Tu Es Mon Soleil - Chapter 37

The red light was still on. 5 hours had passed, but the surgery was still going on. A nurse would occasionally come out from behind the doors to deliver the progress of the surgery to Portia's family. So far, the news that they heard was the positive ones.

At the moment, people that were gathered together and waiting anxiously, were both of Portia's parents, her grandparents, Ellen, Regina, and Jennifer. Regina understood that Ellen was in need of every last bit of support she could possibly get right now. And that's what Regina was giving her bestfriend right now.

Ellen put both of her elbows on her thighs and cradled her head in both hands. Her mind was traveling to the time before Portia entered the surgery room. After both of her parents had hugged, kissed, and prayed for her, Portia turned her head towards Ellen and had asked her to come closer quietly.

During the surgery preparation, Ellen had maintained her distance with Portia. She was relieved and thrilled that Portia wouldn't have to wait any longer for a perfect heart donor to replace hers. But deep inside her heart, Ellen was terrified. The surgery for heart transplantation wasn't an everyday surgery. What if a complication occurred? What if....? For god's sake, why did she have to think about the worst possibilities?

Ellen had walked up to Portia's bed and smiled to her. And then she reached for Portia's hand and gently clutched it. Portia's hand felt tiny, fragile, and cold.

Portia smiled a bit. With her other hand, she had touched Ellen's cheek. "Come here," she'd whispered. Ellen had leaned closer and let Portia embraced her neck with one arm while she buried her face on Portia's bony shoulder. And then Ellen heard Portia whispered in her ear, "Wish me luck."

Ellen had stepped back a bit to look into Portia's eyes. "I'll wait for you. Good luck. And.... come back to me."

Portia's eyes had glistened with tears, but she smiled and pressed her cold lips against Ellen's cheek for a while before finally retrieved herself.

And now, Ellen was sitting in the waiting room in agony. She looked around the room and saw the same uneasiness in everyone's faces there. Ellen looked down to the white floor again. How many hours more?

I hope she's okay.

I hope she's okay.

I hope she's okay.

I hope she's........

Suddenly Dr. Schultz stepped into the waiting room, cutting off Ellen's prayers. She absent-mindedly jolted up to her feet and marched towards the doctor along with Portia's family members.

"The surgery went well," Dr. Schultz soothed the people that were swarming around him. "Everything went on as expected and we have done everything we possibly could. A new heart is already beating inside Portia's body. All we need to do right now is to wait and keep an eye on her condition during the next week. And hope that Portia's body won't reject the new heart that was given to her."

It seemed like everybody felt relieved far too soon. Including Ellen.

3 days later, the doctors found that Portia's body did reject her new heart.

The doctors were profoundly sorry to say that there was nothing else they could do to save her.

And Portia never woke up again ever since.