Pink ribbon for a friend

I learnt about H's condition a few months ago and tried to find out how she was coping then and whether her health was improving. However, information about her was still rather vague at the time. So when I went back to KL, I called a friend who was a doctor at the hospital treating H's condition. She told me H had received the all clear bill of health and was able to return back to work a month ago . This seemingly meant that her health was improving for the better... but the very next day , I received an sms that she was back in the hospital. So I arranged to visit her the next day with my old schoolmate friend.
It was harrowing to see her again after all these years, as her health was deteriorating before my eyes . How frail she had become and the excruciating pain she was suffering from... what could I say to make it better? Not a darn thing, as tears welled up in my eyes that very moment...
At the end of the visit .. I said my formal goodbye saying I will be going back overseas but assuring her I will ask of her wellbeing from our mutual friends... wishing and hoping in my heart she would recover for the sake of her diligent and loving husband by her side and her two lovely children, but at the same time thoughts crossed my mind whether I could see her again.. alive.. before the end of the week....
The next day my schoolmate friend sms-ed me that she passed away...

I didn't have the nerves to write on the tribute placard the names of people I knew who suffered from cancer when I was running for breast cancer research last month. So this lil blog entry is dedicated to Era, the pretty and fair-skin girl from the East Coast, who always had a sweet laughing smile and not one mean bone in her body, not one! That's how you'll be fondly remembered by your old schoolmate friends. Dear Era, may you rest in peace now in the kingdom of tranquility. Aamin.