Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 135652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
“Why? What happened?”
Tommy and Sasha look at each other, “They won’t tell us anything. His parents got here as quickly as they could and they won’t permit you to know anything.”
“I’m his fiancée!” I shriek. “We’re getting married today.”
“The nurse told us all she knows is that his heart failed and it couldn’t be prevented.”
“I have to see him,” I shout and climb from the bed. “Why am I even here?” They’re about to answer but I cut them off and push the door open, “It doesn’t matter. Where is he?” There’s a nurse doing her rounds, I stop her before she has a chance to enter the room by mine. “Where is he? I need to see him.”
She blinks in shock, “You shouldn’t be out of bed.”
“Please, I need to see Caleb, where’s Caleb?”
“Maybe I should…” she glances around nervously but I place myself in her line of sight. “I can’t help you I’m sorry.”
“No, you don’t understand,” I huff, my eyes burning. “I have to see him!”
“What’s going on?” A doctor in white shirt and black trousers walks over to us from the nurses’ station.
I immediately turn to him, “Please, I need to find Caleb. Caleb Weston.”
He glances at the nurse and then at Tommy and Sasha who are close behind me. Letting out a breath I see him relent, “Come with me.”
I want to hug him, but I don’t. We follow him down a few hallways before he stops and speaks to a porter. “Please escort these three to the morgue.”
A choked cry escapes me as I realise just how real this is. No.
Tommy takes my arm as Sasha takes the other. My legs are unsteady but I manage to follow the porter.
The hallways are long and they all look the same, it takes a while but we finally get there and when we do I’m not happy to see his parents stood outside in the hall. Caleb’s mum looks dishevelled and there are tears falling from her eyes.
“What are they doing here?” I screech, my anger rising. “They disowned him.” I point at his parents. “You disowned him. You didn’t want him!”
“Is there a problem?” the doctor who they were speaking to asks and glances down at my stomach.
“She’s not family,” Caleb’s father spits, his narrowed eyes shooting daggers at me.
“She’s his pregnant fiancée,” Sasha snarls and holds up my hand to show the doctor the ring that sits there.
“So she says, I’ve never met this woman in my life,” his mother hisses, her hate for me clear.
“Because they disowned him,” I shout and plead with the doctor with my eyes. “Please. I just need to see him.”
“She was the one he was brought in with, she was with him when he died,” Tommy explains, his voice calm and collected. “She just wants to know how he died and to see him for a few minutes.”
He’s not dead, he isn’t. This is all a bad dream, it’s a joke. “Please. Let me just have a few minutes with him.”
His mother steps closer, “If she even steps foot in that room, I will sue.”
My mouth drops open, “How can you be so evil?”
“At least tell us how he died,” Tommy pleads. “It’s not right, a perfectly healthy twenty three year old just dying in his sleep without warning.”
It’s then Nathan steps through the heavy doors leading to the morgue, “Heart failure. Caleb was born with a hole in his heart, we thought it was fixed… it wasn’t. Until the autopsy is complete we won’t know for sure but if there were any other factors leading to his death, which is unlikely, I’ll notify you personally.” I notice his parents look at him, their scowls falter. They almost look as confused as I feel. “Let her have a few minutes with him father. He loved her, he chose her and he’d never forgive you if you didn’t.”
“Two minutes. That’s all.”
I’m immediately led into the room, I expected him to be in one of those drawers that you see on TV, but he’s not. He’s on his own in a large room, a sheet pulled over his waist, his arms by his side. He looks so beautiful, so peaceful. He doesn’t look dead on first glance.
I reach forward, realising it’s just me and the doctor. My hand touches his cheek. He’s so cold.
“Wake up,” I beg quietly, praying for his chest to start moving and his eyes to flicker open. I want to see his sleepy smile. I want him to grab me and drag me under the sheet with him to warm him up. “Please, Caleb.”
Still no movement. This isn’t right. He wouldn’t leave me. He wouldn’t.
I stand and stare at him, burning his image on my brain, relishing the feel of his skin beneath my fingers. None of it makes a difference. He’s gone.