Chapter 7: Mountain of Debt

Ava's POV

“How are you holding up?” Lily asked as she offered me a cup of coffee

It was ten minutes past six am when she arrived. According to her, she felt bad that she couldn't be with me last night even though I already knew why she had to go home, so she came as early as she could

“I don't know how I'm going to get 30k pounds Lily” I started, my voice filled with hopelessness “you know you don't have to be here, your grandma is sick”

“Girl, my mom is with my grandma don't worry about that, my concern is you right now”

I sighed, heavily

“We could barely afford a good apartment, how am I supposed to raise money for his treatment”

“How much do you have?”

“Only 10k” I ran my hands through my hair, “that's no where close”

There was a brief silence before Lily spoke

“I'd give you £5000”

My eyes widened

“L..lily..”

“And no, you can't refuse to take it. I'm not going allow that” she interrupts me “you need the money girl, don't worry about me right now”

I couldn't control the tears that rolled down my cheeks

She noticed and pulled me in for a hug

I love her so much

Moments later, we break from the hug

“We need to prepare for work, the day is getting brighter” I said taking myself off the couch

“Have you told your mom yet?”

I paused and turned

“I hate the fact that I have to tell her”

“I understand, but you really should”

“Alright” I said placing my both hands on my forehead and running one through my hair

That same moment, Lily got a call, it was her mom telling her that she had to come home quickly. She hugged me, kissed me on my forehead and left

It was back to me alone in my empty feeling apartment

With my phone in my hand, I stared at my mom's name for almost a minute before pressing the final call

It rang once

No response

I called again, this time she picked

“Hello?”

“Mom”

There was a brief silence

“Ava? What's wrong?”

I swallowed

“It's Ethan”

I could hear her sigh through the phone before she spoke again

“What happened?”

“He got involved in an accident”

I closed my eyes trying to keep my voice steady

“The doctors said his condition is critical, he's in a coma mom” a sob escaped my lips before I could stop it

“Is he going to wake up?”

“They don't know mom”

“Ava, why did you call?”

Her voice changed

I looked down at the hospital statement lying on the table

“The initial deposit is thirty thousand mom”

“Thirty thousand?”

“Yes”

“That's a lot of money, your mother doesn't have such amount lying around”

“I'm not asking you for 30k mom, please, just help me with whatever you can”

I heard her exhale

“You don't listen to me, you wouldn't have been in this situation right now if you did”

“Mom, please can we not do this right now?”

“No Ava, listen to me. I told you right from the start, that love doesn't pay your bills, but you stubbornly chose to get into a marriage with someone who can't afford to take care of you”

I cried

“You need to sell things, look around your apartment for anything valuable, take a loan” she continued

I wiped my tears angrily

“Mom, enough. You've never liked the fact that Ethan isn't rich enough for you”

“I never said I didn't like him”

“You didn't have to”

“You never miss an opportunity to tell me how I'd have married someone with money. Now he's sick, you're making it sound like it's my fault”

“Ava…”

“No”

I stood up from the couch

“I love my husband”

I know you do but…”

“But nothing mom, all I need from you right now is your help, your support, just give me that” I sobbed “just give me that please without all the blames”

“All I'm saying is you need help, you can't do this alone. I'd send you what I have then you'll tell me when you're free, so you can meet him”

I immediately knew what she was talking about

“I'm not going to meet your knight in shiny armour billionaire mom”

“Yes you are!” She yelled “...or you know what? Raise the 30k alone, you're not going to get a single dime from me since you don't want to listen to me”

“Mom…” I broke down in tears

“Let me tell you how this is going to going Ava” she paused, “you're going to try so hard to figure it out yourself and when you've exhausted every single option you can have, you'll turn to me”

She laughed

“Mom, please..”

“I have to go, Ava”

She said and ended the call

I slowly lowered the phone from my ear

Ever since I introduced Ethan to my mother, our relationship has been toxic. She never liked him from the start. She always thought I could do better, that I had settled for a man who couldn't give me the kind of life she believed I deserved

To her, love was never enough

She wanted money, comfort, status, everything Ethan and I didn't have

And no matter how many times I told her that Ethan loved me, that he treated me well, and that I was happy with him, she never seemed to care.

