Between This Life and The Next.

''Please stay green. Please stay green. Please stay green,'' I quietly chanted to the gods of the traffic lights. I gripped the steering wheel and got through just as green was changing to amber.

The hospital carpark was a nightmare, with the system only allowing one out, and then one in to the visitor spaces. Anxiety and adrenaline were making me impatient. Eventually, after fifteen minutes of leg-jiggling, and biting the inside of my cheek, the barrier lifted, and ticket in mouth, I drove, looking for the one precious space the previous visitor had exited.

I parked in one swift movement (adrenaline was also making me strangely accurate) and I broke into a jog towards the entrance. Dodging slow paced outpatients and visitors, I made my way towards the wards.

The room my very sick Grandmother- my Granny was in, having had a terrible stroke a few weeks before. I had come out of visiting hours, since other family members were making it impossible to visit during regular times. One in particular had been abusive and nasty, a trait he had been perfecting his whole life. I had called him out on it, but I didn't want a repeat performance in front of a dying lady. I was here for her only. The nurse in charge had agreed to let me come at this time, since my Granny only had days at most to live.

The side room was quiet, but the mask providing moist air was rattling and noisy. It was strangely comforting, though. Silence would have been agony.

''Granny?'' I whispered. She opened her eyelids slightly, and then drifted off again.

''Granny, I'm here,'' I said, taking hold of her soft and wrinkled hand. The mask providing air covered most of her little face. Her hair, once curly and only lightly sprinkled with grey, despite her age, was plastered to her damp head. In health, she would have been annoyed. She had always made sure to keep her soft hair properly cut and styled.

She looked so tiny in the hospital bed. The covers had been pulled up to her neck, and her hands were placed over her middle. All medical treatment had been stopped, and the air was just to keep her comfortable while she died. She didn't look afraid, though, but it was clear she was between this world and the next.

I quietly prayed for peace, and that she wouldn't be afraid. I prayed that she'd see her parents waiting for her, and that she'd be content, despite the sickness and difficulties she'd experienced in this life.

The mask continued to rattle and sputter while I sat down with my head in my hands. I sat, remembering silly songs she'd teach us, and the expressions she used.

I looked up from my memories when a nurse came in.

''Hello. I'm Alice. I'm just here to check your Grandmother's stats,'' she smiled. There was kindness in her face, and her voice.

She took my Granny's wrist, feeling for a pulse, and looking at her nurse's watch. Her eyebrows came together forming a frown.

''How long have you been here?'' she asked.

''Um, about twenty minutes.''

''I'm so sorry, but she's gone. I think she must have passed about ten minutes ago.''

She gently took off the mask, and shut off the machine. My tiny little Granny lay there, at peace, and you know, I didn't know how to feel. She was at peace from the pains her mortal body had tormented her with.

All was silent, as tears poured and poured down my face.

''Goodbye, Granny,'' I whispered.