A/N: See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer. Warning: things get really painful in this chapter, so keep your seatbelts fastened and lots of tissues handy. And again, if you're someone who struggles with any form of depression, please consider carefully before reading. Please remember to read responsibly, everyone. Much love to you all, and God bless.
Chapter 6: A Mother Hen and a Big Sister
"I don't understand. I just don't understand," Hyacinth said in the hospital waiting room about an hour later. Emmet and Gail rushed back to the hospital immediately after Hyacinth called them, and Richard was there as well, along with the vicar and his wife and Daisy, Onslow, and Rose. "Liz was doing so much better. How could things start getting so much worse again?"
"We don't know for certain what's going on, Hyacinth. It might not be anything serious, even though it appeared to be at the moment. You never know," said Richard. "I've heard of people going to the hospital with terrible chest pain, thoroughly convinced they're having a heart attack, only to find out that it was a severe case of indigestion."
Hyacinth shook her head and told her husband, "You didn't see her, Richard. You didn't see the agony on her face. This is not indigestion."
"It might be, Mrs. Bucket. You never know," said the vicar, trying to remain as hopeful as possible.
In that moment, a tall, slim man with brown hair and a beard, wearing green scrubs, came out into the waiting room and called Elizabeth's name, and Emmet and Gail rose from their seats and approached him, holding hands.
"How is my mother?" Gail asked in a shaky voice.
"I'm afraid that Mrs. Warden has suffered another heart attack. A massive heart attack. Her heart muscle has been severely damaged."
"Is she back in the ICU?" questioned Gail.
"Yes, we had to move her back to the ICU. However…"
"However what?" asked Emmet.
"The heart attack…it did too much damage to her heart."
"Too much damage? What do you mean?" asked Gail.
"I'm so very sorry to have to tell you this, but there's no way that Mrs. Warden can recover now. Her heart is giving out. Mrs. Warden does not have much time left."
"How long does she have?" Emmet asked. "Weeks? Days?"
"Hours. Again, I'm sorry. I'm terribly sorry."
In that moment, the doctor left, and as Emmet and Gail clung to one another and openly cried, Hyacinth and everyone else sitting in the background cried as well.
Emmet and Gail remained by Elizabeth's bedside in the ICU for the next three hours while all of Elizabeth's friends stayed in the ICU waiting room, silently praying and waiting for the inevitable to happen. Finally, Emmet and Gail came out into the hallway, and as they approached the waiting room, Emmet motioned for Hyacinth, and she quickly rose from her seat and walked up to him.
"Liz wants to see you. She wants to talk to you alone," Emmet told her, and then he walked her back to Elizabeth's room.
Hyacinth then took a deep breath, opened the door to Elizabeth's hospital room, walked inside, and sat down in the chair beside her hospital bed. Elizabeth now had an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose, and she still had the I.V. in her arm, and of course, she was still hooked up to a heart monitor which was softly beeping in the background with every beat of her heart.
In that moment, Hyacinth took her best friend's hand, gave it a loving squeeze, and said very softly, "Hello, love."
Elizabeth took her oxygen mask off then and said in a rough whisper, "Hello, Hyacinth."
"Don't take your oxygen mask off, sweetheart. You need it," Hyacinth said gently, but Elizabeth shook her head.
"There are things I need to say, Hyacinth. Important things. And right now, getting all those things out is more important than the oxygen mask."
"What is it, love? What important things do you need to tell me?"
"I need you, Hyacinth. I really, really need you now."
Hyacinth squeezed Elizabeth's hand again and told her, "I'm here, Elizabeth. I'm right here by your side and I'm not going anywhere."
Elizabeth shook her head again and said, "That's not what I mean, Hyacinth. I mean that after this is over, I'm going to need you more than ever."
"You mean after you get well and we get you home?"
"No, Hyacinth. We both know that I'm not getting better and I'm not going home. Not to my earthly home, anyway."
As soon as Elizabeth said that, Hyacinth couldn't help but start crying.
"It's okay, Hyacinth. It's okay," said Elizabeth, trying to comfort her.
"No, it's not okay," said a very distraught Hyacinth. "It's not okay. It's not okay that this has happened. It's not okay that we're losing you. There is nothing about this that's okay. This is my fault, Elizabeth. It's all my fault."
After a long pause, Elizabeth told Hyacinth, "I know. I've already heard all about your little conversation with the Major and the Colonel. But right now, I'm not really concerned about that. Right now, the only thing I'm concerned about is my family. I'm very worried about what it's going to be like for Gail and Emmet once I'm gone. All my life, I've looked out for them. As the older sibling, it was up to me to take care of Emmet and protect him. And no matter how old your child gets, she'll always be your baby, and you'll always want to move heaven and earth to protect her."
"That certainly is true," Hyacinth agreed.
"But now, for the first time in my life, I'm helpless. Now, I'm the one who needs a big sister to help me. All my life, growing up in that terrible house, I used to look up at the sky and watch the birds flying in the sky above. And I so yearned for Jesus to give me wings like they had so I could fly away from all my pain forever. But now that I finally will be flying away from all my pain, I find myself yearning to be able to stay instead, so that the people I love won't be hurt by my passing. And since I can't stay, since I can't be the strong mama bear and the strong big sister for Gail and Emmet any longer, I need you to step in for me, Hyacinth. I need you to look out for them for me. Will you do that?"
With rivers of tears streaming down her cheeks, Hyacinth gasped, "Of course I will. You're right, Elizabeth. You have been the strong one all your life, always looking out for everyone else. Now, it's your turn to be looked out for. Jesus yearned to gather the children of Jerusalem together under His wings, just as a mother hen does her chicks, but they weren't willing. But now, if you'll let me, my dear girl, I'll be that mother hen for you and Gail and Emmet. You just come under my wings now. Come under my wings and rest. Don't you worry about Gail or Emmet. Don't you worry about a thing. You just rest and leave all of that to me. Just rest now."
"I sure could use a mother hen and a big sister right about now," Elizabeth admitted. "I made Gail and Emmet leave…because I couldn't bear for them to have to watch me die before their eyes. I don't want the memory of my death…playing over and over again in their minds. I can't do that to them. But I need someone now, Hyacinth. I really do."
"You've got someone, precious. You've got Jesus and you've got me. We're both right here with you now, and we're not going anywhere. And we both love you so much."
Tears now came to Elizabeth's eyes as she nodded, and then Hyacinth helped her put her oxygen mask back on. Afterwards, she took Elizabeth's hand in her own, and with the other hand, she lovingly stroked Elizabeth's fingers as Elizabeth faded off to sleep, with the most warm, beautiful feeling of love and peace, from Jesus Christ, Himself, surrounding her spirit. A greater love and peace than she'd ever known before.
Then, Hyacinth happened to glance over at the small window by Elizabeth's bed, and she saw a white dove perched on the windowsill. It was now a quarter past five that winter evening, and it was already dark, but she could still see the white dove perched there. And in the next moment, the steady beeping in the background erupted into a high-pitched whine, and as soon as that happened, the dove flew away. And the very instant the dove flew off, it began to thunder, and raindrops began pelting the window as Hyacinth cried.