Chapter Ninety-five

It had been a while since she ate with her father, thus, as she ate, she continued observing him. They were in the hospital's cafeteria taking lunch while waiting for her mother to wake up. The meal was going in silence except for the occasional chatter from Andre who was trying to get his mind off the fact that his mother was going to die very soon. Too long he had stayed without a mother figure by his side, his peers continued mocking him and telling him how his mother had abandoned him. But then, he refused to accept that tale for he somehow believed that she was going to come back. His stepmother had been hell and he was glad his dad had gotten rid of her, she was just too fake. Now, the poor boy gets a reunion just about when his mother was dying, the irony of life was too great for him to understand. He tried to hide his emotions by chattering about with forced smiles. At least, he had his sister with him and his father who had stood by him. Surprisingly, he never blamed his mother for leaving, instead he could sense that the man himself secretly blamed himself. 

Clarkson continued crying that he did not know when he woke her up, "Clark? ", she called him weakly, she could not believe that he was here in the flesh with her and almost felt it was a dream. "Mom!!! ", Andre called out approaching her with such weight of sadness in his eyes, he looked like he bore the weight of the world on his little shoulders. Seeing him now, and being reminded that she had abandoned him, leaving him to grow without her presence, she felt guilty all over again. Tears rolled out of her eyes and she began muttering how sorry she was, she accepted the blame for everything. Even Andre was crying now, he could no longer keep up with the little act of a strong man he was acting out, he missed his mother, in general he had missed out on the tender loving care that comes from a mother figure. "I'm sorry Ella, I should have been there for you ", Clarkson said. Wait a minute, did the heavens just grant her her last wish or was she imagining it, "What did you call me now", she asked with such home in her eyes and he looked at her, understandingly. He knew just what her eyes were delivering in their messages to him and he could keep calling her name over and over again. Taking her hands and looking into her eyes, he called her again, "Ella....... my Ella I'm sorry for everything. I should have stood by you ", he was saying but she was in another world of her own, letting his voice sink into her soul as she reminisced it, time and time again. 'Ella..... ', the echos rang in her soul, she just wanted to hear her name from the lips of the one she loved so. She shut her eyes and listened to the halo's of the angels ring out her name, this was all she wanted to hear. Him pronouncing her name, not in resentment but with love. She could feel the gentle chill of a strange wind gust on her cheeks, she had attained the inner peace she sought so much, she had to go home. Taking a deep breath without opening her eyes, she breathed her last. Ella left the world. 

Somehow, Bella had known something was up when her mother's silence prevailed the voice she was yearning to hear from her, yet she did not want to assume the worst. It was the sudden change in the monitor beeping and the lines appearing on the screen that sent her the message. She was so unprepared, she still had a lot to say to her mother, she could not leave now, she let out a piercing scream, "No!!!!!! ", she yelled. The door opened and someone entered hurriedly and held her, he was followed by the nurses. Bella was somewhere between the lines of consciousness and subconsciousness, and she showed nothing but grief in her eyes when she looked up and saw the deceitful person holding her. Jay Martins was there trying to comfort her, how could he?.