The loud shrill of the emergency phone prevented his father explaining anything further; Dominic was glad. He had so much new information to process already, he wasn’t sure if he could have absorbed any more. As the three of them rushed from the room to get ready to head out his Dad told them he would finish explaining at later.
~ * ~
Sunshine, Victoria, Australia
Cancer. The Big C. It was so far advanced that there really wasn't much hope any treatments would help. Adele’s insides were torn up. She felt so guilty. Had she been so preoccupied with study she hadn't noticed how sick her mother had been? She noticed her mother had been looking tired lately, but when she asked if she was okay, her mother just told her that working two jobs was tiring and she just needed some more sleep; Adele didn't need to worry. According to her mother Adele had enough to worry about with her Uni exams. Had her mother known? Had she hidden it from her?
Now Adele was the one who was tired. She’d been sitting by her mother's hospital bed for four days waiting for her to wake up or give her some kind of sign she was still with her. She hated the way the nurses and doctors all looked at her with big sad eyes; she just wasn't ready to accept this reality. It was too much for her to bear on her own. She took some comfort when the doctor had told her that her mother wasn't in any pain. They were making sure she had enough morphine in her system so she was pain free. 'Palliative Care' had always seemed like such a nice and easy concept to Adele, but now those two words tore her heart and soul to shreds quicker than she’d ever thought possible.
With silent tears tracking down her face and falling on the crisp white hospital sheet, she whispered...
"S'il vous plaît se réveiller maman...ne me laisse pas sans dire au revoir."
Please wake up Mama...don't leave me without saying goodbye.
She laid her head down next to her mother's hand, which she held in hers, and cried until her exhaustion pulled her under into darkness and off to the land of dreams...
Adele found herself in a small clearing amongst some of the tallest, straightest gum trees she'd ever seen. She was lying on her back on soft native grass and looking up at the cloudless blue sky. It was beautiful and so peaceful. The sun felt so warm on her face and bare arms, she closed her eyes to enjoy the warmth as she took a deep breath of clean country air. She instantly started to relax and all the real world stresses began to fall away. She wasn’t sure how her mind came up with this place, one she had never seen before, but she was grateful for it.
She flicked her eyes wide open as the feeling of being watched ran through her. She held her breath and slowly sat up, turning her head to each side to look around the clearing and over the lake in front of her. She heard a noise that sounded like purring; very loud, very close purring. She swung her head toward the sound and came face to face with a cat. No, not a cat, or at least not a house cat. This was a wild animal and he was huge. His head was level with hers as he sat watching her. His fur looked so soft; his chest was pure white and the rest was tinged with brown and had black-grey spots. His gaze was intense, ice blue and glowing with intelligence, protection and compassion. She felt herself relax--which was just plain crazy. After all, she was sitting in front of a snow leopard, for crying out loud. Even for her imagination this was astounding. She had a passing thought that she should be scared, running as fast and as far as she could but this was just a dream, so it was safe--and to be honest, she quite simply didn't want to run away from this amazing animal. The leopard slowly stood and padded over to her side, purring the whole time. She stayed frozen to the spot in shock and awe as she was unsure what he was going to do to her. He rubbed his head up her leg as he lay down by her side. He pushed his back into her as he continued to nuzzle against her thigh. Mon Dieu, it felt so good. So soft. So calming. She reached out and rubbed his ear and stroked his cheek, pushing back his whiskers. The deep rumble coming from him got louder and he closed his eyes as he pressed against her hand.
For some strange reason she felt a connection between her and the animal; on a soul deep level it felt like she knew him somehow. How bizarre. She was sure he was her guardian angel, here just for her. Her kitten, her chaton. After stroking him for a minute she felt so calm her mind began to drift. Reality crept in on her and she couldn't help the sob that escaped her throat. Her Maman, her whole world, was dying. She let go of the leopard, brought her knees up, curling into herself as she cried. She felt him move away from her. She guessed he didn't appreciate her getting all teary. She didn't care. She needed to let out all the agony that was tearing her apart inside. While lost in her pain and tears she felt him return to her. With relief, she understood he hadn't left her at all, but had just gotten up so he could curl himself around her; she realized with a start, he was trying to cuddle her. She raised her head out of her hands wiping her eyes with her fingers when she felt him nudge her arm with his nose and whimper. She looked over at him through her watery eyes and the concern and kindness that shone from his ice blue gaze shocked her. Was he for real? Did he really understand or care?