It doesn't take me a long time to find Olivia. She's standing by the hospital's vending machine in the cafeteria, placing coins into it.

While  she's unaware of my presence, I feel the depth of my longing for her.

A few nurses and hospital visitors walk past me, blocking my vision of her and getting in my way.

“Olivia.”

She turns around, a moment of shock passing over her features, then relief, then a wave of sadness.

“Leo.” She breathes, her eyes meet mine, glossed and she doesn't have to say more. I see the heart in her eyes.

Everything blurs away, the hospital air, the nurses and  the distant sound of someone coughing.

Olivia runs to me, and before I take another step forward  I'm wrapped in Olivia's embrace. I've never known her hugs to be strong like this, to be as warm and as life-giving as  this.

It's in her arms that the strong heart I walked in  with melts.

I hold her closer, tighter, and she follows suit.

We stand there in the midst of chaos finding comfort in each other.

I think back to that time when I was having a panic attack due to exams, that time in the rain when I didn't want to go home and many more times. The times that Olivia tried to step in and I pushed her away because I didn't know how to receive comfort from anyone else.

Despite all that it's like Olivia learned to unravel the pain in my heart and bring light into the situation. Her comfort is something new and refreshing. A blessing.

The warmth of  her embrace almost makes me cry in a public place. She places a kiss on my forehead, as she pulls away, her lips linger, a skipped heart beat, only for her to place another kiss.

Her eyes hold mine, glimmering with heart, with hope and so much more.

“What do you need to hear right now?”

Her question isn't expected, it makes me pause and think, but nothing comes to mind. “I don't know Olivia.”

“Come on, think. What do you need to hear right now Leo?” She repeats with a gentle patience.

It takes me a while, but she's willing to wait that long. I look in her eyes, honest and deep, sharing the depth of my pain.

“ That Mkhulu's going to be alright. That I'm going to talk to him again and we'll all step out of this hospital. I need to hear that our story isn't over. That God's still written more days for the both of us.”

Olivia holds me by my shoulders, the tears in her eyes, escaping and falling on her cheeks. The smile she gives me doesn't waver but it's vulnerable. Then she tells me everything I need to hear right now, she repeats it back to me with  unwavering hope.

❄️❄️❄️

Olivia and I come back  with coffee and tea for everyone.We all sit outside Mkhulu's room by the waiting area and because there's nothing else to do we talk.

We talk because if we don't then we're all left alone, kept to our  thoughts and it gets darker by the second.

One by one, we all start sharing stories about Mkhulu, things about him that we love and hate. Things that he's done for us that many people don't know. We share the best memories we have with Mkhulu and that leads to the sound of sweet laughter erupting from our lips, the glimmer of joy and hope in our eyes and a light feeling settling over our heavy hearts.

When Doctor Dlamini and the nurses are done with the testing, he tells us that we can go in. He doesn't tell us to go in one by one, which is what he said before and which is what normally happens. I see the resignation  in his face, the stoic acceptance to Mkhulu not making it.

It's unfortunate that the man who's tasked with saving my grandfather's life doesn't  believe he will make it. It irks me.

So he tells us to all go in and that we should talk to him because he can hear us , because it'll stimulate his brain and might encourage him to wake up.

Mkhulu's heart monitor greets us when we step into the room, the sound of his breathing relieving. He doesn't look better but he doesn't look like he's deteriorating.

The gravity of the situation falls heavily on us as the eight of us fill the room, our eyes stuck on Mkhulu's frail injured form.

Olivia and I sit on the chairs, by the side of Mkhulu's bed, near the wilting white flowers.

Lucas and Dominique sit on the grey couch that faces towards Mkhulu. Alex and Pastor John stand with each other, talking amongst themselves.

Bina, Lisa and Mrs Van Der Merwe sit on the chairs they've brought into the room.

Olivia's grip in my hand is tight and reassuring. Ever since we came back with coffee, I haven't been able to let her leave my side. She hasn't left either.

