[Music: dicine By Daughter]
I walked the corridor; nurses, doctors, and patients passed by like a blur. I was sluggish in my steps because I didn’t need to make haste.
No one has seen her since yesterday or anywhere else in the hospital, but I knew where she would be right at this mont.
I made a turn in the hallway and found Athena standing close to a room. I wavered for a few minutes, sensing she would wanna be alone, but my body scread at to get moving, so I did.
I stood beside her, watching the room through the glass window. Inside, Adrian was hooked up to the machines, unconscious.
Monitors beeped steadily, tracking his heartbeat and oxygen levels. A clear tube ran beneath his nose, helping him breathe, while an IV line dripped slowly into his arm. Wires were attached to his chest, rising and falling faintly with each breath.
My heart broke seeing him like this; he looked so small and vulnerable against the white sheet, clinging helplessly to everything attached to him as the only hope.
This was a sight no mother could bear to see.
"I had a talk with Ares once..." Athena began, even though I expected her to be completely muted. "I told him that I have always wondered what it’s like to be a mother. I never got the chance... so I asked him if I could have done a good job. I had no idea why I asked such a silly question like that; it just ca to on a whim."
A smile stretched her lips, but it was the saddest I have ever seen. Athena was always the kind of person who never bothered about anything and always smiled through every situation.
I thought she was crazy because her amusent emanated from even the worst monts, but now I knew why.
Athena made the best of every crisis.
Just like five years ago, while acting as Mrs. King, I wore a mask, the sa one she wore now but I could see the cracks.
"Did you know what Ares told ?" She tilted her head as if picturing that mont right now. "He said I’m protective, and that is one quality a mother should have."
A smile captured my lips. "He’s right..."
Athena chuckled and then, suddenly, like a fast-changing weather, her smile faded, blue eyes turning hollow with endless sorrow and despair, so heavy I could feel the weight of it crushing from where I stood.
"H-He was r-right there, Cat..." Her shivering, shattered voice felt like knives piercing through my heart. "R-Right there... not far away or in heaven where they say babies go to. He was on earth, having his first cries, walk, words, and calling soone else mother."
Athena shook her head slowly, squeezing her eyes shut as she unleashed a sharp exhale. When she opened them again, tears softly ran down her face.
"This doesn’t make any sense. I lost it, Cat." Her eyes connected with mine. "I lost my baby. I woke up, and I’m told that my baby didn’t survive, and to spare grief, they couldn’t show him to . On second thought, now that I think about it... It does make sense. But I couldn’t imagine it would turn out like this... and all it took was a blood transfusion."
"Athena..."
"I never lost him. I was never denied the chance to be a mother, nor did I lose a piece of myself, a piece that was forced on , but he was my baby, and none of that mattered. It was the one good thing that ca out of a loveless marriage. One. Good. Thing."
Athena moved her broad eyes back to the window and murmured the sa words under her breath, as if it were the only light she had ever had. "One good thing. Ripped from by that witch as if plaguing my brother wasn’t enough for her. She told I was a sha to the King’s na because I lost a child, right to my fucking face... she condemned how I couldn’t protect my own child. For twelve fucking years, Adrian was hers. My Adrian. Was hers."
I couldn’t offer any words. Athena was spiraling, and all I could do was watch.
She pointed to the room, locking her teary gaze with mine. "And now he’s in there..."
I breathed heavily, stepping close to her.
"I-I don’t know if he’s gonna live or if I’m gonna have the chance to talk with him or ever hear his voice again. Have the chance to beco a—"
I hugged her tightly, and even as she tried to fight off, my grip only constricted, and then she held as if her life depended on it, as if letting go would cause her world to collapse, so I didn’t let go, bringing her as close as possible, not until we were distracted by the machines suddenly going wild, alarms whirring.
We broke apart, and found out it was from Adrian’s room.
"Nurse!" I scread for them, and in less than a second, they scampered into the room.
"Cat?" Athena asked mindlessly. "W-What’s going on?"
"He’s in cardiac arrest!"
They started CPR imdiately.
"No pulse."
"We’re losing him!"
"Get the defibrillator. Now!"
The machine was wheeled in, pads pressed to his chest.
"Clear!"
A sharp jolt ran through his body. The line on the monitor jumped... then fell flat again.
"Again. Charge!"
"Clear!"
Another shock. Stronger this ti. Adrian’s body lifted slightly, then dropped back against the bed.
The line didn’t move. Not even a little jump. No matter how much I anticipated that pick.
"Charge!"
"Clear!"
Adrian’s body jerked. His hand moved... I swore his hand moved, but the monitor held steady... red line flat, giving a ringing in my ears.
I slowly dragged my attention to Athena, who was unmoving, eyes broad like she was coming between shock and a breakdown.
"Again. Last one."
A sharp rising hum shrouded the air, the machine powering up, and when the pads were positioned, a thump followed, echoing deeply in my head.
Everything went slowly as the final jolt passed through Adrian’s body, and when he dropped back against the bed, his head turned towards our direction.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
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