Knock knock

"Hey Kars, hey Allen." Leon says as he and Julia, Karla's 1 year old niece, come in. Julia runs over to her aunt and starts asking questions about how she is. As Karla keeps Julia busy, Leon starts asking Allen about what happened?

"I don't remember much, just the yellow of headlights and then black." Allen explains. "She's been like this since they brought her in. The doctor said they had to perform CPR at the scene. I hate to think that she could never wake back up. I know she wouldn't want this at all, but don't want to really believe that this could be the end."

"Julia and I will be here for you." Leon says. Karla rolls up beside her half-brother.

"She looks so puffy." Julia comments, holding her dad's paw. The three older Klein family members all look at her in slight shock before Karla starts chuckling. Allen mockingly slaps his daughter for disrespect.

"What?! She's not wrong. You know Mom would laugh at that." The two males thought for a moment before laughing as well. Allen looks over to his daughter, step-son and step-niece. "I'll go and let Dr. Leroy know we are here." Allen walks over to the door.

"Do you remember anything from the accident?" Leon asks as soon as Allen closes the door.

Karla closes her eyes, trying to remember. "We were singing along to the song 'Drive'. There was a black truck that ran the red light and T-boned us. All I could really see was the headlights, then nothing." She opens her eyes again to see both Leon and her niece giving her a look of concern. She shakes her head, moves Julia off her lap, and rolls over to her mother. "I promise to never sing again, if I hadn't handed Dad the phone, he never would have played that song and we would have seen the car." There was a slight tick in Sue's heartbeat, like she hated the promise her daughter made.

Leon places his paw on her shoulder. "Come on Kar, it wasn't your fault, it wasn't Allen's fault." He tries to comfort his sister.

"You're right." She looks up at him. "There was a moment where I may have caught a glimpse of the ones at fault."

"Really?! Who was it?"

"I think it was the gang of gorillas from town." She answers.

"I hope they all go to jail for this." Leon growls out.

"They will get their day soon, I know."

Before anything else could be said, Dr. Leroy, the nurse, and Allen come in, and the MD explains to the family what they will do. "Now, we won't know exactly when it will happen. We have already finished the paperwork to move her into hospice. Are you sure you both want them here when we do this?"

"We're sure."

"Ok," Dr. Leroy and the nurse share a look. Leroy proceeds to slowly take the tube out of Sue's nose. He then starts removing the sensors and gummy tak from her head, some of the residue still remaining on parts of her fur. Finally, he turns off the machine supplying the female with oxygen. It was deathly quiet in the room before the ECG starts beeping with Sue's heartbeat. The entire Klein family takes a sigh in relief.

~One week later~

Karla was in the family garage and opened the door to the electrical room. Inside was a white room where her mother was standing, wearing her hospital gown and standing straight and alert, like a soldier. Sue walks out of the room and heads towards her daughter. The pup slowly backs up out of the doorway, her mother following her. Karla moves out of the path of her mother as soon as she passes the threshold. Sue makes a beeline to a figure behind Karla, who turns out to be Allen. He leans back, as his wife stops before him.

"Hi, Allen." She says without a care in the world. Said male looks to his daughter for an explanation, but she only raised her hands in surrender and shook her head.

Karla wakes up panting just hours before her shift starts at the nearby college's food court. "What the heck?!" She gasps out. She rushes into the living room where the card for the hospice care center was. She shakingly dials the phone number and lifts the phone to her ear.

"Hello, this is Catalonia Hospice center."

"My name is Karla, I would like to know how my mom, Sue Klein, is doing?"

"Do you have the passcode?"

"Yes, the passcode is Royal."

"Accepted. Sue's fingers and toes have started to turn blue, and her liver functions have ended. Other than that she is still with us."

~

"Hi Momma." Karla says, as she comes into her mother's hospice room later that day. She walks over to her mother's side and places a hand on her shoulder. Sue's eyelids open slightly, but her eyes are still rolled back into her head. "Still no change?" She asks her dad who is sitting on the opposite side of the bed.

"Yeah, I believe she knows we are here, but just can't react." Allen answers. The bags under his eyes show how much the events of the past week have taken a toll on him.

"Here, I brought you some food." She hands over a take-out bag.

"Kiddo, you know you aren't supposed to take care of me." Allen tells her, but still takes the food.

"I know Dad, but you need to eat. I don't want to lose you too." In between bites, Allen would tell his daughter about what he and Sue would do before she was born. Soon Allen finishes his meal and stands up. "Are you heading home?"

"Yeah, I've been here all day. I'll come back tomorrow. "

"Ok, I'll stay here for a little bit."

"I'll see you at home Kid." Allen says scratching Karla's head as he passes by. She watches as he leaves the room, but before she could start talking to her mom, her cousin, Bertha, walks in.

"How are you doing, sweetie?"

"I'm holding on." Karla answers, looking down.

"Hey, you won't be alone, You have your dad's family that will be there for you."

"I know. It's still not going to change the fact that I'm going to lose her." Karla informs. She and her older cousin talk about Sue's childhood with Bertha. They were so close when they were children, almost like sisters.

