"Laura, wake up, soone help, please help..." As the mories flooded back, I was certain that the gravely injured woman before was my first love—Laura. I couldn't help but start calling for the dical staff.
Thanks to the U.S. peacekeeping troops accompanying and my status as a TV reporter, the dical staff hurried over and began to prioritize her care. However, after a thorough examination, they could only give a helpless, silent shake of their heads.
"Sorry, your friend has three fatal injuries. There's no hope for survival. Please, take a mont to prepare... She might have a few minutes left." The rescue doctor removed his mask and spoke to in English.
"Laura, wake up, look at , it's Justin... Laura..." I believed in the bond we once shared, I believed that we still held a place in each other's hearts, our love had been that profound.
Perhaps it was my voice that reached her in her stupor, or maybe it was a final flicker of consciousness.
After I called out my na, Laura suddenly opened her eyes. She looked at weakly, disbelief in her gaze, blinking feebly.
"Justin Davis," she whispered my na weakly...
"Yes, it's , you..." I started to say 'hang in there,' but what was the point when she was beyond hope, with possibly only minutes left to live.
"Um... I... know... I'm... not going to make it... to see you again... it's good..." With her last bit of strength, Laura managed a faint smile.
"Yeah, I never thought I'd see you here... Where's your family?" Seeing Laura like this, I couldn't help but ask.
"The patient's situation is known to . Her family was once wealthy.
Unfortunately, her family mbers are all gone, killed in a bombing that destroyed their mansion," explained a local worker accompanying , perhaps seeing how weak Laura was and helping to clarify.
"Laura, tell , do you have any unfulfilled wishes? Tell , and I'll make sure they're t..." Tears began to stream down my cheeks, my heart shattered at this mont, as all the mories with Laura replayed in my mind...
"I... have two... wishes... my... son... is... in... Arica... studying. Please... look after him for ... I left him... with my parents... I'm not... confident... they'll care for him right. You know... my... parents, his whole family... are gone... he's alone in... Arica with no one... to look after him... "
"so... I'm entrusting him to you, if you don't mind... let him... be your child... to care for you in your old age."
Laura slowly narrated. Before the chaos of war, she had sent her son with her current husband to study in the U.S. to escape the conflict, coincidentally in my city, under the care of her parents who were sent living expenses annually.
Now, with her husband's entire family gone, only she remained, along with her elderly parents in Arica, who were materialistic and frivolous, barely managing without her support. Her brother was unreliable.
Thus, she preferred to trust , soone without any blood relation, over her own family.
And with the news of my infertility already known among classmates and friends, it wasn't surprising that Laura was aware. Perhaps, like , she had been keeping tabs on my life over the years.
Should I agree to raise her son? After all, I wasn't ready to adopt a child, especially one born from my first love and another man. I found myself hesitating, unsure of how to decide, given the suddenness of it all.
"Pfft..." Just then, Laura coughed up a mouthful of blood, her life force ebbing away. "Can you... promise ?" Laura's blood might have choked her lungs as she spoke breathlessly.
"I promise, I promise you..." Seeing Laura like this, and rembering the deep connection we once shared, how could I not agree? Even if I was reluctant.
"Good... this is... the money I've... saved over the years... not much... but not little... the PIN... is... my... birthday, do you... still... rember?" Laura trembled as she pulled a bank card from her pocket and handed it to . I held Laura's hand, tears streaming down my face, nodding continuously. Her birthday, the days we spent together, I would never forget.
"That's... good... consider it... your... paynt... give so... to my... parents, the rest... is for you..."
"And... my last... wish... can you... hold ? I want... to die... in your arms..." I had no words to say, I couldn't speak, I was sobbing uncontrollably.
I gently lifted Laura's upper body, letting her lean against . Laura's blood-stained hand weakly rose, using all her strength to gently touch my cheek.
"I've always... always... rembered you..." At that mont, I felt Laura's hand growing colder, losing its warmth.
"I have too, I've never forgotten you either..."
"To die... in your... arms... I... die... without regrets..."
"Rember... Lincoln Middle School... the na... Michael... Michael Justin Davis..." She used her last bit of energy to tell her son's na, then I felt her hand slip from my face.
I quickly looked down at her, she had peacefully and happily closed her eyes forever...
"Laura..." Seeing you is worse than missing you, leaving a forever longing...
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