Albern and Lily
The Painful Waiting

In a special room that is arranged to be like an intensive care room in a hospital, it appears an old woman's body is lying with life support tools. His eyes were tightly closed and his breath was not very noticeable, like someone who no longer had a life. The monitor monitoring his heart rate is the only indicator showing that the helpless body is still alive.

Albern sat by the bedside of the lying man while looking at him deeply. A sad face cannot be hidden. His eyes were glazed, so forced Albern to raise his face so that the warm clear liquid did not fall so wet his cheeks.

"Grandma," said Albern softly as he touched the soft back of the thin and pale hand belonging to the unmoving figure. The figure that is so close to him more than anyone, the beloved grandmother.

Mrs Ginna's condition later worsened after previously being declared to have a complication like the one suffered by her late husband. However, he always refused to be admitted to the hospital, nor did he want to stay at Aaron's residence so that Albern who now accompanied his grandmother lived in the main residence of the Brylee family.

Albern also asked their personal doctors to turn a room in the mansion into a room equipped with medical equipment such as the one in the hospital, thus allowing Mrs Ginna to get intensive care. Some medical personnel consisting of nurses and specialists were also reliable Albern to take care of his grandmother.

There have been many attempts that Albern and Aaron have made to treat Mrs Ginna's disease, but still the old woman can not really recover. Her twilight age made the formidable Lady Ginna finally slowly lose her strength. All he does now is survive because there are still dreams that have not been fulfilled, namely watching his favorite grandson build a household.

"I'm sorry, Grandma," murmured Albern softly. His voice sounded soft and somewhat trembling.

The day before, when Mrs Ginna was conscious and still able to communicate, she again asked Albern when her granddaughter would marry. At that time Albern did not give a satisfactory answer to the grandmother so now he really felt guilty made.

It was clear that Albern did not respond too much to his grandmother's question, because until this moment still faithfully waiting for Lily to return to him. He really did not know if after that Ginna's condition would drop and unconscious like now. If anything happens, it is certain that Albern will regret it all.

Albren's sadness was somewhat renewed when a doctor and two nurses entered the room to check on Ginna, so forced, Albern came out of it.

"How's your Grandma doing now?" ask Zaya to Albern. She stays at her in-laws' house when she gets word from Albern that Ginna's condition is worsening, while Aaron and Zivanna are out of town and on their way home.

"The doctor is examining him" Albern replied briefly.

Zaya didn't ask anymore. He could feel Albern's sadness at this time so he didn't want to make his son even sadder. They were both waiting for the results of the doctor's examination while sitting on a sofa near the room Ginna treated.

"A few days ago, your Grandma said something to Mama, Al," Zaya said after being silent for a while.

"Say what?" asked Albern without looking.

Zaya sighed for a moment, only then opened her mouth again.

"He'd love to see you get married...."

"Ma, please. We've discussed this many times and my answer will remain the same" Albern said before Zaya finished his speech.

"It's been seven years, Albern. You've been waiting for Lily for seven years and all this time there's no sign of her coming back." Zaya replied to her son with a firm tone that she had never listened to before, so Albern froze instantly.

"Even Zivanna had never heard from Lily at all. You're here waiting for him, but is it true that he still remembers you there?" ask Zaya in an ironic tone.

Since Lily left for the United States seven years ago, Carissa and Evan have also moved to Singapore because both of Evan's adoptive parents had an accident and died simultaneously. Evan took over the management of his adoptive parents' hospital and did not return to Indonesia. Lily had no news at all like being swallowed by the earth. The two families who were originally good friends with each other, now really do not interact with each other at all like strangers.

"Your age is no longer young, Al. It's time you put an end to all this. You may have a lot of time to wait for Lily even longer, even if I don't know when. But look at your grandmama, he can't wait any longer. Mom and Dad were like that too. You're the only successor to this family man. You certainly don't want the Brylee family lineage to stop here, do you?" Zaya said again with a tone that sounded sad.

Of course Zaya wants her beloved son to marry a beloved woman, but her current circumstances leave Zaya unsure to continue supporting Albern.

"Give me a little more time, Ma," Albern said later after a long silence.

"Well when, Al? You've missed a lot of opportunities to marry a good woman for Lily. But do you know when Lily will come back to you? Are you sure Lily's really coming back?" ask Zaya again.

It was clear that Albern immediately turned to his mother with an indescribable look on his face.

"Lily will definitely be back ...." Albern's voice was hanging in the air.

"When?"

Albern once again exhaled his coarse breath before then turning her gaze the other way.

"I don't know when, but Lily will definitely be back. I've promised to wait for him" Albern replied in a low tone compared to before.

This time it was Zaya who sighed deeply. She knew exactly how much her son felt about Lily. Initially Zaya also fully supported Albern's decision to wait for Lily to return. But seven years have passed and Lily hasn't shown up, or just told Albern.

The situation has changed a lot. Albern had sacrificed so much to fulfill his promise to wait for the girl to return. And now Zaya couldn't see Albern suffer any longer.

"Al, maybe it's time you stop waiting for Lily." Zaya then returned with an irony. A sentence that he knew would definitely make Albern's heart break upon hearing it.

Albern raised his face again and looked at Zaya. He was disappointed, of course. The mother, who had always supported him, now asked him to give up. But Albern could not blame Zaya completely because he knew his mother just did not want him to continue to suffer.

"No, Ma. Mama, Papa and Grandma be patient any minute. Lily will be back. He could not have forgotten his promise. He will come to me in a moment, believe me ..," said Albern exclaimed.

Zaya can't say anything more. Suppressing Albern at a time like this was also not a wise thing. He could only hope inwardly that what Albern said just now had truly come true. He really couldn't imagine what it would be like if the girl never returned to Albern's life forever.

Connect ....

Next part meet, hopefully aja😅