Chapter 250 Rapid Decline
Lilith’s POV
That night, I coughed up blood again. Not much, just a few dark red spots blooming on the tissue. The doctor had warned me,when the coughing becomes uncontrollable and blood starts gushing out, that’s when the final countdown begins.
Thea curled up inside me, whimpering softly.
Clara sensed my movement. Despite being sound asleep, she got up and fetched me water and patted my back. My little wolf pup was more perceptive and mature than other children her age.
"Mommy, your cold is getting worse. We must see a doctor tomorrow," Clara expressed her concern through both sign language and lip movements.
I reached for the pill bottle on the nightstand and took one.It was a powerful painkiller specifically developed for werewolves,designed to ease severe symptoms.When these pills stop working, that’s when we’d need to switch to something stronger.
Thankfully, the pain began to subside shortly after taking the medicine. Thea settled down within me.
The next morning after breakfast, Clara poured me warm water and opened the drawer to get my cold medicine.
As she searched carefully through the various pill bottles for my cold medicine, she suddenly stopped. I noticed her puzzled expression.
Clara carefully examined the medicine bottles, her tiny fingers sliding over labels and instructions, silently reading as if cross-checking something.
I watched from nearby, guilt gnawing at my heart. Thankfully, I’d prepared ahead, transferring the werewolf genetic disease medication and painkillers into regular cold medicine bottles.
I couldn’t let her know about my terminal illness. She was too young to bear such a burden.
I knew she’d notice eventually, but I wanted to delay that day as long as possible.
Every day she didn’t know was another day of happiness, another chance to create complete memories before I had to leave her.
On Saturday, Clara and I went grocery shopping. I held her hand as we stopped at a street vendor to buy a bunch of purple lisianthus.They were my favorite flowers, fragile yet resilient.
Back in our modest apartment, we trimmed the stems together, laughing as we worked.
"Clara," I spoke carefully, each word fighting against the pressure in my chest, "no matter how hard life gets, learn to love it."
"When you’re sad, do something that makes you happy, eat something you enjoy, okay?"
Clara sat beside me, seriously trimming excess leaves, carefully mimicking my movements. Her concentration was so intense it made Thea whimper inside me.
"Mommy, how could life be difficult when I have you?" she signed, her eyes sparkling. "Nothing’s scary when you’re here."
As she said this, I knew she was still processing last week’s events. Brett’s denial of being her father had hurt her deeply. It had taken days for her to recover.
Finally, she’d made her decision. as long as she had me, nothing else mattered.
I was her everything.
She arranged the flowers in the vase, looking up at me with a smile of pure contentment.
"Mommy, every day with you makes me so happy!" she signed.
I couldn’t speak. All the emotions I’d carefully buried deep inside suddenly surfaced at her innocent words, my defenses crumbling instantly.
How much longer could I stay with her? Three months? Maybe not even that.
Should I tell her sooner, give her time to prepare? But how do you explain death to a child?
The words died in my throat.
What mother could bear to tell her young child, "I’m going to leave you"?
So I locked the truth away in my heart, like thorns pressed against my chest, drawing blood every time I thought about it.
When would be the right time? What words could I possibly use that wouldn’t shatter her world completely?
After lunch, I took her to the amusement park she’d been wanting to visit since her birthday.
We rode the roller coaster, carousel, and Ferris wheel, went boating, slid down rainbow slides, and fed the animals.
My body could barely handle it. Every movement felt like being torn apart, even breathing was excruciating. When coughing fits came, I endured them, secretly disposing of the blood. Sometimes it was just spots, other times thick clots.
I forced myself to keep smiling, wanting her future memories of this day to be filled with joy.
After she fell asleep that night, I sat on the couch, looking through our photos from the day.
In the pictures, I was smiling, but my face was paper-white, with dark circles under my eyes.
Starting tomorrow, I’d need makeup to hide how illness was ravaging me.
I selected the best photos and wrote messages on their backs.
"Clara, life is like a roller coaster, with peaks and valleys.
When you’re at your lowest point, don’t lose heart. I’ll become a star in the sky, always watching over you, staying with you, loving you.
Be strong, baby. Mommy will love you forever."
By Monday, my condition suddenly deteriorated.
The coughing grew severe, and instead of small clots, I was now coughing up pools of blood, dark red, almost black.
Staring at the blood in the sink, panic gripped me. Was my time really running out?
Just standing took all my strength. My vision kept darkening, as if my very essence was being drained away.
"Mommy, are you okay?"
Clara’s voice came from outside the bathroom, small but full of worry.
I quickly turned on the faucet to wash away the blood, wiped my mouth, and tried to steady my breathing.
When I opened the door, she stood there like a tiny adult, her expression a mix of anger and concern.
"Mommy, we must go to the hospital today," she signed. "What if you get worse? I won’t go to kindergarten. Let me go with you, please?"
A wave of bitterness and guilt washed over me.
Fighting back my emotions, I stroked her head and managed a calm smile.
"Be good and go to school," I signed while speaking. "I promise I’ll go to the hospital today, and I’ll give you a full report tonight, okay?"
After dropping her at kindergarten, I headed alone to Ravedare’s best shifter hospital, the one Sabrina had taken me to.
My body felt heavier with each step, as if already preparing to return to the Moon Goddess.