his eyes.

"You guys have already skipped two days. Go to school, you two." Cat scolded.

"Oh, come on." Both of them grumbled.

"Nope. Both of you. Out. Now. School is not a joke, guys. Take it seriously!" 

"Fine!" Eric sighed, getting up. "Come on, Blake. Let's go."

Both of them turned to leave. 

"And Blake," Cat called out softly.

"Hmm?"He turned around.

"Don't even thing about it!"

He groaned and left.

********

OMG GUYS! I AM SO SORRY! I've been gone for a little while. Okay, Maybe not a little while. IT WAS TWO FREAKING YEARS! Sorry, sorry sorry! It's just been busy with school and stuff. But hopefully, updates maybe faster now. 

So as an apology, I gave you a long chapter! Hope you enjoyed ! :D