THE NEWS THAT SHATTERED ME

ALYSSA

“Doctor, please, you have to tell me what’s wrong with my mother. I’m very worried, especially after she fainted today,” I begged Dr. Cole, my mother’s physician, from what I had learned.

My mother had been to see him before, but she never told me, and now I was more than certain she was hiding something from me.

“Miss, doctor-patient confidentiality prevents me from telling you...”

“Damn it, doctor! I’m her daughter, not some stranger. Whatever agreement my mother signed is meaningless considering what just happened.”

Suddenly, the doctor fell silent, as if he had broken some agreement he had made with my mother. “Please, doctor. I need to know what is happening to her. So I can do something. She is all I've got, and if this is serious, I will be the only one paying for her treatment and hospitalization,” I explained but regretted right away as I knew I didn’t have the money. It was just a way of making him talk. 

“Okay, follow me to my office and I’ll explain everything,” said Dr. Cole, walking down the cold, white hallway. I was right behind him. I hated the smell of alcohol in hospitals.

Once we arrived at his office, the doctor sat down in his chair behind the desk and took out a thick file.

“This is your mother’s medical records. I’ve been collecting this information for a year,” he mentioned.

“The last year??? My mother has been coming to see you for a year and I knew nothing about it?” I exploded.

“Don’t be angry with her. It was her wish that you didn’t know. Now I see the situation is getting worse, and although I have broken my promise to her, I know that your mother needs someone close to her during these difficult times...”

“What do you mean? What’s happening to her? What difficult times are you talking about, Doctor Cole?”

“Miss Powell, I’m an oncologist,” he said, and my world collapsed. 

“Oncologist? Does my mother have cancer?” I asked him. This was the question I was most afraid to ask. Because if he says yes, how would my life change? I was naïve. I knew what an oncologist meant. I was just in denial.

“Your mother has leukemia, a pretty aggressive form that requires an immediate bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, the costs are very high, and your mother has asked me to just make her last days as comfortable as possible. Without involving you.” 

I felt like all the air was sucked out of me, leaving a horrible hole. My mother was dying before my eyes, and I was only finding out now. When there was almost nothing left to do.

“Leukemia? Bone marrow transplant…” I repeated like a broken record. “How did this all happen?” 

I felt the ground slipping away beneath my feet. The only one who never gave up on me was now giving up on life.

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way, Miss Powell. I wish there were more I could do. “

That’s when I exploded.

” You’re sorry? I’ll tell you why you’re sorry. Because my mother doesn’t have the money to get better. Because you won’t get any of the thousands of dollars, she doesn’t have to pay you to survive. That’s why you’re sorry! Not because a poor woman is dying and her daughter can’t stop it from happening.”

I knew I had snapped. The doctor’s face was frozen. He was speechless. I had been so decisive that Dr. Cole could hardly find the words.

“I am so sorry, Miss Powell. I know that your mother’s health is poor, but she asked me to keep quiet. She made me sign this confidentiality agreement. My hands were tied. This was all I could do to help her feel comfortable. I know this is not something to brag about, but...” said the doctor, leaning close to my ear as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear. “...I stole some necessary medication, painkillers to be exact, to help your mother endure the pain more easily. It’s not ethical what I did, but I just couldn’t stand by and watch her suffer so much.”

“You did this for her?” I asked him in disbelief. Now I feel guilty.

“I did. And I would do it for any other patient. I was paying for the medication myself because I didn’t want the hospital management to become suspicious and fire me. That would have left your mother without the support she needed. So, Miss Powell, all you can do now is to be there for her. Let’s help her get through this. I am not your enemy. "

Dr. Cole had a point. Perhaps I was too hasty in my judgment. Not all had ulterior motives. Like the man I encountered. Because I was sure he had one. What kind of man would invite a 20-year-old girl into his home under the pretext of tutoring a sister whom he may not even have? Or maybe I was being too quick to judge as far as he was concerned too?

“How long, Doctor Cole?” I asked him in fear. 

“At least a year, Miss Powell. That is without the transplant. If you want, I can put your mother on a waiting list, and when a compatible donor comes, we can start the procedures.”

“What about the costs?”

