Chapter 11: Bittersweet

Aaron Moore grew up in an upper-middle-class family. He was in his 20s when he met his wife, Carol. Sometimes love is immediate; other times, it takes forever. For Aaron and Carol, it was somewhere in between. It took about a year and some change for the two — both bartenders in Aaron's family restaurant at Little Red clock, an upscale diner in downtown Brixton — to go on their first date. The rest was history; they soon married and had their first daughter Elise, and they had another daughter a few years later, Hannah.

They were happy at first, but when Emily was 9 years old, she fell ill. Doctors said its late stage Leukemia; she only had a little over a year to live. The whole family was devastated. Emily was a clever girl since birth; seeing her parents so gloomy; She would muster up all her courage to smile at them every day to lift their mood.

This action always broke their parents; they made up their minds that they would not stay dejected and give their eldest the best year of her life. They travelled everywhere they could, visiting different amusement parks and other attractions. Their youngest, 7 years old, was oblivious to all this, but she was happy seeing everyone's smile. She always follows her sister like a tail and behaves cheekily when asked to relax.

But the good times didn't last long, and Emily was bedridden a few days ago. The whole family was there, including their grandparents, aunts and uncles. Their family was not very tight-knit, but still, they were there because everyone knew this time would come sooner or later. They wanted to send the little girl off with a smile.

A few hours ago, Emily breathed her last breath. Hannah was distressed, but her mother held her down and said, "It's ok, sweetheart. Your sister went to a better place. She gave you her favourite doll. When you meet her again, you can give it to her. Ok? " Hannah nodded.

The atmosphere was heavy, but everyone kept calm not to alert the children; a few members were sobbing in the corner. The whole family started arranging for final rites to keep themselves occupied. Everyone divided the task and left soon after.

Aaron and Carol were consoling little Hannah when they heard the nurses talking.

"It's such a shame; I heard he has been blind since childhood. He is just a child; I was there when they bought him in. There was blood all over his body, such a shame." one said.

" Yeah, when I first saw him, I thought I was an angel with a pure white appearance, and he talked so eloquently. But I heard Professor is searching for a donor; maybe we can find it in the future." the other added.

The couple overheard their conversation; they looked into each other's eyes and knew they were thinking the same thing. They got up to catch up with the nurses and started the conversation.

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Robert and Michael went to the morgue, following the assistant Ben. They soon came upon a couple with a small child tucked in their mother's embrace. It looked like they were trying to console her.

Ben said, " Professor, these people submitted the consent form earlier today."

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Michael walked up to them and said, " I am so sorry for your loss; I am Michael Wilkins, Dean of Royal Berkshire hospital, and this gentleman is Robert Rot----, Robert. I read up about your daughter's situation a few months ago but we could not do anything. Our medical technology is not advanced enough yet. This might not be a good time to say this, but we are here regarding your donation request." He almost blurted out the family name.

"Yes, yes, our daughter was a very animate person, always cheerful. We wanted to preserve what the staff heard about a blind boy. We just wanted to help him. Elise would have liked that; she always cared about others more, sigh." Aaron said.

" She was cheerful, always laughing even when she partially understood her circumstances. Until her last breath, she wanted us to live well and not be sad for a long time because it will affect her little sister." Carol said, holding back tears.

" Mommy, these uncles are here to take sister to a better place, right? Won't she be lonely?" Hannah asked innocently. Everyone stared at her, didn't know how to explain.

Robert took the stance and said, " Little girl, what is your name? "

" Hannah," she replied.

" Well, Hannah, there are a lot of children where your sister is going. She will play with them; she was very ill when she was here, Right? There she will be better. She will be happy there. Come, I will show you something interesting, let's meet an older brother. You can play with him if you are lonely here. Come." Robert said and looked at the couple and said, " come with me if you want to meet Samuel; he will be delighted. Hannah will also get to know him; she seems lonely here. A little change of environment will cheer her up a bit."

Aaron said, " I will stay here; for now, I have to arrange different things for the transfer. Carol, you can go with them."

Carol rejected the idea and said, " We will visit later; I want to stay by my daughter's side some more."

"Okay, I will bring her back later; you can mourn peacefully. Old Michael, please see that they don't lack anything and arrange the necessary procedure for transfer. We are in room 459."

" Ben follow Master Robert; I will handle everything here, and please tell everyone to gather here while on your way," Michael said.

" Come, Hannah, Let's meet your big brother and aunt," Robert said, taking the little girl's hand and walking away.