Loving Him

Chapter 7

  "It's your sister..."

    Sophie's body froze, her heart beating loudly and her ears ringing as fear consumed her.

    "H-Hope? What happened to her?" her voice was weak, almost too afraid to ask.

    "I don't know. She...she..." Her mum sobbed, unable to complete the statement.

    Sophie tried to calm her, even though she was nowhere near calm herself. "It's okay, mum. Just calm down. Everything will be fine. I'm coming, okay? I'm coming."

    Her mum kept sobbing.

    'I'm coming, okay?" Sophie repeated and ended the call when there was no reply.

    Sophie stood paralyzed, her brain scrambled as she couldn't think of what to do, her mind was conjuring up the worst possible scenario.

    "Sophie? Is everything alright?"

    She jerked back to reality at the sound of Raymond's voice. She looked over to see the both of them giving her worried looks. She realized she had zoned off, just staring into space.

    "I'm fine. Everything's fine."

    "Are you sure? 'Cause your hands are shaking," Raymond said, a concerned look on his face.

    Sophie stared down at her hands and sure enough, they were trembling, her phone only a second from falling off.

    Her brain finally decided to start working again. "I... I have to go."

    "Are you sure everything's--"

    She cut off his words, already searching for her bag, "Yes, I have to go, I'm sorry. I'll see you tomorrow."

    "Let me drive--"

    But Sophie was already out the door.

*     *     *
    "Mummy!"

    Her mom who had been sitting on a chair with her head bent jerked up at the sound of her daughter's voice, standing and hurrying over to Sophie who engulfed her in a hug, her mum weeping on her shirt.

    "Shh...Everything will be okay," Sophie cooed,  her voice surprisingly calm despite the turmoil that was going on within her.

    She held her mother for what seemed like hours until she finally calmed down. Sophie led her back to the chair to sit, her eyes already puffy from crying.

    "What happened? Where's Hope?"

    Her mum sniffed, wiping her eyes. "I got a call from the hospital while I was in the market telling me she had developed some complications and that I should hurry over. I have been here for over an hour already and they've not come out of that room at all. I'm scared, Tilewa. What if this is really fatal? What if--"

   Sophie shushed her mum, hugging her again. "Nothing's going to happen to her, mum. Hope is one of the strongest people I know. She's going to fight through whatever this is, okay?"

   Her mum nodded. Her energy drained, she just sat there, resting her head on her daughter's bosom. Sophie felt pity for this woman who had been through a lot raising them, she really didn't deserve all this.

    What seemed like an eternity later, the doctor finally emerged from the hospital room and when they asked about Hope, he asked them to come into his office.

    Once seated, he said to them, "Your daughter is fine, ma. We've managed to stabilize her and she's responding to treatment again."

    Sophie saw her mother's shoulder sag in relief.