#1 My life

"It is called glioblastoma." Dr Chad paused as his eyes scanned the facial expression of the woman who seemed to be in her late thirties. Her face was whitish and pale and had no subsequent expression.

"You have a multifocal glioblastomas and they are the cause of your dizziness and vomiting, we will need to perform a biopsy to determine whether the tumor is malignant or benign and also to know the location" he explains further pointing at her brain chat from his computer.

Leilani stared deeply at the computer for a while before looking up to look at the worried face of the doctor. "I see," she said coldly, causing a frown to appear on the doctor's face. He chuckles, wondering if she understood a word he said, he wasn't expecting such response from her.

"Do you have any family you can call?" Dr Chad asked. "Perhaps a husband?" He added, taking notice of the gold wedding band on her finger

Leilani flashed him a half smile and nodded her head. "Offcourse, I do have a husband, I have a very large family," Leilani said, and the smile gradually faded from her face. 'Just that my health condition is no family emergency'

"That's goodnews, why don't you visit with him, it would be nice if I can speak with a relative since you can't provide a medical statement from your previous neurosurgeon, it would aid in your treatment, I will write you an appointment note. Tell me, is tomorrow okay to visit?" Dr Chad asked, reaching for his notebook.

"My husband is very busy, and I'm busy as well," Leilani said.

"Busy?" Dr Chad glimpsed at her bio-date before turning to glance at her. "You stated here that you don't work," he said, and Leilani nodded her head. "Yes, I am a full-time housewife, I don't have time," she said.

"But, shouldn't your health come first?" He asked, shocked. "I'm not sure," Leilani said.

"Okay, you said you have a large family, you can visit with anyone or betterstill we could work with your husband's schedule, just tell me when he is free," Dr Chad said

"What is going to happen to me?" Leilani asked, ignoring everything he said. She had her eyes fixed on him and her sweaty palm holding unto her bag tightly.

"Your condition is very severe, and I wonder why your previous neurosurgeon didn't recommend surgery because from the look of things, it could be a malignant tumor. If you do the surgery, you will have a year and a couple of months, mostly close to two years, but without it, you will have four to five months, depending on your health state. Even with the surgery, you won't be able to live normally for that year either. You may suffer from hemiplegia, a speech disorder, and a cognitive disorder as well. It can be very risky."

"It is risky?" Leilani asked. She could feel her shaking hand get even more wet.

"Yes."

"Will I die?" She asked, still staring deeply at him. She needed to know what would become of her.

"Yes."

A sharp pain pierced deep into her heart. 'Death, is that what would become of me?' she smiled, trying so hard to hide the pain she was feeling. "I see..." Leilani said, standing up. "Thank you, Doctor, for letting me cut the consultation line, I really appreciate," Leilani added.

"If you don't want to do the surgery, I suggest you say your proper goodbye to your family, especially your kids, and be happy," Dr Chad said. Leilani flashed him a smile, nodding her head. "I will do that, thank you," she said and hurried out of office and made her way into the elevator.

Luckily for her, she was the only one inside the elevator, which gave her enough time to think about what Dr. Chad had said.

"Four months." A tear dropped from her eye. She just couldn't believe that this was the end for her. Hasn't she been doing all she was asked to do. She took her drugs just as Dr. Anna had prescribed it. She thought she was getting better, not knowing she was getting worse. "Didn't she say I would be fine without the surgery?" Leilani scoffed.

Immediately, the elevator dinged, Leilani quickly wiped off her tears and plastered a smile on her face before she stepped out. The last thing she needed is to drag unnecessary attention to herself, she was Mrs Russell afterall even though the world doesn't know she is a member of the Russell family not to talk of being the young mistress of the family.

"Can I get my bill and drugs?" Leilani asked with a smile plastered on her face. The nurse there smiled back at her before checking for her medical statement.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but Dr Chad didn't recommend any drugs for you," She said. Leilani stared at her for a while before letting out a soft laugh. "I'm sorry, I forgot that I'm done with my treatment," Leilani said awkwardly

"Here's your bill," the nurse said. Leilani glanced at the bill for a while before shifting her glance to the nurse. "Consultation seems to be very expensive, or did you mistake calculate drugs as well?" Leilani asked, not sure why her bill would be that expensive.

"No, Dr Chad is one of the most expensive doctors we have, and Consultation with him is charged per hour so you were in his office for three hours, plus you did some brain scan earlier, they are pretty expensive" the nurse explained.

"Okay...can I pay this by installment?" Leilani asked, hoping she won't say anything about hospital policy. No matter what they do, she can't pay up at once or even wire them the money.

Even before the nurse could say anything, they heard Dr Chad's voice from behind, agreeing to the installment payment.

"Don't worry, you can pay by installment," Dr Chad said, making his way closer to them.