Her grip has been comforting, her presence the only few things stopping me from breaking down. We haven't spoken much to each other, there's not much to say but at the same time there's a lot.

She doesn't know this but I heard everything she said in the call. I heard it and every time I look at her now, I can't help but see the heart in everything she does. The love.

“Is this your first time seeing him?” I ask Olivia.

“No. When we first came they let us see him one by one.”

I nod. Everyone in this room still seems shaken, like this is one horrible nightmare because it's a nightmare.

Olivia squeezes my hand,  and  I turn to look at her. “Say something to him.” She gestures towards my coma -induced grandfather.

“Like what?”

“Something? Anything? Just so that he knows that you're here.”

I want to tell her that it makes no difference. That I've tried and paid close attention to the slightest hint of him reacting to my words.

“I can't.” I say instead, weak.

Dominique stands from the couch, pulling up an empty chair and sitting on the other side of Mkhulu's bed. His eyes are red, his lips dry.

He looks at me with a shared grief, a shared love.

Dominique's voice cracks as he speaks  his words coming short. It's in that crack that a sob breaks  forth. The tears that glisten in his green eyes, trail down his cheeks.

In all our years of friendship, I have never seen Dominique cry. Never.

But with my Grandfather, laying on the hospital bed, practically lifeless. There's  no bright side  which Dominique could make a joke out of.

And somehow that made something within me shatter.

"I never had a Grandfather, Mr July. My grandparents  died before I knew what they were supposed to mean in my life but you..You're like the grandfather I never knew I needed. You're like the family I didn't know I was missing. You're...Mkhulu you're important to me and I'd like for you to stay.”

❄️❄️❄️

Bina speaks  next, her eyes dry from tears but through it all her voice wavers and shakes with the tremors of a sob. She mentions that Mkhulu became a brother  to her.

When Alex speaks, his voice comes out hoarse, like he's yelled and shouted and everything in him is whisped out.

We all continue sharing our memories that we have with Mkhulu. I watch every one strain their minds for the most memorable, genuine moments. I watch how Lucas even though he just met my grandfather —while he's in a coma—simply talk to Mkhulu like he's known him for ages.

It hits me like a wave, washing away every misguided thought. Through it all I've been quiet, having all the memories but not the ability to relay them without crying.

“Mkhulu,” I speak up and I swear it's like he's breathing gets louder but maybe it's just me hoping.

The room goes quiet, while Mkhulu's heart monitor sounds louder.  “I told you to stay for me. I always do. It's a selfish thing because that's all you've ever done, all you've dedicated your life to doing. You're always there for me, for people. It's the main factor in everyone's memories…you being there for them…”

Olivia squeezes my hand when I think I can't go on, she smiles, a soft gentle reassuring smile.

“You're one call away. You're the person we can all count on. Everyone in this room, even Lucas. I'm sure once you get to know him you'll try to be there for him in any way you can because that's who you are...I wanted you to wake up because I wanted you to stay with me but not anymore…”

“Mkhulu I want you to wake up and look around you. I want you to see all the people that are here for you, that are staying with you. I want you to open your eyes and know that you're loved and seen and appreciated and needed. We're here for you Mkhulu. I'm here for you. I'm right here, and I want you to see it.”

❄️❄️❄️

It's late evening in the hospital.

Olivia  is falling  asleep on my shoulder. Alex and Bina have left with Lisa for a quick shower and to fix a few things. Pastor John was unfortunately called for an emergency situation at church.

Lucas had to leave for a while but promised to be back. Dominique and his mother are eating an early dinner in the hospital's cafeteria.

Mkhulu's heart monitor still beeps, something I've come to love and hate. His breathing is still steady and I wonder if he's dreaming, hopefully good dreams while he's in such a deep sleep.

I'm whispering prayers out into the air, into the room that has seen a countless number of people die. Olivia prays with me, her prayers are soft, whispery prayers that don't reach my ears but reach the heart of God.

“Question 35.”

Olivia lifts her head off my shoulder, all of her dreariness gone. She looks at me like I've grown two heads.

