ABANDONED TO FATE

I was pinned down to my bed when my stepmother forced the door open. She was shocked to find me still in bed at that time of the day.

“You idiot! Get up from that bed this minute,” she scolds me, moving closer to drag me out of my bed.

The moment her palm touched my skin, she felt the flaming heat exuding from my body. She steps back to observe me in my helpless state.

I was lying in bed, my body fully covered with a duvet. I was shivering profusely; I felt as cold as ice, although my body temperature was high.

“Mother, I don’t feel too well,” I managed to whisper in my weakened voice. “I have a terrible fever. I need to go to a hospital,” I added

“I do not have any money or energy to waste on a silly brat like you”, Celine says, dismissing my request.

“You can get some local herbs from the herbalist whenever you’re ready to leave your bed”, she suggests, not pitying me in my unstable state of health.

“Please, Mother, help me. I feel like I’m dying under these sheets,” my cracking voice mutters, my face looking pale, and strength drained up from my body.

“Oh, shut up! I am not your mother; I never have and never will be,” she warns, disregarding my state of health, which should be of more importance in the conversation.

“I need to go help my daughter with her wedding arrangements, and I want the house to be in order before I get back”, she instructs, turning her back on me as she walks away.

Celine cruelly left me all alone to perish in my ill state.

“Yes, ma’am”, I concurred as tears flooded my eyes.

I finally got to understand that, indeed, no one cared about me. Not even on my darkest days; perhaps this would be the day I die and say goodbye to this joke of a life I am living.

Maybe I can finally be with my parents in a happier place, better than this world that reeks of hate, betrayal and cruelty.

I could hear the sounds of my stepmother’s high-heeled shoes as she stamped her feet through the hallway and stormed out of the house. 

The loud sound of her car engine whirring and the car wheels spinning fast as she drives out.

I slowly closed my eyes, hoping that the pain would go away.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door, but I was too fast asleep to hear it.

My best friend Sophie came to check on me. 

Sophie has been very supportive towards me since the lousy ordeal befell me. She is the only person in the world who genuinely cares about me.

Sophie has always been a reliable friend to me, the kind that can’t be bought over. She has stood by me through my life's good, bad and ugly times.

Despite rumours in the town surrounding the leaked sex tape from my one-night stand with Supreme Alpha Damien, Sophie never disassociated herself from me.

She often visited our home to keep me company, which triggered my conspiring stepfamily, who made sure to separate us so I would face my miserable fate alone.

Celine and Lucinda had banned her from stepping on our property to frustrate me and keep my happiness far away.

But Sophie decided to visit me secretly in their absence. She would hold me down and help me out with chores.

When circumstances seemed to be weighing me down, she offered me a shoulder to lean on and helped me rekindle hopes in brighter days ahead.

Sophie sensed something was off and decided to check the back door I usually leave open during the day.

She majestically walks to the backyard and heads towards the door. She pulls the door knot, which slides the door open.

Sophie lets herself in. “Natie!... Natie!..... Are you home?” She sweetly calls out my name, hoping to get feedback.

She silently moves towards my bedroom and opens the door. Sophie finds me lying in my bed, fast asleep.

I could smell her close to me in my sleep, and that woke me up. 

“Hey! Sophie,” I said faintly, glad to see her come to my rescue

“Hey, bestie, what’s wrong with you?” Sophie enquires, holding my right hand, which was boiling.

“I don’t feel too well,” I said coughing out loud

“Why didn’t you tell your stepmother to take you to a hospital? You don’t look too well,” Sophie says, her face melting down with worry and concern for me

“She doesn’t care to know. She would rather watch me die than spend a dine on hospital bills,” I responded, which enraged Sophie.

“What a heartless woman she is", Sophie cursed out in annoyance. 

Don’t worry, I’m here now. You will be fine,” Sophie reassured me, making me feel hopeful again.

She got me a glass of water from the kitchen to drink and put it into my mouth.

“Oh my! You poor thing, I need to get you to a hospital right away,” Sophie worriedly notes.

Sophie pulled the duvet off my body, grabbed my arms, and helped me get up from the bed.

She drove me to a hospital where I was well-fed and given proper medical care, which calmed my fever down and regained my strength.

I was referred to a doctor who took notes of my symptoms and requested that I run some tests in the hospital’s laboratory.

My blood and urine samples were taken for the lab test. We were instructed to return the next day for the test results. 

Sophie and I returned to my house, where she helped me do the chores so I wouldn’t have to stress myself so much.

The house was in order before my stepmother returned from her adventure.

I laid back in bed in my sick state so I wouldn’t be bothered by Celine.

The next day, Sophie and I went back to the hospital after my stepmother left the house.

At the doctor's office, the doctor held a big white envelope containing my test results. The envelope was torn open, and a long paper sheet was pulled out.

The doctor adjusted his slender rectangular eyeglasses, holding the paper close to his face as he read the content to our hearing.

The content of the test result leaves both of us dumbfounded. Shivers ran through our spines as we couldn’t withhold the gravity of the situation.