They knew better

From the window, she could see the rain pelting down. She was an artist, a songwriter, a grandmother, a brave woman. She was so many things- but in that moment as she followed her gaze along the tracks in mud left by the pouring rain, she felt suspended between the realms of life and death. 

She checked the wall clock out of habit, the minute hand not having shifted an inch since she last checked. Within an hour, she would know for sure the results of her PET scan report. In the upcoming sixty minutes of her life, she would know at last if she was cancer-free. The time gap was analogous to a journey of miles and all she had was a bullock-cart.

One would expect the mind to crumple down with anxiety under similar conditions but she was known to be an exceptionally calm woman. Her approach towards an organized life had her so prepared, that her retirement life was sorted by her twenties.

Having lost her parents at the tender age of eight, death was no stranger to her. Her only concern was perhaps the uncertainty of being fit enough to bless her granddaughter at her wedding.

She let those worries flow as rapidly as they took over her thoughts. For a moment, she surrendered her tough exterior to let the volcano of emotions inside of her free. It was still raining outside, thudding almost. With all the tears she gulped down her throat, it was a wonder the clouds were left with enough water to pour. 

She inhaled a sharp breath against the thundering roar. She gathered herself immediately, back to her poised state. In a mildly twisted way, she found it comforting how awful the weather was. As though the universe felt her pain and the bolts of thunder resonated with her bolts of emptiness.

Then, the long-awaited phone call came at once. Incidentally, she was by herself when she heard the words she had often imagined in her sleep blissfully. There were days at a stretch she would hear them at positivity clubs, never once thinking of them as anything beyond "empty words of optimism". It seemed unreal to her even as the nurse repeated it for the second time- because deep within her bones, she knew a different truth. 

Regardless, she relieved her family of a prolonged period of dread by spreading the news. Thereafter, everyone resumed the wedding planning of the granddaughter with a whole new level of enthusiasm. Her family's happiness was reflected in her own smile as a tear rolled down her cheeks. 

She was in the midst of signing her will anyway when the second call from the same nurse came in. The nurse stuttered between heartfelt apologies. Apparently, there had been a mistake in delivering the copy of her report as the Doctor's instructions were misinterpreted.

It felt real this time, convincing. Her body knew with every fibre of her being that it was true. Sitting by the windowsill of her now-filled room she said to the awaiting pair of curious eyes,

"The hospital will stop charging us starting this Monday"

The rain kept pelting down, thunderstorms grew louder.

They knew better.