Lost Everything

When Anastasia finally arrived home, she found her mother waiting in the living room. It was late and the sight of her daughter, clearly drunk and accompanied by Adeline and a young man, made Fiona's eyes narrow with concern.

"Miss Fiona, this is my brother, Austin," Adeline quickly introduced as she sensed the tension.

"What happened to her?" Fiona asked, her worry evident in her tone and expression.

"I’m not sure," Adeline replied, glancing at Anastasia with concern. "She said she had to meet someone, and when she returned, she was very sad. I tried asking her what happened but she didn’t say anything."

Austin scowled, impatience lacing his voice. "Why don't you just tell her that Anna went to meet that boy?"

Fiona's expression hardened at the mention of "that boy."

Austin continued, "A woman also came to meet her at a café."

Fiona's heart sank as she pieced together what must have happened. Someone from New York had come to see her daughter, someone from the life she had tried so hard to protect her from. Those bloodthirsty people who had made her daughter's life a living hell.

"Thank you for bringing her home," Fiona said.

The next day, Anastasia woke up with a splitting headache. Fiona didn’t mention anything about the previous night and quietly took care of her daughter, hiding her worries behind a calm façade.

For the entire week, Anastasia was like a shadow of herself, barely eating or drinking. She would sit for hours, staring blankly into space, not speaking a word. As a mother, Fiona’s concern grew with each passing day. Adeline and Austin visited often, trying to help but Anastasia showed little sign of recovery. It was as if the life had been drained out of her, leaving only an empty shell behind. This did not fit well with Fiona who did not want to lose her daughter again.

A month passed and Fiona had enough. Anastasia had fainted this morning due to poor health which was caused by not eating properly.

“You are calling that boy now and fixing things with him,” Fiona said to her daughter. “I don't care what happened between you. Sit down and stop acting like teenagers. I gave you time but you are killing yourself over him. Anna, you are eighteen. You owe nothing to your parents. You are an adult. Please make decisions for yourself. I will always respect your decisions. Call that boy and fix things.”

Her eyes filled with tears as she added, “I cannot see my daughter dying in front of my eyes every day. I found you after eight years. I cannot lose you again.”

Anastasia began crying like a baby as she hugged her mother.

Fiona said in a soft voice, “Tomorrow, call him and ask him if he can visit you. Sweetheart, if you love him so much, don't let him go.”

At this time, Anastasia was missing Damien so much that she forgot about everything and nodded her head.

Fiona didn't forget to say, “If you don't do that, I will.”

The next day Anastasia was taken out by Fiona and Austin to a mall. Today, she was feeling a little better but anxious nonetheless. She didn't know how Damien would react. Would he loathe her? She closed her eyes and begged her mind to not remind her of such thoughts. Whatever was about to happen, she would handle it. Worrying was not going to solve anything. No matter how bad the future was going to be, she would just live it.

When she reached home, she saw Fiona on the sofa, drawing something on her sketch pad.

Fiona asked, “Did you call him yet?”

Anastasia shook her head and said, “I will do it at night.”

Fiona nodded her head. She put a hand on her head and sighed.

Anastasia asked, “What happened, mom?”

“My head is aching, Anna, ” Fiona said in a weak voice.

Knowing that her mother has a high blood pressure issue, she urged her mother to visit a doctor. Usually, her mother would disagree with going to the hospital for an issue such as a headache but today she immediately agreed. This made Anna worry more as it seemed her mother was in grave pain. When they reached the hospital, the doctor told her that her mother's blood pressure was gravely high and she had a huge chance of suffering from a stroke if it didn't fall. Her mom was immediately admitted. She didn't even get the chance to react as so many things were happening to her at the same time. The whole night her mother’s condition was deteriorating but in the early morning, the doctor told her that it was a little better than before. She spent another night and day in the hospital but at night her mother asked her to go home to get some rest. She didn't want to go but her mom still sent her.

The next day when Anastasia returned to the hospital, she heard the news that flipped her world upside down.

“Miss Anastasia, we are deeply sorry. We couldn’t save your mother.”

Anastasia’s heart sank as she heard the doctor's words.

“What do you mean?” Her voice trembled.

How could this be happening? Just yesterday, her mother had been responsive to the medicine. The doctors told her that her mother’s condition was better than before. Her mother even braided her hair while recounting the tales of her youth as the two of them were alone in the ward. How could things have deteriorated so quickly?

“Your mother was a brave woman,” The doctor said gently before turning to leave.

“How could she die?” Anastasia demanded, her voice trembling with disbelief. Suddenly, she mustered up the courage to scream, “She wasn’t even critically ill! People don’t die from high blood pressure in this century!”

She grasped the doctor’s collar, desperation in her eyes. He needed to tell her that her mother was fine and she was merely sleeping. Heck, even a coma was acceptable to her right now! But death? Never!

“It was a very complicated case,” The doctor tried to explain. “I’m truly sorry. We did everything we could. We couldn't save her.”

The nurses moved in to restrain Anastasia as the doctor tried to walk away from the grief-stricken mad woman. She collapsed onto the cold floor of the hospital lobby and began sobbing uncontrollably. The loss of her mother, her only family, felt unbearable to her soul.

Anastasia struggled to understand how the world continues in a steady rhythm, breathing in and out as if nothing has changed, while her soul was shattering every moment she would breathe.

The funeral was brief. So brief that she couldn't accept that her mother had died. Friends and acquaintances of her mother came to pay their respects. Their faces were solemn as if they lost something just like her. But she knew that everyone would move on from the death of her mother while she would be unrecovered forever.

Anastasia stood by the casket while trying to memorize how her mother looked in her last moments. The rain was pouring just like her tears. London and its stupid weather! And her stupid fate! However, there was neither a stop to the rain nor tears as her life flashed back in front of her eyes.