"But Doctor, we need to know the duration, I might lose my job if..."

"Four months, no three months," Leilani said even before the nurse could complete her sentence. "I will pay up in three months," Leilani repeated.

"Okay, three months it is," Dr Chad said, shifting his gaze from her to the nurse, who just nodded her head in approval.

"Here, you forgot this," Dr Chad said, handing her a brown envelope.

"I won't be needing the...."

"Just take it," he said, cutting her short. Leilani had no choice but to take the envelope from him. He looked persistent, and she knew he won't let him leave the hospital if she didn't take the envelope.

Leilani glanced at the rare mirror of her car, looking at the reflection of herself and exhaled deeply. She closed her eyes and opened them almost immediately and reached for the brown envelope. She needed to know the content so she could throw it out before she got home.

Tears clustered in her eyes as she read Dr Chad's letter, word for word everything was exactly what she needed to hear. She smiled and quickly reached for her phone and dialed her husband's number, she was going to do what Dr Chad advised her to do in his letter but unfortunately for her, Vincent Russell didn't pick up despite the numerous times she called. Leilani had no choice but to text him and then called her best friend or better half as they fondly call each other.

"Hi Sugar." A smile spread across Leilani's lips. Immediately, she heard Diane Timmer's sharp and lively voice.

"Are you busy, Sugar?" Leilani asked, driving out of the hospital. 

"Busy?" Diane asked, sitting up. She smiled, staring into the face of the handsome man sleeping beside her. "Yes, I'm very busy." She giggled lightly, touching his hair.

Leilani frowned. Hearing her giggle, she wanted to say something, but Diane was fast to speak up immediately. "Why? Do you need help, Sugar?" Diane asked.

"Not really, I just need someone to talk to, I called Vincent, he isn't picking up, I think he is busy with work and I don't know if I should go to his office?"

"Don't!" Diane yelled, making Leilani raise a brow at her. "Why? Is anything wrong, you sound walked up?" Leilani asked, surprised. 

"No...not that, just that, you know how much Vincent hates it when you visit his office without invitation, I don't want anything or anyone to hurt your feelings Sugar, just go home and I'm sure once he is free, he will give you a call, Okay?" Diane said, and Leilani nodded her year.

"Yes, thank you, Sugar." Leilani smiled. "Are you at home?" Leilani asked. "No, I'm in the office," Diane replied, wondering why Leilani was suddenly asking her that. "Why? Do you want to come over?' Diane asked.

"No, I was thinking, why don't we go for a girl trip, just the both of us for a whole week?" Leilani said.

"Girl trip? Sure, why not, I will make out time for that and also ask Richard, he is a pretty jealous husband, you should ask Vincent too," Diane said.

"Yeah, I will do that, I love you, Sugar," Leilani said.

"I love you too, Sugar, bye," Diane said and ended the call.

"What a dummy," she hissed, rolling her eyes before she dropped the phone. She turned and smiled at the young man before plastering a kiss on his lips.

"Who was that?" Vincent asked, sitting up. "Your dumb wife," Diane said, and Vincent chuckled. 

"Looks like you are not giving her a hard time. Why is she still asking for a girl trip? I doubt if she is really sick," Diane said with a frown on her face.

Vincent glanced at her and scoffed. "Don't be like that honey, she is really sick, Dr Anna assured me, and I even stopped her treatment a long time ago," Vincent said, and Diane scoffed. "Then why isn't she died yet? Isn't brain tumor dangerous like it used to, huh? Or is hers different?" Diane fired angrily.

"When are you divorcing her?" She asked when she noticed Vincent wasn't making any attempt to say anything.

"I have told you, Leilani is going to die soon, Dr Anna said she doesn't have much time left. I don't know why her body is still hanging on," Vincent said, reaching for her phone. He frowned, seeing Leilani's numerous missed calls and a text message from her.

"Isn't it obvious, her body is as persistent as her soul, why don't we just kill her off, we can't wait till she die, what if she hangs on for a year or even worse two years, I can't wait for that long Honey and our kids needs you, they need their biological father" Diane whined.

"And Richard? At least we already know Leilani is a walking corpse. How do you intend to take care of Richard? 

"Richard? He is a pushover besides he has no power or money to fight back, him and his family are just living under my mercy and wealth, Don't worry honey, he will walk out on his own when he finds out he has nothing but his useless life, he isn't as persistent as Leilani" Diane said.

"And if he doesn't?" Vincent asked.

"I can always kill him off, that's why I'm asking you to let me kill Leilani, it would look like an accident, no one would suspect you" Diane said staring deeply at Vincent's eyes.

Vincent was about to say something but was interrupted by the beeping sound of the front door locking. The two glance at each other before turning towards the door, stunned.