She always found something wrong with him

His job wasn't good enough

Our apartment was too small

His car wasn't expensive enough

Even our simple wedding wasn't what she had envisioned for me

I had stopped trying to convince her a long time ago

But somehow, even now, with Ethan lying unconscious in a hospital bed, she still found a way to make me feel like choosing him had been the biggest mistake of my life

I noticed the time, it was 7:50

I'd have to write an email to Victor, telling him I wouldn't be able to make it to work today

2 hours later…

I dropped the last box of items together with the rest

There wasn't much to sell to be honest

It was just my laptop, our flower vase and a few car accessories

‘This isn't going be enough’ I said to myself

Out of frustration, I kicked the box filled with car accessories and sat on the floor, my face buried in my hand

A call came in, it was Marcus

“Hey Marcus” I said softly

“I heard the news from Lily, I am so sorry”

I bit my lips trying to stop myself from crying. Every consolation felt salt had been poured on an open wound

“Thank you” I said, and I could tell he felt my sadness, “Marcus”

“Yes please”

“Please can I borrow some money” I sniffed wiping the tears that ran down my cheeks

“Don’t cry, how much do you need”

“The doctor said the initial deposit is £30,000, please can you send me whatever you have?” I sobbed “I promise I'd pay you back”

“You don't have to pay me back okay? I'd send you £10000, that's all I have right now”

That's all that's left to complete the initial deposit

“Marcus..” I sobbed harder, I couldn't even come up with words

“You don't have to say anything, I'm here for you always okay?”

I nodded, like he could do see me

“I'll talk to you later alright? Take care of yourself”

Then the call ended

Marcus and I go way back. We've been friends since high school

He was there before Ethan, before my marriage, before everything became complicated. He was the kind of friend who never needed an invitation to show up, especially when things went wrong

Then along the way, we met Lilly and it felt like the universe chose three of us specifically. We have become inseparable since then. Although, these days we don't get to see Marcus so often because he has a family of his own

When Ethan came into my life, Marcus was one of the first people I introduced him to. Surprisingly, they got along so well. Marcus had always treated him like a brother and Ethan trusted him completely

My phone screen lit up, it was Marcus telling me he had sent the money

I thanked him, took my bath and headed to the hospital

One week later

I knocked lightly on Brandon's office door before stepping inside

“Mr. Lockwood?”

He didn't look up from the papers in front of him

“Sit”

I sat across from him, my hands clasped tightly in my lap.

He finally looked up

“During the past week, your performance has dropped significantly”

My stomach tightened

“I'm sorry, sir. I've just had some things going on…”

“I don't care about excuses”

I went quiet

“You're distracted, you're making mistakes, and you're taking twice as long to complete tasks that used to take you half the time”

“I'll do better”

“You said that yesterday”

I lowered my eyes

He leaned back in his chair, studying me

“If your personal problems are affecting your ability to work, then perhaps you need to reconsider whether you can continue working here”

My heart sank

“No, sir. I can handle it”

“Then prove it”

He slid a file across the desk toward me”

“I want this completed before you leave today. And this time, I expect something that doesn't need to be correcte”

I picked up the file

“Yes, sir”

“Good”

I turned toward the door

“Ava”

I stopped

“Whatever is distracting you, fix it”

I nodded silently before leaving his office

Walked over to my desk, Lily tells me that the doctor called

My heart skipped

“What am I going to do? I have to submit these things to Brandon before leaving”

“I'd help you, let's do it together”

She said collecting the files from me

In few minutes we were done, and I submitted to Victor

“The boss said the files are okay” Victor returned shortly with a feedback

I exhaled

“Thank God”

I picked up my bags, told Lily I'd see her later and rushed down to the hospital

I made my way through the hallway down to the hospital administrator's office

“Sorry I'm late” I apologised as I entered her office

“It's okay, have a seat” she said signalling for me to sit

She then placed a folder on the desk and opened it

“Mrs Maxwell” she started, “this is the updated statement for your husband's treatment”

I stared at the papers

“How much?”

She slid the document towards me

I looked down

My heart sank

The amount had increased again

“But I already paid the initial deposit with the extra £10000 I was asked to pay”

“Yes, and that covered his initial treatment and care. His condition requires continuous intensive monitoring, and other medical interventions”

I swallowed

“How much longer will he need to stay in the ICU”

“We can't say for certain”

I rubbed my forehead

“So everyday he stays, the bill keeps increasing?”

“I'm afraid so”

An image of Ethan's unconscious body flashed my memory

My poor baby, still fighting a battle he didn't even know he was fighting

“How long can I keep paying this?”

The administrator gave me a sympathetic look

“As long as the payments are made, we'll continue providing the necessary care. But you'll need to keep up with the financial arrangements”

I picked up the folder with shaky hands and folded it into my bag

I was already trying

I've sold everything I could sell, I took a loan within the week, I don't know what else to do

For the first time, the thought crossed my mind

What happens if I run out of options?

Ethan's unconscious body flashed through my mind again

And suddenly the question became even more terrifying

What happens if I can't afford to keep him alive?