chapter 4
1120 Words
The sun was just beginning to rise when I stepped out to buy a few things. Mom would need new clothes, fruits, vitamins, and other supplies once she was discharged. The hospital bag I had packed earlier was small barely anything inside. And now that I had money, I wanted her to have everything.
It felt strange walking into a pharmacy and picking up the best items without checking prices.
But it also felt good.
I paid quickly, holding the bags tight as I walked back to the hospital. I felt lighter, hopeful. For the first time in a long time, I could breathe without feeling like the world was pressing down on my chest.
But my hope didn’t last long.
When I walked back into the room, Mom was sitting up in bed.
Awake.
Alert.
And clearly not happy.
Her lips were pressed into a thin line, her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes met mine the moment I stepped inside.
“There you are,” she said. Her voice was cold.
“Mom! You’re awake!” I placed the bags on the side table and rushed to her, but she didn’t smile. She didn’t hug me. Instead, she asked quietly:
“Where did you get two million dollars?”
My stomach dropped.
I froze on the spot. My lips parted, but no sound came out.
She narrowed her eyes. “I heard the nurse talking. She said you showed them the proof of payment right before they wheeled me into surgery. Two million, Ava. Not two hundred. Two million. Where did that money come from?”
I stood there motionless. She had read me like a book.
“Speak up,” she snapped. “Are you doing something illegal? Is it drugs? Is it some kind of scam? Are people using you?”
“No! Mom, no!” I quickly sat beside her and took her hand, but she pulled it back. Her breathing was shallow from anger. “It’s not drugs. It’s not illegal. I made a deal, that’s all.”
“A deal?” she asked, bitterly. “What kind of deal gives a girl like you two million in one day?”
“I needed to save you,” I whispered. “I wanted to tell you when you were better, I swear. But I didn’t want you to worry. I knew you'd think the worst. But it’s not illegal, Mom. I promise.”
She didn’t say anything.
Her silence hurt more than anything.
The next few days passed slowly. Mom started recovering fast stronger than anyone expected. She was walking short distances, cracking tiny jokes with the nurses, and eating better.
But she didn’t speak much to me.
Not really.
Every time I tried to talk, she turned her head or gave short answers.
It broke me.
Finally, the doctors said she could go home.
But I didn’t take her to her old apartment.
Instead, I took her to the new house the lawyers had arranged. It was beautiful. Wide front porch, white walls, tall windows. A nurse would visit twice a week, and everything she needed was already inside.
Mom stepped out of the car slowly and looked around. Her eyebrows pulled together tightly.
“This… is not our house,” she said.
“I know,” I whispered, helping her out gently.
“How can you afford this?”
“Mom”
“Don’t lie to me, Ava.” Her voice cracked. “If I see anything illegal going on, I will call the police myself. I raised you better than that.”
Tears stung my eyes. “Please. Come inside first. I’ll tell you everything. I swear.”
She hesitated. Her fingers trembled.
Then finally, she walked inside.
She didn’t sit. She just glanced around. Her jaw clenched.
“Talk.”
I closed the door softly behind me. My fingers were shaking. I didn’t know how to start. But I had to.
So I told her everything.
From the hospital.
To the café.
To the strange job listing.
To the lawyer, Mr. Benjamin.
To the contract.
And to the transfer.
She didn’t speak the whole time.
When I finally stopped talking, she just looked at me.
Then, slowly, tears ran down her face.
“You’re going to carry a stranger’s baby?” she whispered.
“I… I had to. You were dying. I couldn’t lose you, Mom.”
She covered her face with her hands.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, moving to sit beside her. “I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t bear to see you hooked up to those machines. The thought of losing you… I would have done anything.”
We sat there for a long time. In silence. In pain.
Then finally, she looked at me.
“I wish you had told me.”
“I didn’t want you to hate me.”
“I could never hate you,” she said softly. “But Ava… this is huge. You’re giving up a part of yourself for this.”
“I know. But I don’t regret it. I’d do it again if it meant you’d live.”
She wiped her tears and smiled sadly. “You always were stubborn like your father.”
We both laughed a little through our tears.
After a while, she leaned back against the couch and sighed. “So… what about him?”
I knew who she meant.
My ex.
I swallowed. “We broke up… right before all this.”
She turned her head slowly. “Why?”
I hesitated. Then told her the truth.
“He cheated on me.”
“What?!”
“Yeah. With Amelia.”
Her jaw dropped. “Your best friend jenner?”
I nodded.
She sat forward, slapping her palm against her knee. “I knew something was off about that girl! Always hanging around like a shadow. And he… I thought he was a good boy.”
“I did too,” I said, trying not to cry again.
Mom was furious now. She tapped her foot hard on the ground. “So after everything we did for him. After everything I let go just to see you happy with him. That snake. That rat.”
“I was broken, Mom. That day I found out, I cried in public. I felt like a fool.”
“You’re not a fool,” she said firmly. “He is. And Jenner? She was never your friend.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I know that now.”
She pulled me close and held me tightly.
I let her.
Her heart still beat beneath her hospital gown.
That was all I needed.
- Writer
