Fan Fiction |
by TheTruthLies
Alan shot up. “What?” He saw Ah Sze in front of him. “Ah Sze?”
She nodded. “She’s asleep.”
Alan looked down at Hailey. “Yeah, she is.”
“She looks so much like you when she sleeps.”
He smiled. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I guess I was tired.”
“I could tell.”
“Would you like to hold her?”
“No, Alan. No.”
“Why not? She’s our daughter.”
“I’m afraid that if I do, it would make it harder for me to part from this world.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m leaving Alan.”
“Where are you going?”
“To a better place.”
“You can’t, what about Hailey? What about me?”
“I was supposed to go right after the accident, but I asked for more time for Hailey’s sake. I needed to make sure she was safe and cared for. Now that I know she’s well and taken care of, I can leave without any doubts or worry.”
“Don’t do this,” he cried.
“It’s not up to me or you to decide.”
“What about me? Don’t you love me anymore?”
“Alan, I’ve always loved you and always will. When you love someone it doesn’t mean that you have to be with them all the time. As long as you have them in your heart, that’s the most important thing and I know we’ll always have each other in our hearts.
“Yes, but it’s hard for me to let you go.”
“I’m not really going anywhere. You have me in your heart remember? Anytime you miss me, just look inside it and I’ll be there.
“But you made a promise remember? You promised that you would never let anything happen to yourself.”
“I remember, but I said it was for Hailey’s sake so I did keep my word. Now I need you to promise me something. Promise me that you will live on; that you will be the same old ambitious Alan, the one that always sets goals for himself and always determined to reach it. I want you to be happy, to enjoy life. Take care of Hailey for me. Raise her well so that she can be as great as her father. I know you can do it Alan. You’ve never let me down before. Don’t let me down now. Can you make this promise?” He couldn’t make eye contact with her. “Alan, look at me.”
He forced himself to look. His heart was turning inside out. It was heart wrenchingly painful. “I promise.”
“That’s my Alan,” she smiled. “Goodbye. Remember I never left.” She placed her hand on his heart. She slowly disappeared from sight.
“Ah Sze, Ah Sze!” He woke up. He had fallen asleep at Ah Sze’s bedside. He was still holding her hand. He looked at her heart monitor and it was still beeping. He wiped the sweat from his face. Thank God it was only a dream.
The doctor came in to do a daily check up. “Hello, Mr. Sum.” He checked her charts.
“How is she doing?”
The doctor frowned. “Unfortunately I haven’t been seeing any improvements.” Alan looked down. “Don’t worry; usually coma patients can stay perfectly normal for many years as long as they don’t have an infection.” The doctor took out a flashlight and shined it into each of her eyes. “Yep, same conditions.”
“Thanks doctor.”
“No problem.” The doctor left the two of them alone.
“Ah Sze, would you like to hear today’s news?” He smiled, “I’ll take the no response as a yes.” Alan took out the day’s newspaper and read it off to her.
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Hailey’s cry woke Alan up. He scrambled out of bed to get to Hailey, but accidentally stubbed his toe. He grimaced in pain. He hopped over to Hailey’s crib and picked her up. “Sshhh, it’s okay, daddy’s here.” She wouldn’t stop crying. He bounced her up and down. She continued. He put her on the bed and looked to see if she needed a diaper change, nope she was still clean. “Are you hungry?” Couldn’t be, she ate a couple hours ago. “What’s wrong Hailey?” He felt her forehead, nope she didn’t have a fever. He tried singing to her:
“Hush, little baby, don’t say a word, Papa’s going to buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird don’t sing, papa’s going to buy you a diamond ring,” it was no use. She refused to stop crying. Alan was running out of options. He called David for help. “Hey, sorry for calling you this late, but Hailey won’t stop crying. I’ve tried everything.”
“Is she sick?”
“She doesn’t have a fever or anything, her diaper is clean, and I fed her two hours ago. I even sang to her, but nothing is working.”
“Maybe you should call Dr. Chan and see if she can help.”
“Okay, thanks dad.”
But before he could call Dr. Chan his phone rang. “Hello? What?" His eyes widened. "I’ll be there.” He quickly hung up and called David again. “Hey, dad, it’s me again. The hospital just called me. They said that there are some complications with Ah Sze. They believe she has some sort of infection. I need to get to the hospital; can you get someone to baby sit Hailey?”
“Sure thing, bring Hailey over. I’ll go to the hospital with you.”
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(c) April 7, 2006 TheTruthLies