“I’ll be honest with you. A transplant with everything it entails, compatibility, the surgery itself, and post-surgery treatment can cost up to approximately $900,000”

My world collapsed again. Where would I get that much money now? And without it, without this transplant, I would lose my mother. I wasn’t ready to lose her. Not like that. 

“Can you please keep my mother here for one night? Just one night. I’ll see what I can do. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, you will have an answer,” I told him, but to be honest, I didn’t know how to make all that cash on such short notice. 

The doctor’s eyes got bigger.

“I can do that. I just hope you won’t rob a bank or something. I know desperate situations can push people to do crazy things…” he said, and for some reason he wasn’t joking. 

Robbing a bank wasn’t such a bad idea either. I would get time in jail, but not for life. But my mother would get to live. What a stupid thought! I said to myself. 

“Of course not. Just for one night, okay?”

The doctor nodded, and I walked out of his office. The weight of the situation I was in was pressing heavily on my shoulders. 

The first thing I did when I arrived home was call Celine. I needed her. She came to me in less than ten minutes. Meanwhile, I prepared two cups of tea for us.

“I came as soon as I could. What happened? You seemed worried on the phone,” she asked, and all I could do was throw myself into her arms and cry like an unconsolable baby. “That’s it, hon, get it off your system.”  

I think I cried for ten minutes straight. And all this time, Celine was just holding me. I felt so safe in her big, puffy arms. 

The evening found us on the terrace sipping from the second cup of chamomile tea. My mom’s favorite. Tears welled up in my eyes.

“So without that transplant, your mother has no chance?” Celine asked. 

“Unfortunately not. But it’s $900,000. Where the hell am I going to get that kind of money?”

“Isn’t there a way to get rich quickly?” asked Celine in her innocence. “I don’t know, like gambling, or winning the lottery. "

“We could always create a donation campaign on my social media account. But I’m sure this would not be quick enough. My mother needs it like, yesterday.” 

“What if we sell some valuable stuff? I can always sell my game console. What is the most valuable thing you have, Alyssa?” Celine asked, and her enthusiasm went up a little. 

“It won’t be enough, Celine. Thank you for wanting to find ways to help me, but the most valuable thing I have is a bracelet my mother made out of seashells.”

This was pointless. If I didn’t come up with an actual idea to make money soon, it would probably be the last time I would see my mother.

“And if we talk to the university principal? He could probably help raise the money. Not all of them, but maybe enough to start the formalities for your mom’s surgery.” 

Celine’s idea was not that bad. But I had a problem. Well, maybe two problems. Anna and Duncan. It was enough that I was now being mocked by the entire school for a reason that was so far from the truth. If my secret were to be revealed now, my little peaceful life would be over. Nevertheless, I could not let this minor obstacle stand between me and my mom’s life. This was eating me alive.

“Maybe we can try…” I said with a hint of regret in my voice. But I knew that this was the only viable solution. Or was it?

“I can see that something about my idea is bugging you,” Celine noticed. She couldn’t help but notice. My face betrayed too many emotions.

“Well, you know…my entire story with Anna and Duncan. This would be another reason for them to mock me. Only this time, I won’t stand idly by. We’re talking about my mother, and any direct attack on her is an attack on me. I won’t let them come after me.”

“That’s the spirit, Alyssa. You know I will be by your side no matter what” 

“I know Celine. But to be honest, I am so afraid. I can’t take their attacks anymore. Now I’ll give them another reason to mock me. Unless…”

“Unless what? What are you thinking, girl? I don’t like that look of yours…” Celine said.

“What look?”

“That look that says you’ve been thinking about something, but it’s not quite right.”

“Is that visible?” I asked her because she was right. Another option came to my mind. 

“Like the sun in the sky, girl. So?”

“Well, I think I will have no choice but to accept. "

“Accept what?” 

“His deal. Damien Blackwood’s deal.”

Celine's face suddenly turned pale. 

“ Are you insane? Damien Blackwood? From the Blackwood Pack? Haven’t you heard about the killings?”

“Don’t tell me you believe he is involved? He had the chance to kill me like twice until now, and he didn’t. If he was a killer I wouldn't be alive.”

“True! But what makes you believe he is not luring you?” 

“Celine, look! I don’t believe in werewolves so I am not afraid of this man. What I need is money so I will accept his deal, whether you like it!”