CH-61 Past life dream[End]

¶Still dream¶

In the faintly light hospital room, Iris, now 21 years old, gazed upon her mother Julie Hope's pale, whose form lying in the bed, her breaths coming in ragged inhales.

Iris clutched her mother's fragile hand, eyes glistening with unshed tears as she sniffed back her sorrowness.

Iris choked out. "M-Mom, I-I don't want you to leave me."

Her heart has been sour at the unfair reality that her mother was mortal, unable to live beyond her 70s.

She had desperately hoped to find a way for her mother to become a cultivator like herself, defying the limits of human life. But it was an impossible dream.

Moreover, At 45, Julie still appeared youthfully vibrant, belying the insidious illness ravaging her body but she has been fighting with many different illnesses, like lung cancer(SCLC) and blood cancer(myeloma).

Iris, who gave up everything to make her Cultivators, couldn't fathom why the fates had granted her the gift of cultivation while cruelly denying it to her beloved mother.

The doctors, who were standing by their sides also felt sad, did everything in their hard work but… there are illnesses that can't be cured.

It was the last time Julie was alive before any unfortunate outcome. Measuring the calculation, they quickly called Iris to have the final conversation.

Julie mustered a faint smile. "Don't worry, my little monster… Mom is just going to be staying away physically, but I'll be with you spiritually always."

"W-Why are you smiling? Y-Your heartbeat is slowing. P-Please Mom, you're all I have. Please don't leave me!" Iris started to cry loudly, not knowing what she will do in future without her mother.

She dissolved into heaving sobs, clinging desperately to her mother's enfeebled form.

Iris shook her head up, tears streaming down her face, and grabbed the shirt of one of the doctors, shaking him violently.

"Y-You're surgeons, aren't you? Please, couldn't you transplant my organs into her? I can't let her die. Don't worry about me, just save her life!"

"I-Iris!" Julie's weak voice called out, followed by a wracking cough that brought up flecks of blood.

Iris immediately bursted into anguished wails, flinging herself onto her mother's trembling form and mumbling incoherently.

"M-Mom, tell them… to replace my organs with yours. I cannot live without you here! I have nobody other than you."

The doctors stood by, stunned into silence, tears welling in their own eyes at Iris's heart-rending display of daughterly devotion.

In all their years, they had never witnessed such a profound, self-sacrificing bond between mother and child. They had seen mothers willingly donate the last of their vital organs to their children, even if it cost them their lives.

But never a daughter so fervently offering up her own body to extend her mother's fleeting lifespan.

As the powerful cultivators, those who have accelerated healing abilities, allowed transplanted organs to regenerate. But Iris was merely a lower cultivator at this movement - replacing her organs would cripple her irrevocably.

And even if she somehow managed that feat, by the time her body recovered from the trauma, Julie's sand would have long since run out.

It was a possible sacrifice that could only delay anyone's suffering.

With what little strength is left, Julie enveloped Iris in a lovely hug, her lazy arms quivering as she clung to her daughter's neck.

"M-My little monster… promise me one thing..." she rasped, each word a monumental effect.

"... Vow that you'll never choose to be indolent, that you'll venture… relentlessly to reach the pinnacles of your power. And… that you'll never keep onto the path of folly."

"I… I-I will do it! W-Wait why you are talking like this… " Iris caught in the pained rictus between a sob and a scream as the feeble thudding of her mother's heart reached her ears.

Julie brings what fleeting vestiges of vitality she could to pepper Iris's cheeks, her brow, with gentle, lurking kisses goodbye, as her daughter twisted positions to better support her mother's dead weight.

"Thank you..." Julie's eyes misted with a bittersweet admixture of profound love and soul filled sorrow. "Be strong, my resilient one… perhaps our spirits shall reunite once more… in the future..."

And with those parting words, her eyelids drifted shut, the valiant yet her heart that had sustained her for so many years… ultimately didn't pump another beat, And the body dropped lifelessly.

"MOM!" An unearthly whimper squeezed from Iris's throat as the realization crashed over her…

The beloved mother, the cherished wellspring of her existence, was… gone, departed from this world while clenching in her arms.

She clutched the cooling body flush against her own, as if she could put her own life force into her mother's stilled veins through sheer force of love and denial of this unacceptable truth.

Iris cried loudly, And promised to herself before saying. "I-I will become strong and find your soul for me and your sake. I won't let anyone get in my way to assemble with you."

***

I cracked open my peepers and was greeted by a blinding white expanse overhead. Something was tickling my face, so I gave it a swat.

It was an oxygen mask doing the tango with my nostrils.

Apparently, I was breathing artificially - the height of modern sophistication!

"What in tarnation happened here?" I pondered, my mind a kaleidoscope of nightmares and good… well dreams, I suppose.

Hopefully, mom was keeping her chin up in this trying time.

"Sweet mother of pearl, my noggin's throbbing like nobody's business!" I sat bolt upright, the mask doing a graceful swan dive to the floor.

A few deft maneuvers with my Jedi senses, and I had that pesky IV line evacuating my arm faster than you can say lickety-split.

Surveying my surroundings, it was evident I had scored the royal suite at the Hospital.

It was top-notch digs, though I just wish they hadn't gone all Edward Scissorhands on me while I was out cold. If so, there would be heck to pay!

"Harriet, my trusted companion!" I called out, "Care to illuminate this frustrated soul as to the chain of events that led to this situation? I don't remember anything."

[Well, you see,] A quick once-over confirmed all systems were still a-go as Harriet spoke. [you just wouldn't stop blubbering night after night.]

"Nights?!" I arched an eyebrow in a calm-before-the-storm sort of way. "Am I to infer I've been a mere houseguest in the realm of the comatose?"

[Don't joke around! Anyways, You were in a coma for a few days.]

"Oh, I see… Well, I'll be dipped in hot sauce and rolled in breadcrumbs!" I exclaimed in my mind upon hearing Harriet's seriousness.

Scanning the room with peeled eyes, I noticed a distinct lack of hidden cameras. This was no candid camera prank, oh no siree bob.

Turning to the one confidant I could always count on, even in the direst of circumstances, I addressed my ever-present shadowy pal. "Hajin, my dusky companion! Are you lurking there?"

Two beady eyes appeared in the inky blackness, blinking owlishly. "Present and accounted for, Iris.!"

"Capital, capital! Perhaps you could shed some light on this conundrum? Did I, perchance, find myself on the receiving end of some dastardly villainy? Or maybe I underwent an experimental procedure to remove my funny bone?"

Harriet understood the double meaning, And replied. "Yes… When you were in a coma…"