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The gloomy but silent faces of everyone, most especially Olivia rattled her. She took cautious steps forward, scanning from one face to the other in search of an answer but couldn’t make sense of their grief or the reason her relatives chose to assemble in the house. Her heartbeat was racing and her body was trembling slightly as she imagined the worse.

“Geez! Oly,” Ella called Olivia by her pet name when she finally got to her. “Have you been crying for long?”

Ella was greatly alarmed when she saw Olivia’s swollen and reddened eyes up close. The dried marks of old tears lined her face and her nose was red and looking overworked. Her legs were shaking with her hands clasped in between them. She looked up at Ella, shook her head from side to side, and started crying all over again.

“Oly, stop this at once!” Ella cuddled and scolded Olivia at the same time. She gently stroked Olivia’s hair and kissed it severally, while Olivia molded into her sister’s arm like a baby in need of attention. “You could run a fever if you keep at this.”

While Ella was still trying to soothe her sister and asked again in a slightly raised and irked tone.

“Can someone tell me what the hell is happening here? By the way, where are dad and mum?”

“Dad is dying!” Olivia whispered between sobs and mum is with him in the hospital.

Boom!

.....

Crash!

Ella heard something explode and shatter into a million pieces. She looked around in panic but nothing was physically broken. She shut her eyes tight and closed her ears with both hands as though she was protecting her eardrum from a harsh sound. Then released her ears, shook her head, and listened again. “That can’t be my heart shattering or could it? No, it can’t.” She mumbled.

“Ella,” Olivia sat up and looked keenly into her misty eyes. She could see Ella’s hand trembling and her lips were moving. However, Ella’s voice came out as a whisper and she couldn’t make sense of what Ella was saying.

“Did you understand what I said? Dad is dying! He has been sick all this while and he never told us. I don’t think he will survive tomorrow.”

Ella’s trembling became vigorous as all of Olivia’s words fell on her already shattered heart. She stared at Olivia in awe with her mouth open and eyes flowing with tears. She started laughing hysterically and stood up.

“You are joking! This is all one big joke! You all got me! I give up!” Ella ignored her traumatized sister and tried to live the sitting room before a pair of hands grabbed her on the arm and pulled her into his arm for a warm embrace.

Ella turned around intending to scold the person but her words got stuck in her throat. Instead of words, more tears flowed down her cheeks as she stared into the eyes of her uncle, Moses.

Uncle Moses was known to take everything in life very seriously. He wasn’t the type to joke or play around. His darkened and misty eyes confirmed Olivia’s hurtful words.

“No!” Ella sniffed and tried to free herself from his grip.

“Ella, you have to be strong for your mum and sister. Your dad has a few hours to live. He wants to see you before he...”

“Don’t say that! Don’t you dare say that!” Ella threatened in a trembling voice. “My dad is alright. I spoke to him two days ago and he sounded fine. He told me that he will be going on a trip. So you see, you all are wrong.” Ella lamented.

“I was there when you spoke to him.” Uncle Moses gently stroked Ella’s head to calm her down.

“Your dad was referring to something totally different when he told you that he was going on a trip. The trip he meant is a journey to the world beyond. The symptoms of his illness became severe about four months ago when you left for school. He didn’t want to disturb your academic work when things got out of hand. He wanted you to be focused and succeed. All he prayed that all he paid for was to see you one last time before he finally succumbs to the cold hand of death.

“No, you’re lying! Let go of me!” Ella twisted and turned her arm to set herself free.

“If you don’t come with me right now to the hospital, you might miss your last chance of saying goodbye to your dad.” Uncle Moses warned in a stern but compassionate tone. “Also, your sister had been waiting for you ever since she arrived earlier. She wants only you to go with her to the hospital.”

“No!” Ella’s weak and trembling knees gave way and she would have fallen to the ground if not for the swift intervention of her uncle.

Uncle Moses led Ella in his arm to the couch; where Olivia was sitting and still crying hopelessly. He consoled both sisters until they were a bit calm before escorting them to the hospital.

When both sisters and a few relatives arrived at the hospital, only Ella and Olivia were granted access to Terry’s private ward.

Immediately Ella caught sight of her father in his bedridden state, she broke down in fresh tears.

“Oh daddy, this can’t be you! I must be having one of my terrible nightmares. I need to wake up! Please, tell me to wake up!” Ella sobbed bitterly.

The different wires connected to various beeping machines made her heart curl and her eyes spin. The suddenly aged body of the most vibrant man she had ever known lay on the hospital bed like vegetables on a chopping board waiting to be thrown into a hot boiling pot of soup.

Besides her father laid her distraught mother as if she was a patient whose only means of survival was sharing a hospital bed with a fellow patient. Both her hand were firmly wrapped around his free arm as if she had decided to go to the world beyond with him. Her head was buried in the sheet and she did not move or talk when she heard the voice of her daughters.

Olivia shook her head and cried silently as she watched her parent’s pathetic state. This time around, she with burdened with the responsibility of consoling Ella.

Olivia understood the irreplaceable bond Ella shared with her father. She knew that Ella would be the most affected if their dad died. She feared that Ella might never visit Springchad again if the number one person that Inspires her suddenly dies.

“Calm down Ella,” Olivia sniffed. “You know that I’ll always be here for you.”

“Ella, Olivia, come... close so that I can see your... beautiful faces one... last time,” Terry spoke in a weakened tone.

He was so weak and sick that he could only move his eyes without causing his body so much pain. Seeing his daughters weeping, broke his heart into a million pieces. He had never wanted to end his life on the hospital bed. He had dreamt of living up to an old ripe age so that he could have a lot of fun with his grandchildren.

However, at that moment, he knew his time was almost up as he could feel his spirit slowly leaving his body.

Ella and Olivia obediently moved closer as instructed by their father. They held onto each other for emotional and physical support.

As they got to the edge of the bed and stared down at their father with watery eyes, he smiled at them and said; “I love... you both with... all... my heart. Take care of... each other and your mum. I will see you in... the afterlife my a...a...a...”

“Dad!” Olivia called out.

“Daddy!” Ella screamed.

“Terry!” Maggie who was thought to be sleeping beside her sick husband screeched.

All three started shaking the dead man to come back but his soul had already left his body.

It took a lot of hospital staff members to pull Maggi free from her dead husband. When she was finally separated from her husband, she went into a temporal cardiac arrest. Hence, Maggie was bedridden for another two weeks after her husband’s death.

As expected, Maggie stole all of Olivia’s attention throughout the mourning period and the burial ceremony of Terry Porter. She didn’t give Olivia a single moment of freedom to sit and console her sister. If not for Abigail and a few relatives that encourage Ella, she would have been totally abandoned.

The fact that Terry’s last words were never completed when he finally succumbed to death, hunted Ella so much. She wished that she could wake him up to finish that last statement. Also, she never stopped blaming herself for delaying that last-minute visit to the hospital before her dad died.

Hence, after the burial, Ella never returned to Soringchad again due to her painful memories, not until her mum reached out to her.