“Leo, we don't have to—”

“Of all the people in your family” I start out, my tongue dry, “whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?”

My question hangs in the air, heavy, charged with the gravity of my situation.

Olivia's eyes are  filled with tears, like mine, her gaze is soft yet strong.

“My mother.” Olivia eventually answers. “ I love her the most, more than I know and she's the only one that keeps us together. Even though she  barely  expresses  her love for me, her love is the only one I'm sure of.”

She pulls her hand from mine, so she can wipe the stray tears away faster.

“I'm sorry,” she apologizes. “ I shouldn't be crying about this.  It's inconsiderate of me when—”

“Olivia, please don't apologize.”

She looks at me, nodding, wiping the last tear, she sniffles.

“Mkhulu.” I look at him as I answer the question, his frail bruised form gets blurred for a moment by the tears in my eyes.

“I can't imagine a world without him, Olivia. If he dies I think that I would die too. I don't want to live in a world without him because he's been my constant through the chaos of life, the reason I have a relationship with God and  the one that never gave up on me. I'm never going to get another Mkhulu.”

And then, I cry. Heart shattering sobs that shake the room awake. Olivia pulls into her warm embrace, words of comfort flying into my ear and right past it. It's not about her saying the right words.  It's about her love showing up when I need it the most.

Because of all that, I recover a lot faster, wiping the tears from my eyes. She gives me one last squeeze before she pulls away.

I'm about to express my gratitude but something happens. Mkhulu's heart monitor starts beeping a lot faster than it's ever been.

Olivia and I meet eyes, alarmed.

A frightening pause takes over us and then Mkhulu breathes, like he's breathing back to life. His head lifting up, his eyes opening for a fraction of a second.

“Doctor!” The two of us scream at the same time, panicking.

I quickly find the button that calls for a doctor and click it incessantly but seconds pass and no one comes in.

Suddenly all those nurses who were running up and down the hallway are gone. Olivia runs out, telling me she'll bring someone.

I almost leave with her but the racing  heart monitors  scares me. I can't risk it.

Mkhulu continues to gasp out desperate breathes, something final on them. I'm praying, holding him by the shoulders, trying to stabilize him because he might hurt his ribs.

His eyes open again, seeing me but not really seeing me. The heart monitor only gets louder, Mkhulu can't breathe.

And then he says something that breaks me, pulling from the depths of the pain in my heart.

“S-o-phie.”

The doctors and nurses barge into the doors at that moment. Doctor Dlamini tells one of the nurses to escort me out, I'm rooted in a place frozen.

I put up a fight, not wanting to leave my grandfather here. “No, no I can't leave him! Please.”

“Young man, get out of here!” Doctor Dlamini yells, frustrated and emotional.

Two nurses manage to pull me out of the room, slamming the door  shut.

It's quiet out here compared to the chaos in there with Mkhulu's gasping breaths and incessant  heart monitors.

“You're crying.” Olivia states, standing right before me.

She's shaken, her body burdened with  everything. Slowly, she wipes the tears in my cheeks.

“It's gonna be okay”

“It's not! Stop saying that! It's not gonna be okay, he's dying and there's nothing I or you can do about it!”

Her body goes rigid at the tone of my voice and immediately I regret it.

“I'm sorry i—”

She shakes her head, stopping me.

“Don't apologize.”

“Olivia, I'm losing my grandfather. He doesn't want to be here anymore. Don't you see? He wants to be in heaven with God and my grandmother. Away from this life of pain. I've really lost him.”

“Stop saying things like that.” Olivia's tone is sharper, exhausted.

“Olivia, do you want to know how my grandmother died?”

“...”

“It was a car accident.” The memories of her death, of the hospital,  the cries, it all comes back in a wave of grief adding to everything else I'm already feeling.

“My grandmother died in a car accident and now Mkhulu is dying to the same thing.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Let's fall in love in the comments
🌹🤗

35.Of all the people in your family whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?

💕Please 💕

Vote 🌟

And
Comment 🌬️

THANK YOU!