About ten minutes later, Bertha stands up and tells Sue that she will be back in the morning. Karla waits beside her mother's bed until she knew that her cousin has completely left. "Momma, Leon and Julia have said goodbye, Bertha has said goodbye, Daddy has said goodbye." Her voice starts to crack. "And now I am saying goodbye. I won't forget what you taught me. If you think your time here is up then I will respect what you decide." Tears start to well up in her eyes. "I won't like it but I'll respect that. Ok." She finally breaks down, crying. "I love you Momma." She finishes with a kiss on her mother's head. Karla walks out without another glance.

~3 days later~

"We are gathered here today to remember the life of Sue Klein." The pastor starts the service. Leon, Julia, Karla and Allen sit in the front row, all holding hands. Leon and Karla take it harder than anyone. As the service progresses Leon and Karla found Julia holding their hands, being the rock the siblings needed. With all funerals, there are some funny moments in the person's life that need to be shared. One specific memory was when Allen and Sue reunited after high school.

"They had both lived in the same small town growing up and separately moved to Calatonia." The pastor describes. "One day Sue's mother looks through the phone book and notices Allen Klein's name. She asks her daughter if it happen to be the same man she went to school with.

'How many Allen Klein's are there?' Sue replies. She takes the phone number, her mother wrote on a post-it note, and rims into her room. She dials up the number and waits for someone to pick up.

'Hello this is Allen.'

'You don't happen to be from (r/t), are you?' She asks, slowly.

Actually, yes. Why do you ask?' He replies.

'You may not remember me, but I'm Sue Rogers and we were in kindergarten together.' She informs.

'Oh, hey Sue....'

Sue interrupts him. 'Before you say anything else, I need to know. Are you married?' At this everyone in the congregation starts laughing.

Karla turns to her father and gives him a questioning look. "Yes, she did ask that." He replies. When the service ends everyone gathers in the courtyard to talk to the family when they exit the chapel. Honestly, Karla just wants everyone to leave her alone and quit saying that they are 'sorry for your loss.' She feels the presence of someone behind her. "If you tell me, 'Sorry for your loss.' I won't regret what I do next."

"Don't worry, I won't. It seems like you've already heard it enough." A familiar voice sats. She turns around to come face to chest with Johnny the gorilla. "Hi. Do you mind if I ask if you want a hug?" He spreads out his arms in a welcoming gesture.

Karla looks at him skeptically, " Do I know you?"

"Alright you got me," Johnny lowers his arms. "I was at the accident when you were hit."

"You were the one who came to talk while I was in the hospital." Karla realizes. Johnny reels back, worried that she would remember everything he said. "I knew I recognized your voice. I only got bits and pieces of the conversation but I did get that you were sorry that this happened to us. Thanks for that. I will take that hug now." This time Karla spreads her arms open. Johnny smiles and wraps his arms around her shoulder. Allen notices his daughter in the arms of, to him, a stranger. He starts to storm up to the two, but soon notices who exactly is hugging her. "We might want to cut this hug short unless you want to see how vicious a protective schnauzer is." Johnny's eyes widen and he quickly releases her, just as Allen walks up.

"You are the one who showed up at the hospital, aren't you?" He asks, already knowing the answer.

"Yes sir." Johnny glances at Karla before adding, "I'm sorry for what happened."

"I wasn't able to ask this at the hospital, but how were you given the room number to find her."

"Dad." Karla groans out in embarrassment.

Johnny, also embarrassed, rubs the back on his neck. "Well, uh, I may have lied to the nurse at the front desk and told her that you were my girlfriend." He says with a chuckle. Allen and Karla stare at him, the former actually glaring while the latter's fur turns bright red. 'Please don't kill him.' She chants in her head. Allen shocks both teens by laughing.

"Son, you actually got through with an overused lie like that. The nurse must have been just out of med school to fall for that. I do appreciate you coming. Are you ready, Kiddo?" Her father comes up, placing a paw on her shoulder.

"I was wanting to talk to, uh,-" Karla looks at the gorilla.

"Uh, Johnny."

"-to Johnny for a bit."

"No it's fine, I was just heading out." Johnny starts backing up.

Karla looks in her bag for her phone, "Well at least let me," She cuts herself off when she looks back up and sees him gone.

Allen chuckles and rubs her shoulder in comfort. "Kiddo I have never seen a gorilla run as fast as a cheetah before. Let's go, everyone else is ready." They walk over to the others. "It's time to head to the cemetery." Allen, his siblings, children, grandchild, and Bertha make their own tiny possession, with Karla holding tightly to the box containing her mother's ashes, down the six blocks from the chapel to the cemetery. When they arrive, Allen and his brother take turns digging a hole in the plot next to Sue's parents. Leon and Karla place the box into the hole.

"Does anyone want to say a few words?"

"Momma, I never got to have the time I really wanted with you before the accident. I will keep the promise I made to you." Karla cries out, as she tosses a handful of dirt into the hole.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there for any of you, especially you Mom." Leon says tearing up, knowing the last conversation he had was not exactly the best. Julia just stares at the box, partially covered, in the ground, not wanting to believe that this was real. One by one, the family members toss handfuls of dirt into the hole until Sue is covered.