Bound to the devil

Isabella POV “Signora Bianchi, unfortunately we would need at least fifty percent of the required amount upfront before we can proceed with your mother's surgery.” Doctor Moretti’s voice on the phone was calm and apologetic but it didn't change the fact that my mother might die. I grip the phone tighter against my ear, my knuckles turning white. “Please Doc, I need more time…just a few more days I promise I will get the money. I just…” “I'm sorry Isabella but I can't help you more than this…I wish I could but You have seventy-two hours to get the money this is the best I can do for you. If the payment isn't made by then, we will have to discharge your mother.”she says “Okay ma'am but please….” I hear the dial tone buzzing as the line goes dead. I stare out the street, I was parked opposite a park, a mother and daughter sharing an icecream, laughing with no care in the world. Here I was required to get more than my years earning in 3 days. My mother's life was now reduced to numbers I didn't have and didn't know how to get. My hands are shaking so bad I dropped the phone,it clatters against the car floor. My chest feels tight, my breath coming in short sharp gasps. I can't breathe. I can't think. All I can see is my mother's pale face against the white hospital pillow, her hand reaching out for me,her cold thin fingers closing over mine, her voice barely above a whisper. “Don't worry about me Bella”she would say “God would provide, he always does.” But mom God wasn't providing right now and I was running out of time I started the engine and drove. The bank first…Signor Ferrari had handled my father's accounts for twenty years. He came to my father's funeral and when he hugged me he said, if you ever need anything Isabella don't hesitate to call me. Now I was calling him. I parked outside the bank and walked through the glass doors The bank was cold, air conditioned, the kind of cold that makes your skin prickle and your teeth ache. The teller looks at me indifferently as I walk past,I don't matter to them, I'm just another woman with nothing in my account. Signor Ferrari’s office was at the back,his name is on the door in gold letters; G.FERRARI, BRANCH MANAGER. I knock and when he opens the door,he doesn't look so shocked seeing me. He knows why I am here, there could only be one reason.Everyone knows my mother has been sick for months now and we were running out of time and money. “Isabella,”he says, stepping aside to let me in.”Come in… to what do I owe this visit? How is your mother doing? I'm sorry I've not been able to pay her a visit. I've been too busy.” “She's managing, Thank you” I say knowing fully well he never planned on seeing her. I sit across from him, pulling the papers I carry out of the envelope ...my mother's medical records,our insurance policies and bank statements showing what little I had. Everything I own, everything I have is laid out on his desk. “Please,” I say. “I need forty thousand euros,I promise to pay back every single cent. I'll sell the apartment if I have to,work three jobs but right now please Signor Ferrari I need the money.Help me save my mother.” He looks through the papers slowly and I watch his face the whole time. Every crease in his forehead, every pause and every small sigh he makes I notice them all. My legs keep bouncing uncontrollably under the desk. I clasp my hands tightly in my lap that my nails dig into my palms Please, I pray silently. Please say yes. When he finally looks up at me,his face said it all and I knew before he says anything to me. “Im sorry, Isabella,” he says pushing the papers back at me.”With no collateral, without an income or a guarantor the bank cannot approve this loan.” "No, please” the word comes out small. Signor Ferrari, please. What about the apartment? At least it's worth something right…please.’ “The apartment is in your mother's name” he shakes his head “And until she's well enough to sign,it is not accessible. I am truly sorry but there's nothing I can do.My hands are tied.” “There has to be something.”I lean forward, my hands flat on his desk.” Please there has to be someone, another department, a program for things like this please, Signor Ferrari I'm begging you. I'll do anything. Just give me something…it doesn't have to be the whole amount just enough to keep her alive until I figure the rest out.” He looks at me for a long moment. Then he pressed a button on his desk. "Security, please." I stare at him, my eyes wide in disbelief. "What?" "I'm sorry, Isabella. There's nothing more I can do for you." Two uniformed men appear at the door, one of the strides in takes my arm and begins pulling me up from the chair. "No." My voice breaks. "No, please. Don't do this. My mother is going to die. She's going to die if I don't get the money ..." They pull me out of the office, my feet dragging against the carpet as I reach back towards the desk where my papers are still spread out. My mother's life is now reduced to ink on paper that no one would read. "Please," I scream, my voice echoing off the marble floors, the glass walls, the cold faces of the tellers who watched me being dragged out. "Please, you don't understand. She's going to die. My mother is going to die. Please, someone help me." They push me through the glass doors out into the street. I stumble onto the sidewalk. My knees hitting the concrete. I don't know how long I stayed there. Time doesn't feel real anymore. People walk around me, their shoes clicking against the stone. No one stopped.No one helped and not even one person spares me a look.