Only A Heartbeat Away Novels & Stories

My heart’s pounding so hard it hurts. And somewhere far away, under the same moon, I swear— I feel the bond flare. Like a heartbeat. Calling back. I wake up

“ Danielle, you're lucky he didn't barge on you. Why are you absent minded a while ago? Is there something bothering you?” “I guess it's okay to tell you my reason. You see...My grandmother passed away last night. She's the only person I had. Now, you could say, I'm an orphan. No parents, no grandparents nor siblings. “ “ Hey! It's not the end of the world yet. God has plans for all of us.” Hannah went closer to her and gave her a warm embrace. She felt sad to know what she is going through right now. She pitied her.

She waited for the nothingness, a final, defiant witness to the end of the world. And then, in the absolute zero of the void, she heard it: A single, rhythmic, human heartbeat. Thump-thump. It wasn't coming from the machine. It was coming from inside her own chest.

In this version of the universe where nothing exists beyond the sound of his heartbeat and the way he sighs when I hold him close. I didn’t pull away. Not yet. I stayed buried deep, still twitching from the aftershocks, unwilling to let even a sliver of space open between us. My hand slid up to his chest, resting over his heart, feeling the thrum of life beneath my palm. A steady reminder that he was real, that he was here.

A smile oozing with derision and venom. As I picked up the papers, all covered in Christopher's shoe marks, my mechanical heart was trembling faster than ever. It should not be trembling like this. My pupils were starting to dilate, and the couple that was leaving me behind became nothing but blurry circles. … A long, long time later, I wiped the blood off the corner of my mouth. As I stared at the papers that read 'artificial heart transplant,' my fingers brushed across the scar on my chest. The one that'd been there for seven years.

He said in a grave tone, “Ms. Lewis, your body is no longer suitable for the existing artificial heart. “If a suitable heart isn’t found within three months, your life will be in danger.” I fell silent. Beryl was crying. The chance of finding a matching heart was slim to impossible. It actually meant that I only had about three months to live. Maybe it was destined. Perhaps that was why I had gotten the chance to see Bryan once again before I was gone. I was surprisingly calm about my condition as I gently wiped away Beryl’s tears. “Why’re you crying? I still have three months.” I did not want to spend the three months I had confined to a hospital bed.

I look at the screen. Two heartbeats. Both of them steady, both of them present, both of them the specific mechanical miracle of small lives that are eight weeks away from being in the world. The first one slightly larger, the second one closing the distance, both of them doing exactly what they are supposed to do.

A single blip pulsed across the screen. Then another. A heartbeat. Fragile, but unmistakably there. A spark of life.

Listening to their rapid heartbeats. *_"

“Four hours away.” “Yeah,” I breathed, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.