Chapter One.

Nancy’s POV

“Please, I am going to bring part of the bill soon, can you let my mother keep staying here.” I am holding the doctor’s coat now. I know it’s not appropriate but he isn’t giving me any chance and this is the only way I can communicate with him without him leaving my presence. I am not trying to hold the tears anymore, it is flowing out easily as I hold him.  

My mother is the only family I have and if she is evicted from the hospital now her chance of recovery is very low. 

“I already told you before, Miss. It’s not my fault. The hospital needs money to keep running, and we can’t admit patients if they can’t afford to pay their bills.” He tries to remove my fingers from his coat, but I only hold him more, even as tears gather in my eyes. People are now staring at us, probably wondering why I am harassing the innocent doctor but I don’t care about it, nor people's view of me. I only care about my mother.

“I will pay up. I just need you to give me more time, so I can gather enough to pay.”

He sighs, “Okay, I will give you up to next week. If you haven't paid any bills by then. I will have no choice but to evict your mother from the hospital. I have done the best I can.” I nod my head and sigh, saying a mumbled thank you, I head towards my mother’s room.

A week is not enough for me to get the kind of money my mother needs for her bills, but it is better than nothing. It is better than her being out there now with no medical help.   

I visit my mother, and my heart breaks when I see how fragile she is in the hospital bed. My mother is known as an Iron Woman, but now she can barely do anything by herself. She needs medical attention every minute.

I hold her hand, and although her eyes are closed and she can’t see me, I believe she can hear me. “Mum, just hold on there. I promise to find the money. I will do anything to make sure you are fine. I promise to find the money. You will be fine. Just hang in there.”

Still holding her hands, I try thinking of how to make money and fast. I have no family to meet for support or beg. My mother had held that particular information to herself. Anytime I ask about our family members, she will say it’s just two of us against the world. She insisted that we don’t need any other person in her life, not even my unknown father. The only life I know is the one I have with her. I sit on the only chair in the room and typed on G****e; ‘How to make money fast?’

There are so many options on G****e. The first option is: ‘to sell your gently used items on Craiglist or F******k market’, a grim take resident on my face, if we had anything to sell that would have been the first thing I would have done, but we have nothing. We practically live from hand to mouth, so that option is out of it. I glance at the rest and sink back into my seat with sorrow, there is nothing I can do to earn a lot in just a few days. An evil thought of stealing or robbing a bank comes to mind, but I dismiss it.

Just then my phone rings. I looked at the caller and sigh when I see Rayna, my best friend’s name on the screen. I pick up immediately, I am consoled by her cheery voice. “Hello, best friend. How are you doing?”

“Not good at all. I had to convince Dr. Williams to give us a week more. I have no idea where to get money for Mum’s treatment.”

I can feel the change in her tone immediately. Rayna is the only one I can rely on but she is also going through some difficulties.

“It’s going to be fine, babes. I’m going to do all that I can to help. I have some money saved, we can give that to the doctor to buy more time.”

I know she is trying to help but that money is her college tuition. “You know I can’t collect your savings. What about school, and becoming one of the best surgeons in the country? Are you going to give that up?”

She is silent for some minutes before she responds again, “I can always apply for a full scholarship. I think I am brilliant enough to get it, and school is not going anywhere. I can always apply later, but this is Mum we are talking about and there is nothing more important than her health right now.”

I shake my head, although she isn’t there to see me. “What will your stepmother think? She already hates me. She will blame me if you lose the money. Plus, I can’t let you risk your future at the expense of my mother’s health. Mum is important to me, but you are also important to me, and your future is important.”

“My future is not going anywhere. Just shut up and collect the money from me. Sometimes, I don’t know why you have to be very stubborn. Plus, it’s not my stepmother's money, the witch has no right to interfere with what I do with my savings, not after she had squandered all the money my father left.”

“I want to stop arguing with you now. When are you coming to the hospital, I think I need to start looking for jobs as soon as possible?”

“I’m already on my way.” With that, she hangs up the call. Rayna is the only hope in my life, if it wasn’t for her, I would have given up a long time ago.

My stomach grumbles reminding me that I haven’t taken any food today apart from the cups of water I keep drinking to hold my stomach. Suddenly, I feel pressed and need to use the toilet. I run towards the direction of the ladies. After spending the number of days and months I have spent in this hospital, it’s basically like a home to me now. I know where everything is and know most of the staff on a personal level now. I help them sometimes when my mother is asleep and I’m bored, and some end up giving me food and sometimes money. 

My eyes kept darting everywhere as I walk fast, and suddenly I see a new banner that hadn’t been there before. As I said, I know everything and everywhere. For a moment, I forget my pressing issue and stand in front of the banner, reading it I see in block letters; 

Surrogate Needed. 

This is your chance to help someone in need and still make money in return.

My eyes skim through the rest of the words on the banner. I forget about my need to use the toilet and start moving towards the direction of the doctor. I have heard about Surrogacy before and that they compensate heavily. What if this is the solution to my problem? What if I meet a wealthy family in need of a surrogate and the only thing they have to do for me is just pay off my mother’s bill? I will say it’s a nice bargain from my side.

My head starts turning and calculating the way it does whenever I am excited. I quickly rush into Dr. Williams's office, I literally feel like my heart will fall in my hand. My heart is beating so fast, what if they have seen someone else for it? Is it just one surrogate they require?

Nancy, calm down. Just think about your mother, she is all that matters. I make that a mantra as I knock on his office door. Luckily, I don’t have to wait too long for the word, ‘come in.’ I force a smile to my lips, as I glance around the room.

 I am a frequent visitor to the room, so I can easily describe where everything is. I know that he has a painting of some bird on the wall facing the door. The room is painted white with no design on the wall. Only the paintings serve as decoration in the room. It can be easily deduced that Dr Williams knows his art or whoever bought the painting has eyes for good art. I love anything creative, be it music, art or story writing. Anything that involves a person making use of their brain and coming up with a unique idea. 

Dr Williams looks up from what he is writing in his file. 

 “How can I help you, Miss Levy? Are you here to make part payment of your mother’s fee? If so, please move to the accounting department to make the payment. Thank you.” His tone is dismissive, but I stand there trying to gather the thoughts in my head and how to tell him that I am here for the surrogacy.

When he observes that I am still standing there without saying anything, He drops the pen and focuses on me. “Is there a problem, Miss Levy?”

Silence

He sighs, “You know what, have a seat and we can discuss whatever this is all about."

I walk slowly to the seat and fall into it. 

“So, what’s the problem?”

I only say the word, 

“Surrogate.” 

My voice is like a whisper that I can hardly hear myself, but miraculously Dr William heard it. He must have had a lot of experiences with people not speaking loud enough for him to hear.

“Surrogate?” He questions.

I nod eagerly. “I saw the banner outside and I am very interested. It seems like an answered prayer, "What do I have to do to become a surrogate?”