CHAPTER 5
1079 Words
"He had a heart attack yesterday night but we were able to cushion the effects,” the friendly doctor said as they met in the hallway.
“Is he okay now? I want to see him.”
“Yes, he is.” The nurse assistant at the entrance will show you in.”
Rico was her only brother. Since their mother left they had totally been dependent on each other. And since the rest of the family didn't care very much, the best they could do was to look out for themselves.
Rico had been down with leukemia. Helin had to stop working to take care of him. His situation seemed to be getting worse with every effort she made. She was beginning to run out of funds and her father had been very unyielding.
Amidst all that, she still had her friend beside her who helped where she could, especially with soft encouraging words to help her maintain her sanity.
Her whole world caved in all at once.
Sweat dropped down her face. She was scared and anxious all in one swoop as she walked to the hospital door.
Immediately her brother saw her, he beamed with a smile but the pain he felt in his body wouldn't let him express his joy at seeing his only sister.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
They both smiled while Helin blurted “the irony, I should be the one asking you that.”
“I'm sorry I couldn't make it yesterday. Father needed my attention.”
“Is there a problem?” He asked because that was very unusual. Their father never needed their attention, only the stepmother did whenever she wanted to blab about mundane things relating to their mother who left her sick life for her and her husband a long time ago.
“No, there's no problem,” she lied, wanting to keep her brother in the dark about the plans of their family. She knew the brother would object to her final decision because she was doing it party due to his health but she didn't care.
He was silent, his face looked quite worried because somehow he decoded whatever her sister had in mind without her saying a word. He knew that she was troubled.
“There's something you are not telling me. I know and I'll figure it out. I always do,” he said to her.
Helin damned the consequences and burst out in tears. She struggled to control it but couldn't.
“I will be getting married soon." Rico beamed, “I am so happy for you. Carter is such a nice guy and you both have been dating for years. You are certainly good for each other,” he ignorantly confessed.
Helin shed more tears as he continued to talk because she was marvelled by his genuine ignorance and also imagined what the world would have been for her if that was her reality.
“Don't worry, come closer, let me dab my towel on those beautiful tears of joy,” he said, struggling to raise one of his hands, which had a tiny loop attached to it, taped to a spot to prevent it from misaligning.
She cried even harder and shifted close to his hand, taking the little hand towel from him to dry her tears herself.
“That's not even the case," she said, trembling. She almost wanted to spill the tea when she restrained herself.
“What's not the case?”
She diverted his attention to something else. “I'm just so sad you won't be present but will lie here all day for the sake of leukemia. I cannot contain my agony,” she lied and hugged her brother tightly.
“That's fine I promise to send a message through someone to you,” he said with tears.
Rico was Helin's only brother; their mother left them after the second wife took over the family. The father on the other hand transferred his hatred for their mother to the children by not looking after them or relating with them as he should.
The nurse came into the room urging her to give the brother some space since visiting hours were over and he needed some rest for his weak body.
“Please take good care of him,” she begged.
“Of course, I will. It's my job,” the female nurse said gently, rubbing her back and drawing her closer for a hug.
She left the room and stood outside still staring at her brother through the glass door which made everything inside visible.
She watched the nurse gradually change his clothes just before he slept off. The cancer made him a lot weaker than he used to be. And then she had to leave the hospital and was on her way home .
…………………………………..
The last thing she wanted to do was leave her bed, her soothing blanket which had only been her source of comfort since the sad news of getting married to a bankrupt billionaire was broken. She thought of rejecting the whole arrangement but she just couldn't. She had found some good reasons to go ahead with their plan.
That sounds like an oxymoron, the idea of getting married to him already made her sick to her stomach especially because she had been in a relationship with someone who wanted her as much as she wanted him and she knew how euphoric it would have been.
Drenched in thoughts, she suddenly noticed a twitch on her toe.
She eagerly removed the headset she had over her ears which was banging Cyndie Lauper’s Girls Wanna Have Fun to behold a face drowned in makeup which made her appear like one of those drag queens who entertain their audience on YouTube with nothing important to say.
“Sleepy head,” she said, dragging her headset off her neck.
She stared at her without saying anything when a voice came from outside, “we need her there.”
“Oh! Why are you making that face? You're marrying the third son. You should be happy. By default, you usually don't require much, unlike me. The little the bankrupt son would provide should be more than enough for you. The same can't be said of me, so I expect you to be considerate,” she teased.
“We have a wedding to plan,” she mocked and banged the door as she left.
- Writer
