Chapter Two

Chapter two

~ALEX~

I had left Big Harry's office, I didn't know how, but I found myself walking in the street, my hands tucked in the pocket of my faded sweatpants, the wicked sun gently roasting my face. I was lost in thought, the last thing i heard Big Harry say to me was; 'Think about it'

Well I was thinking about it. It sounded tempting, but risky. If I should get caught and arrested, what will become my mother's fate?

My stomach muscles contracts painfully, and I almost double over in pain. I felt dizzy and leaned on a car that's illegally packed by the roadside. The pain was losing it's intensity gradually, but I still feel faint. I sighed in relief when the pain subsided entirely. I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I dug around my pocket until my hands closed around it. The caller ID said 'Emily'

"Hello?" My voice is husky.

Emily's voice at the other end is tear strained. "Alex, I'm at the hospital. It's Mom."

I feel panic begin to rise, like bile, to my throat.

"Which hospital are you currently in?" I try to keep my voice calm, and composed. I can't have the both of us freaking out now.

"Alex, the doctors won't even touch her. She's having a seizure, they said that we've got to make some deposit, and I don't even have enough money on me, and..."

"Emily! Shut the fuck up and tell me the hospital you're in right now!"

She did, and I began to sprint towards the direction she'd given me.

The hospital was not very far. But I felt like I was suffocating when I finally reached the hospital gate.

I leaned against the gate to catch my breath, my tongue felt swollen in my mouth due to thirst.

Forcing saliva down my patched throat, I hurried into the hospital.

I saw Emily pacing impatiently in front of the emergency ward. I approached her and then I saw the thin streak of tears rolling down her cheeks. She sees me and quickly wipes the tears with the back of her hand.

"How's Mom?" I asked her, as I fought off the urge to gather her into my arm and cry like a baby.

"She's stabilized now. She's okay now." Emily rests her hand slightly on mine. She hugged me, snuggling her face in the crook of my shoulder.

"I don't understand. Where's Mom?"

"They're performing a surgery on her. The doctor said she suffered from an hemorrhagic stroke."

I gasped, my chest feeling tight.

"Is Mom going to be okay?"

Before Emily could reply, the door swing opened and a tall, wiry man in scrubs walked out, looking exhausted.

He pushed down the nose mask he was wearing to smile at Emily.

"Doctor, please how's she?" I asked, barely recognizing my voice. The man turned and took a meticulous glance at me, and I felt like he was checking me out.

"And you are?"

I felt stung with anger, and was about to make a scathing remark.

"She's my elder sister." Emily said quickly before I could open my mouth.

"Hmm, she's not as pretty as you are."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I asked with as much venom as my parched throat could permit me. Emily pinched my arm discreetly and gave me a pleading look.

The doctor gave me an angry stare, then shook his head and turned to Emily.

"The surgery was successful. As you know, your mother has Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. We have to perform an open heart surgery on her. The surgery we performed now will only stabilize her. So I'd advice that she gets a septal myectomy as soon as possible. Your mother will regain consciousness in the next two hours. Here's a list of drugs you're to buy." He handed a thin sheet of paper to Emily. I snatched it from her and stared at the impossible drugs name.

"I'll be waiting for you in my office."

The doctor gave my sister a lascivious once-over and walked out.

I gave Emily a suspicious glance, something was wrong. I felt it, but I pushed the suspicion aside and followed Emily to go see our mother.

Mom was unconscious as a nurse fussed about her, adjusting an IV injection into her arm. The nurse looked up as we walked in and offered us a warm smile.

"How's my mom?" Emily asked, smiling weakly at the nurse.

"She's fine. I'm sure the doctor must have explained everything to you?"

Emily shook her head. Then the nurse went into an explanation that sounded gibberish to me because I was lost in thought. I held my mom's wrinkled hand and looked into her calm face. This was the second time in two months she was suffering the stroke. The first time it had happened, she had almost died. But for the timely intervention of our neighbor. I had a sudden flash of Emily hitting me, her face wet with tears and smut and telling me that she hated me.

I shuddered and squeezed my mom's finger tightly, as tears gathered in my eyes.

The nurse soon left the room and Emily and I stood in silence.

The last stroke my Mom had suffered had left her paralyzed on her left side. She couldn't walk anymore and her speech was impaired.

"Emily?" My voice was hoarse and I cleared my throat. Emily looked up at me, then she quickly looked away.

"When you called me, you said the doctors refused to attend to mom until we made a deposit. So how is it possible that when I got here, she was already in the theatre?"

Emily looked down at her fingers, studying her nails.

"I eh..borrowed money from...Mr..." She paused and chewed her lower lips, her eyes darting around.

"From who?"

"Mr Rogers."

"Hmm." I gave her a hard stare and she avoided looking into my face. I knew she was lying. She had sounded so desperate and hopeless on the phone.

"So when did you have the time to go to Mr Rogers house to get the money? Because I received your call an hour ago."

Emily sighed and looked up at me, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Okay fine." Her voice was shaky, as she fought back her tears. "I agreed to sleep with that doctor we met outside the theatre."

I felt like I had been stung by a bee. My eyes widened.

"You what?" My voice came out more sharply than I intended. Emily's look morphed into one of hurt, her stare turning cold and hostile.

"You heard me." Her voice turned from tearful to brisk. "It's not like there was much option available. While I was crying and pleading with that old motherfucker to help save my mother's life, he kept staring at my boobs and kept telling me that the hospital policies prevented him from starting any treatment." She paused and swiped at a single tear that rolled down her cheek.

"Unless we paid at least thirty five percent of the bill."

Emily sat on the chair beside the hospital bed, her shoulders hunched slightly.

"And It's not like you'd have the money." She glared at me. " So I had to do what I can."

She massaged our mother's hand gently. "See? Mom didn't die. She's recovering, so don't you dare make me feel like I did something terrible."

My heart felt clogged up as I approached Emily. She looked so small and fragile and I felt an overwhelming urge to protect her at all cost.

My younger sister, at nineteen, got the looks and banging body of a well matured woman. Her black curly long hair was always in a messy bun, and her green eyes always glittered whenever she was angry.

"I'm sorry, I didn't intend for you to feel bad." I put my hands tentatively around her. She shrugged My hands away from her body.

"The doctor agreed to pay fifty percent of the hospital bill for us. While we'll have to complete the rest by ourselves."

"Emily, I..."

"I'm supposed to meet him in his office." My sister interrupted me, as she stood up quickly.

I held her as she made to walk past me. She whipped off my hand from hers, her green eyes glittering with anger.

"Do we have any other options Alex?" Her voice is bitter and filled with pain.

At that moment, I was willing to fix everything. I wasn't about to sit down and watch that old doctor take advantage of my sister. Disregarding my fears and hesitation, I came to a conclusion.

"Yes, we do Emily."

She kept quiet and folded her arms under her breast, while waiting for me to continue.

"I got a job today."

I said it and finally accepted it.