A Life Lived With Her
Naomi lay on her bed surrounded by family. She had managed to live a good long 86 years, but she had finally reached the end of the road. She was dying, she knew it, she accepted it, even if her family didn't, and she just didn't have any fight left in her.
It had been 6 years to the day since Emily, the one and only love of her life, had passed on. She had been having heart problems in the years before her death and had been truly ready to die. Naomi remembered the day she died vividly.
It was 4:45 in the afternoon, Emily was in the bed closest to the window, Naomi was sitting besides her holding her hand and their children and grandchildren were huddled at the bottom of the bed.
"Are you sure you're comfortable hun," it was the third time that Naomi had asked since she had arrived.
"I'm fine love," Emily was wheezing, they knew it would be soon. "Kids, I love you all and this might be the last time I see you, but could I say goodbye to Naomi alone please?" they agreed and they all said their goodbye and gave their hugs before slowly leaving the room.
"Naomi, I have loved you for so long, nearly 7 decades, I will always love you. I want you to do one thing for me."
"Yes, anything." There was no question. If Emily wanted it done she would do it.
"Let me go. Spend the last years of your life happy and make sure the kids are safe and well provided for when your time comes. Remember me, but don't mourn me for the rest of your life. Promise me that, please promise me that."
"I promise." There were tears falling freely down her face by this point. She didn't want to let Emily go, but she knew that Emily wanted her to. She knew she didn't have many more years in her, thanks to all the smoking she did in her youth, maybe she could handle a few years without Emily. But deep down she knew that wasn't true, but she could try, for her families sake.
"Then I think I'm finally ready. Just remember that I love you." Emily closed her eyes and drifted into her final sleep. Naomi continued to hold her hand. Just 3 minutes later the machine started to crash. The doctors rushed in to see what was happening. They checked Emily over and then shut off the machine. 1 of them checked his watch.
"Time of Death 4:57pm"
Naomi had been lonely since Emily's death. JJ and her were now the only two left of the nine of them, half of them dying because of the shit they had done in their youths, she was quite surprised that she herself had lived this long. She never saw JJ anymore; she guessed that he was busy with his own family. Freddie had of course been the first to go, thanks to that bastard Foster. Effy had died a few years later. She had killed herself as she had no longer been able to cope with her psychosis. Cook had ended up joining the police; he had been killed by a suspect in a raid. Katie, Thomas and Pandora had all passed away just a few years before Ems did.
Naomi looked at the people around her. The great grand children weren't there; they were too young to witness death. But her children and grandchildren were there. Naomi and Emily had gotten a civil partnership when they were 22 and 3 years later they had adopted 5 year old Damian and 3 year old Rosie.
"Welcome to your new home," Emily seemed just as excited as the kids, they ran around and jumped up and down. They showed them their rooms and helped them unpack. Once they were finished they put them to bed and went downstairs where they promptly collapsed on the sofa. They were exhausted after only a few hours with them. Naomi decided to tell Emily this.
"Well we're not as young as we were Naoms." They laughed and spent the rest of the night in each others arms watching TV.
Naomi and Emily had not only raised a family they had also led successful lives. When they had returned from travelling they had both gone off to university. Emily had taken some teaching courses. She had taught at Roundview College and eventually became headmistress. Naomi had taken a politics course. She went into politics as soon as she left university. She became an mp for Bristol and had made many changes for the better within the city.
She could feel herself getting weaker. She closed her eyes for a brief sleep. She remembered so much during this time. All the happier times life had brought. She remembered how beautiful Emily had looked on their wedding day. She remembered the first time she saw her. She remembered everything, even the love ball. She was happy with how her life had turned out. It had been full of love, laughter and Emily. And she wouldn't change a single moment of it, as every bad tern had only made them stronger. The last thing she remembered was that she had kept her promise, all of it, and she knew Emily would have been proud of her.
The room was full of crying people. The doctor that stood next to the machine looked sympathetic as he looked at his watch.
"Time of death 4:57 pm."