Chapter 15
I scrambled to dial 911 with shaking hands.
"911 please state the nature of your emergency." The police operator said in a calm tone.
"My mother isn't breathing! I need help!" I yelled into the phone.
"I need you to remain calm, where are you located and why is your mother not breathing?" She demanded.
"I'm at the Aquawater apartments, apartment D3. My mother has advanced stage cancer and she's not breathing!" I repeated. "Please I need help."
"Try to remain calm young lady I know you are scared but help is on the way, do you know CPR?" She questioned.
"I took some classes in school." I stammered trying to recall the training I had been given. "I'm not sure I remember though."
"I'll walk you through it does your phone have speaker capabilities?"
"Yes." I answered pressing the button. "You're on speaker now."
"Okay follow my instructions exactly, this will help keep her from having permanent damage." She said.
I don't know exactly how long it took the paramedics to get there but it seemed like forever, I stayed on the line with the operator who kept reassuring me and coaching me in what to do. Finally the EMT's arrived and took over as I paced back and forth waiting for some kind of news, they kept talking back and forth saying a bunch of stuff that I really didn't understand. Minutes past by and we all hustled downstairs into the ambulance on the way to the hospital, I watched as they finally got her breathing and set up an IV.
We arrived at the hospital and my mother was carted off into the back emergency room while I waited anxiously outside, I wanted to call my friends for support but I was barely holding myself together as it was, I just knew that if I called them I would lose it completely.
Hours past by before the doctor came out and in a second I knew that he didn't have good news for me before he reached me I started crying uncontrollably as I fell backward into the seat behind me.
"Ms. Holt?" He questioned.
I looked up with my face full of tears and my eyes puffed. "Yes."
"I'm sorry Ms. Holt but there is nothing more we can do for your mother, it is only a matter of minutes now. We tried everything but the cancer is to far gone."
"Couldn't she survive on a respirator?" I asked.
"She could but I'm afraid even if she were to wake up she wouldn't be the woman you knew, I don't know how long she had been without oxygen when you found her but even now she is brain dead." He reasoned.
"I don't care! I want her on a respirator!" I demanded.
"I'm afraid that I can't do that." He answered shaking his head.
"Why not? I can find a way to pay for it!"
"It's not a matter of money Ms. Holt, your mother signed a DNR when she found out about the cancer and how progressive it was." He answered.
"What the hell is a DNR?"
"It is a do not resuscitate order which means if she were to die we were ordered not to try and bring her back, as it is I have not followed that order right now so you have time to say your goodbyes." He whispered. "Unless of course you prefer not to."
"No?" I cried quietly. "I want to say goodbye how long do I have?"
"I'll give you five minutes. Please follow me." He said ushering me through the double doors.
I walked in silence trying to think of all the things I would like to say to her, would she know what I was saying? I wasn't sure but either way I wanted to do it.
The doctor opened a door for me where my mother was laying on a bed only breathing and alive in any sense of the word because of the machines she was hooked up to, the doctor left and gave me privacy as I slowly walked over to her bedside.
"Mom, I had a hundred things I to say when I got in here but now the only thing I want to say is I love you and I'm going to miss you so very much. I feel like we were robbed of time, finally we broke through the barrier I had created between us and now it's too late. I wish that you could know how sorry I am for the lost years and how I wish we could have them back, I love you mom and I don't know how to get through everything that's happening without you, I don't have you to lean on now, I don't have the money to pay for the lawyer and my life is just falling apart." I said lying on her stomach. "Goodbye mother, I love you."
Just as I finished the doctor walked back in patting me on the back. "I'm sorry for your loss, we have to make arrangements for your mother but that can wait until later, please leave a contact number with your information with the nurse."
I just nodded my head as I walked out the door in a trance to the nurses' station and jotted down my information before walking out into the waiting room where my lawyer was waiting for me.
"I'm so sorry Alex." He said.
"How did you know we were here Mr. Gonzales?" I asked walking up to him.
"I was on your mothers contact list were anything to happen of this nature." He replied.
"I'm sorry Mr. Gonzales?"
"Felix." He said.
"Felix, I'm sorry but I can't afford to pay you for the trail any longer." I said beginning to cry.
"Don't worry Alex, I am taking this case on probono." He said, then noticing the confused look on my face he continued. "It means I am taking the case on for free."
"Why?"
"You know my reasons Alex and they haven't changed except for adding to it." He smiled.
"Adding to the reason?"
"In memory of your mother." He answered. "Now let's get you home you have a long week ahead of you."
He drove me home and despite my grief or because of it I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow.
The next morning I went to school hoping that it would keep my mind busy and the sadness at bay but it didn't work, word spread fast about my mother's death and everyone made it a point to console me. The day dragged on and all that was on my mind was how I was going to arrange and pay for my mothers funeral, I know she had saved a little bit of money but I didn't know what bank it was in or if I would even be able to access it.
After school ended Hal walked me to the car without a word allowing me space even though he was with me, it was a comfort to know he was there if I needed him. When we reached the car he opened the door for me.
"Alex." He said handing me an envelope.
I opened the envelope to find it full of money. "What's this?" I said surprised at the sight of the cash.
"It's four hundred bucks that I have saved up over the last year, I know it's not a whole lot of money but hopefully it can help you with the funeral arrangements." He answered.
"I can't take this."
"Sure you can, your mother was a good person who always treated me great and I care about you." He said turning a shade of red.
The second he finished talking all the things he had said and done for me over the long years we knew each other came rushing back to me. All the many times he stood up for me, fought for me, consoled me when I was down and even when I was hard to be around he stuck by me and for the first time since I had known him I saw him in a different light. I realized that he was the guy I should have been with all along, why hadn't I seen it before? Again it was another relationship I had taken for granted and I wasn't about to lose another second, so suddenly I jumped on him giving him the biggest kiss I could.
"I'm sorry that it took me so long to realize that you are the person I should have always been with." I said as we finished kissing.
"You were worth the wait." He smiled holding me in his arms.
"You sure?" I smiled.
"Positive." He answered kissing me again. "What are you going to do now?" He asked hoping that it was going to be something involving the two of us.
"I have to get home and make some calls so I can figure out what I'm going to do for my mom." I answered.
"I'll call you later tonight then?" He questioned.
"You better." I answered giving him a last peck on the lips before getting in the car.
I watched him walk away with a smile on my face until m
y phone starting ringing. "Hello?"
"Hello, is this Ms. Alexandria Holt?"
"Yes, how can I help you?"
"Ms. Holt my name is Holden Grace, I am the executor of your mothers will, would it be at all possible for you to come into my office so we can discuss things?"
"Ah sure." I answered, I had never thought about her having a will but it made sense given how cleverly she had hid things from my father. "When would you like me to come in?"
"The sooner the better." He answered.
I agreed to come in right then, he gave me the address and I was on my way.
When I walked in the office Holden himself greeted me, he was an older man with salt and pepper hair, he had a grace and kindness about him that had me trusting him instantly.
"I'm sorry we have to meet under these circumstances but all too often that is when I met new people I'm afraid." He said shaking my hand gently.
"That must be hard." I sympathized.
"At times it is." He answered with a troubled look on his face. "But enough about me, why don't you come back to my office, there's someone who wants to speak with you."
The Life Of Alexandria Drama Of Epic Proportion Page 15
