Chapter2
1382 Words
Daphne's POV
They looked down at me and I cried my eyes out, my mother's body in my arms.
"She's still breathing, her heartbeat rate and pulse is just low." The taller man said his face now in a clearer view.
"Ambrose, carry her away," He ordered his companion, and he carried Mom's lifeless body from my arm.
"Wait, where are you taking her?" I asked as Ambrose carried Mom out of the kitchen.
"Where are you taking her?" I asked again, this time more fiercely as I grabbed onto his arm.
"He's taking her to the car. You don't want your mother to end up dead do you?" He snarled and grabbed my arm but dropped it as soon as he did with an agonizing frown on his face
"You… who are you? I felt something, I…" He mumbled under his breath, his eyes losing its brightness for a split second. He nodded his head in disbelief as he took steps back to walk away.
" You saved me, but I need to save my Mom." I blurted out and my words made him stop in his steps. "Please help me. The thugs stole my money, it was for my Mom's insulin. She is in a critical condition, I can't afford another five hundred dollars." I whimpered in defeat, my head bowed to the ground.
"Come on Troy, we could at least give her a ride to the hospital." Ambrose said from behind as he returned to the kitchen and I raised my head to meet Troy's beautiful eyes.
"You're you?" Troy asked again, the horror in his eyes till present. "And why the hell are you in the streets alone, there's a freaking thunderstorm going on! What were you doing dancing around the streets instead of being with your mother? Is she even sick? Did those thugs even steal from you? How are we sure you aren't one of them?" He snapped and I flinched, my body and heart almost giving in to the overwhelming cold my wet clothes brought upon me.
"I promise, I don't know them. They stole from me. I'm an intern nurse and I don't have enough to pay for my mother's compiling hospital bill. Are you gonna help me or not?" They stared blankly at me and I was soon to regret my outburst.
"C'mon, we will drive you to the hospital." Ambrose said as he pulled me out of the kitchen.
***
I watched as the nurses on duty rushed Mom into the ICU. I ran after them as they carried her on a stretcher with Troy and Ambrose catching up behind me.
The ICU's door flew open and Zachary, my coworker, walked out.
"Daphne, she needs a blood transfusion. The cancer in her blood has eaten deep in almost all her blood cells." Zachary announced as he walked towards me. He spared a moment and gave Troy a long hard glare before returning his eyes to me. "She has a rare blood group, Daphne. The blood banks don't have up to a pint of her blood type." He said as he pulled my hands with his.
Zachary was also a resident nurse in the city hospital. We had finished medical school together and chose to work as interns in the same place.
"What do I do Zac, where the hell do I find a donor?" I asked as fresh tears fell down to my chapped lips. "I can't… I owe a lot already. I can't let anything happen to her, I… I gotta find a donor." I stuttered as more anxiety kicked in.
"She will be fine. Don't cry so hard." Troy said and his words dragged my attention to him. "If this hospital's blood bank doesn't have her type of blood, then we will search elsewhere. We search the whole of the country if needs be." He said and I shrugged as I pulled away from Zachary.
"What's her blood type?" He asked, ignoring the shock on everyone's face.
"Rh-null blood, she has the rh-null blood group." I stuttered and he nodded.
He whispered to Ambrose and they both walked out of the waiting room.
"Where the hell were you, Daphne? You're soaking wet, your hair is drenched. You're gonna catch a cold. Your face looks sore." Zachary said worriedly as he scooped my cold face into his warm palms.
"I… I went to get money for her insulin. Her blood sugar level had risen so much, she needed her dose." My words caused a frown to settle on his face.
"In the thunderstorm? Daphne, you are a nurse dammit. Why didn't you bring her here?" He snarled and I recoiled as my cold body in my scrub became weaker by the minute.
"I thought she just needed a dose of insulin. I don't have any money Zac. My student loan, taxes and other debts have left me broke. I went to Aunt Vivian to borrow some money. I managed to get her to lend me some but it was stolen by some thugs." I sniffed as I shivered, my mind fixed on my sick mother's health.
"Who are they? Those men, who are they?" He questioned and I really didn't know how to reply to him.
"I don't know, I… they saved me from the thugs and brought Mom and I here." I managed to say but he wasn't satisfied with my answer. "Don't give me that look. He said he's gonna help get some blood for mom. Mom is gonna be fine, that's all that matters."
He opened his mouth to speak but Troy entered the room, Ambrose right behind him.
"The blood is on its way, your Mom will be fine." Troy assured with arched eyebrows as he glared at Zachary who's holding my arms in a tight grip. "Who are you? Why are you here? What's in it for you huh? Why did you offer to help?"
Zachary questions flooded the room and left Troy with a smirk.
"I'm here to help because Daphne needs me to." He said calmly and the sound of my name escaping his lips sent shivers down my spine, so much so that I almost forgot I was freezing.
"What made you think she needs your help? Who are you man?" Zachary's voice became hostile as he stood between Troy and I.
"So defensive? If you cared about her so much then she wouldn't have been outside in the wet streets, in the thunderstorm, fighting with a bunch of thugs. If you were so defensive, then she shouldn't still be so wet, shivering in her wet clothes." He said and all eyes ran to me.
"Daphne," he called my name again and I froze. "Do you want me here? A word from you and I will leave."
I nodded in disapproval, so fast that I heard my neck snap.
"Do not leave, please. Mom needs a blood transfusion. We have to save her." I said as I ignored Zachary's glares.
He beamed with a smirk as he walked towards me, his amber eyes advocating a piercing gaze on my weak heart.
"We need to begin the transfusion now. She has less than an hour to remain alive." The doctor in charge of Mom said as he joined us in the room.
I stared at him and I knew that he held more bad news.
"Her vital organs are failing and I'm afraid we're going to lose her." He added as he understood the questions my teary eyes held. "She's in extreme pain, Daphne and isn't responding to the anesthesia which was administered to ease the pain." He said and walked away, his pungent words polluting the air.
The doctor's words gave me strength I never thought I could harbor at that moment.
I ran to Troy as he was my only hope.
"You said you would help right? The blood, she needs the blood now." I said to him as I grabbed his arms.
"I gave you my word..." he mumbled, his eyes fixed on my face.
"I assure you, your Mom will be safe.." I continued but stopped when Ambrose cleared his throat.
"There's bad new Troy, the blood…" We all turned to him, and negative, repulsive thoughts filled my nervous mind.
- Writer
