Those Left Behind

David Longford almost had a heart attack when he was informed by his assistant that Sarah had been heavily injured in an accident and was dying, if she was not already dead. Through mental fortitude alone or perhaps some divine intervention his health crisis was quickly overcome, and he regathered himself before he had his chauffeur prepare the helicopter.

To David the ten-minute flight was the longest flight he had ever taken. It had revived his old fears of losing his precious granddaughter those many years ago during the kidnapping incident.

Although that incident had been resolved with Sarah unharmed, the damage of that single event had left a lasting impact upon the Longford family. His son and daughter-in-law were essentially separated and remained married in name only.

Her mother Rowena, the current High Commissioner to Canada had never recovered from the incident and had continuously blamed herself for the incident. She had taken up foreign postings ever since, only returning for a couple months each year at most.

Sarah's father, Derrick was the Chief Engineer at Longford Resources and upon her graduation from university had moved out with her brother, Steven. David felt that Sarah's relationship with her parents were close but could not be considered warm. In fact, they were more like distant friends than family, something which David lamented greatly.

"Sir, the hospital has given us clearance to land, please hold on."

David prepared himself for the landing and looked out the window to see the hospital's Medical Director, Glen already waiting for him. He quickly hopped out of the helicopter and was greeted by him.

"Sir David, what an honour to meet you, I have heard many things about you…"

David impatiently interrupted the nervous Glen

"Cut the small talk, take me to my granddaughter. How is she?"

Glen unaware of the change in Sarah's condition, hesitated over whether to inform David of her death before he decided that it would be best to take David to see Sarah. Perhaps he would understand better.

"Ah, right this way Sir David, we have the best doctor and staff on-call for Miss Longford."

David felt Glen was avoiding something, but he chose to ignore it as he would find out in a moment anyway. He had always been someone who knew when to fight for something or let something go. After all, he had turned a small fledgling company into the powerhouse it was today over only a span of a couple decades.

Glen let out a breath of relief when he heard David follow him without digging any further.

"Doctor, we just need you to sign here and then we can take the patient to get scanned."

Dave quickly signed the required documents before he saw Sarah being taken away by the staff. He took a seat and eagerly awaited the results, he was still caught up in the wondrous sight he had just witnessed and failed to notice the arrival of his boss.

Glen had been filled with dread, with each step he took towards Sarah's room, he felt the pressure build. He was afraid of how David Longford would react upon the realisation that his granddaughter had died.

Just as there were many stories of David's benevolence and philanthropy there were plenty of dark and dangerous rumours floating around the legendary man. Glen had heard of many instances of people mysteriously disappearing only to resurface later a completely different person. Even people in power, whether it was in business or politics were not spared.

A politician had once publicly called David Longford an 'overrated bloodsucking vampire' and the very next day across all newspapers it was revealed the politician had been hiring prostitutes on taxpayer funded trips abroad. The more salacious tabloids even had photos of the politician snorting cocaine off the bellies of the prostitutes. The politician promptly resigned and had not been heard of ever since.

Glen entered the room only to find it empty bar his subordinate, the doctor Dave. Glen felt a headache coming on, as he observed the seemingly lost expression on his face.

"Sir David, your granddaughter was but here a moment ago, umm Doctor Dave should know more."

Dave was jolted from his thoughts by the sudden outburst from his boss. He looked up to find his boss glaring at him and an old man waiting patiently by his side. The presence of the old man was very impressive, and Dave's eyes widened in shock upon recognition of his namesake.

His mother had always believed in the superstition that naming someone after a legendary figure would allow them to inherit or gain some of their luck, fortune or whatever divine energy was helping these great people. Although Dave did not enter the world of business, his achievement of being the youngest doctor in the nation's best hospital was lauded by many in the country. Those with eyes in the field of medicine had high hopes for this genius.

"Uhm, Sir Longford, it is truly an immense honour to meet you. My name is David Angelopoulos, but most people call me Dave and I was the doctor assigned to your granddaughter. She was in a critical situation earlier but somehow, she has recovered greatly. I had her sent for a full body scan to make sure she is definitely okay."

"Hmm…Angelopoulos, ahh you're the kid Gary has been bragging about. Don't let the ego get to your head okay. Hold on, what do you mean she was in a critical situation but is now fine?"

Dave heard the praise and felt good to be acknowledge by his hero, yet in the next instance the situation became awkward. He was not sure how he could explain the revival of his granddaughter. So, he chose to just tell it to him straight and hoped he would believe it.

"Sir Longford, this may be hard to believe but your granddaughter was dead when she came into the hospital. Dr Glen can attest to this."

David Longford's eyes widened in shock before he looked over with anger at Glenn. Glen felt his life was in danger and hurriedly stammered.

"Your…your granddaughter was already dead when she came in. Doctor Dave is correct, but it appears there is more to it than that. Dave, hurry up and tell Sir David."

"Uhm…when I came over to certify her death, she was exhibiting no signs of life. However, she suddenly gasped and shouted some words before all her vitals shot back into the life. She is now very much alive I can guarantee you that. But I am not sure how this came to be. I know this sounds unbelievable but that is the undeniable truth, you can ask the nurse, she was here too…"

David Longford heard the explanation and a gloom quickly passed his eyes before he solemnly

asked Dave.

"What did she say?"

"Something like, 'I accept' and then she fell into a coma."

Dave heard his namesake murmur something before he once again looked up and said

"David, I need you to never reveal what happened tonight, to anyone, ever. Understood?"

He then turned around to Glen and said

"I need you to find the nurse that was in here and anyone that might know about Sarah's situation and make sure they don't reveal what happened tonight. I will have my assistant here work with you. Make this your top priority, you must do everything to get rid of any record of Sarah's supposed death. You understand the consequences, no?"

Dave had thought that David Longford's previous aura was impressive and grand, yet in this moment he felt a suppressive force which demanded his submission. He finally understood what it felt like to be on the precipice of death. A sharp and predatory glare, as if one wrong move and his life would be extinguished.

Dave and Glen hurriedly nodded and accepted David Longford's proposition. Dave saw Glen hurriedly take his leave to carry out the orders, accompanied by David Longford's personal assistant who had remained so quiet and unremarkable standing by the door that Dave had failed to notice his presence.

Dave left in the room with his namesake, felt the air was incredibly stifling and was only saved by the sound of the medical staff wheeling the still comatose Sarah back in. He saw David Longford's tightly wound face ease up upon seeing Sarah looking as healthy as could be in the circumstances.

The nurse hurriedly handed Dave the results. He quickly scanned over it and reported to Sarah's grandfather.

"Sir Longford, the results are in and it seems your granddaughter is perfectly fine, it is just that some of her organs are still a little weak after they were starved of oxygen for a few hours. It is already miraculous that they are still so well-functioning given the duration but in the light of her revival, it seems much less of a wonder."

"Hmm…kid, when do you think she will wake up? Since you say she is fine, shouldn't she be awake now?"

"Uhm…perhaps the shock of her death is still being processed by her body? I'm not sure, after all this is the first time I am encountering a situation like this. But from the signs of her vitals and seeing her now, it appears she is recovering fast, a little too fast. She should awaken any time now. Whenever she feels ready, I suppose."

"Hah. Alright then, I guess I will have to wait for her then. You can go now, let this old man spend some time with his granddaughter please."

Dave left the room and saw his idol sit down by Sarah's bedside and grasped her hand lightly. In that moment he felt the old man's stoic face aged a little. He then left the room to continue his original duties.