The Night We Met

Chapter 4-The cost of Living

Isabella's POV
i stand there my eyes fixated on Nicholas's expressions that are turning cold every second.

I try hard to not lose my posture and nervously bite my lips as i feel the air in the room tighten and with no sign of me to leave.

"That's ridiculous" Nicholas says as he leans back in his chair frustratedly as if realizing something

"Its high time for you to accept your responsibilities Nicholas" Mr.Anthony says calmly and i quickly look at Nicholas to attain a reaction from him but get none

"My responsibility is my Bussiness and now MY family bussiness" he says with the same tone as his dad. Nicholas really takes after him

"If you accept this condition, you can sign it right now, if not you know i have more options"
Mr.Anthony says calmly looking at him and his expressions turn cold.

He quickly grabs the pen from my hand and signs the documents.

Everyone gets up and exchange handshakes. The lawyers leave and Mr.Anthony follows him while i follow Mr.Anthony hot on his feet

I go back to my desk as i recall the events that took place in the last 30 minutes.

"Isabella" Nicholas says as he comes out of the office, his hair is messier and his sleeves are unfolded as if he did something in the office after everyone left

"Yes, Mr Nicholas" i say relaxing and he looks at me, his gaze turning warm for just a second

"I need your h-" he starts speaking but gets interrupted by my ringing phone.

I quickly apologize and glance at my phone to read jenny's name.

Its odd of jenny to call me during office hours unless it is very urgent. She usually leaves a text if she plans something for us.

i look at Nicholas looking at me and he gestures me to receive the call

A little embarrassed, i pick up the phone and Jenny's out of breath voice makes me worried

"What happened jenny?" I quickly ask her trying to make out the voices behind her. Some sirens or something it seems

"Your mom-isabella-your mom" she says stuttering and my eyes widen

"What happened to my mom jenny?" I quickly pick up my bag as i make out her words

"Come to the hospital right now" she quickly says and ends the call sending me an address

I panic as cold sweats form on my face and i look at the person in front of me clearly not feeling myself
"Is everything okay?" He asks me and i block out his voice to focus on what Jenny said to me

"My mom- something happened- i need to go Im sorry" i say as i walk beside him quickly sprinting through the hallway

I make my way to the car and quickly drive to the hospital moving through the traffic

I reach the hospital in roughly 15 minutes and quickly go inside to the reception

"I need a patient's room number, Lauren Torres" i quickly say and she looks for the name

"Room 786" they say and i take running from there
"Jenny" i quickly find her and rush towards her as she gets up nervously

"What happened?" I ask her and she looks at me with teary eyes

"Your mom. I came home and i saw her lying in the kitchen, i tried waking her up but she wouldn't wake up so i checked her heartbeat and it was very low and faint so i got scared and called the ambulance, on the way here they told me she had a respiratory disease that she kept for a while and it had gotten worse so now her chances for recovery are very low" she concludes and then hugs me

"I got very scared" she says crying and i hold her tightly as silent tears poured through my eyes
Jenny had lost her mom when she was 16 and she used to be my neighbor, we had been best friends since the age of 4 and she had always considered my mom hers, I can't imagine the pain of her almost losing a second mom.

i give myself air to breath and calm her down. We then wait for the doctors to tell us something
Hours pass and we sit there not moving an inch, while i prepare myself for any worst, Jenny helds onto the hope and refuses to think of anything else.

The glass doors slide open and 3 doctors walk out looking not as happy

"What happened doctor? Is my mom okay?" Jenny asks quickly and glances at them worriedly

"Ms. We examined her body and did some tests. She has lung cancer" the doctor says and my heart skips a beat

"But she'll live right?" Jenny asks as a tear slides down her cheek and my heart breaks

"Lung cancer survival rates are very low, we need to do an urgent surgery which might increase her survival chances" the doctor concludes and jenny gathers her strength.

"Then why are we not doing it?" She says a little angry

"It is a lot of amount and we first wanted to consult you" he says worriedly looking at me and i bite my lips

Surgeries are expensive

"How much?" I ask the doctor and he eyes me with sympathy

"You can walk with me" he says looking at me while jenny goes to sit on the chair

I nod and walk with him

he tells me about the symptoms, my mom's previous visits and her knowledge about her disease.

All this brings me severe pain but i calm myself down in hope of somehow paying for the surgery and giving another life to the one who gave birth to me

"This is the amount we can settle on" he writes some digits on a paper and my heart starts beating faster.

Its four times the amount of my yearly salary.

"I will do everything i can, you just have to start preparing for the surgery" i tell the doctor, thank him and make my way to jenny.

"I'll stay here you can go home" she says in a low voice as soon as she hears my shoes clicking.

"You can bring her stuff from home so she can be comfortable" she speaks again this time as if giving herself assurance that mom is going to be fine

"I will" i give her a slight kiss on the forehead and make my way out of the hospital

I drive home and immediately enter my mom's room

"She had previous visits to the hospital" the doctor's statements surrounds my brain as i try to find her file and soon find it hidden behind her bedside table
I open it and examine its contents as tears start to form in my eyes

"Why did you have to do this" i say letting my emotions get over me, my heart pains as i let out a cry and think about what will happen next.

I need money but there's nothing i can do. I sit by the bedside table with the file in my hand as silent tears pour from my eyes and accept my defeat.