THE DEAL
1200 Words
#JOCELYN’S POV#
“Mom, please… stay with me, don’t close your eyes. Please!” My voice trembled as I clutched her fragile body, my fingers digging into her coat like if I held her tighter, I could anchor her to life.
People gathered, their faces blurring behind my tears. “Someone call an ambulance!” a voice shouted. I couldn’t even turn. My eyes were fixed on hers, dull, unfocused. She was slipping. No, no. Not now. Not like this.
Sirens screamed in the distance, slicing through the chaos. Moments later, red and white lights flashed across her pale skin. Paramedics rushed out.
“Are you the patient’s daughter?”
“Yes!” I cried, nodding rapidly.
They lifted her, sliding her onto a stretcher. I ran beside them, trembling from head to toe. My fingers wouldn't stop shaking, and my knees felt like they’d collapse. I couldn’t even breathe properly.
“I can’t do this,” I whispered, sobbing. “Please, oh God, please save my mom.”
The paramedic gently guided me into the back of the ambulance, letting me hold her hand the entire ride. Her skin was cold. Too cold. Everything was happening so fast, I couldn’t even think. Just hours ago, I found out my fiancé had been sleeping with my stepsister, and now… my mom was fighting for her life. What kind of nightmare was this?
We reached the hospital in minutes, though it felt like forever. The back doors flung open, and the medics rushed her inside. I ran after them.
But then, they stopped me.
“You can’t follow us into the emergency room,” a nurse said firmly.
“Please! She’s my mother!” I begged, almost dropping to my knees.
“I’m sorry. The doctor will come out once there’s news. You have to wait here.”
The doors closed in my face. I stood there, frozen. Then I began pacing. Back and forth. Again and again. My shoes squeaked against the polished hospital floors. I chewed on my nails, rubbed my arms, whispered prayers under my breath, pleaded with a God I wasn’t sure even listened anymore.
“She’s all I have,” I murmured, staring at the doors. “She’s the only one who ever loved me. Please, don’t take her too.”
Minutes became hours. Time didn’t move. The clock on the wall might as well have stopped. I tried to breathe, but the tightness in my chest wouldn’t let up.
Finally, the doctor walked out, removing his gloves slowly.
“Are you Miss Jocie?” he asked, his voice solemn.
“Yes. That’s my mom in there. Please… tell me she’s okay.”
He sighed. “Your mother has stage five stomach cancer. It’s… advanced. She needs immediate surgery within five days.”
My heart dropped.
“Okay. Do it. Do the surgery,” I said, standing tall even though I was shaking inside. “What does it cost?”
“The full treatment, including surgery and recovery, will cost one billion dollars”
I blinked. “What?”
“One billion dollars?.”
My knees gave way and I grabbed the wall for support. “Doctor, I—I don’t have that kind of money. But I promise to lay installmenatally.
He gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, but we don’t accept installment payments. We require at least half before the procedure can begin.”
“I’ll do anything. Please,” I said, grabbing his coat, my voice breaking into sobs. “Please don’t let her die.”
He pulled away gently. “I’m sorry.”
And just like that, he disappeared down the hall, leaving me in a fog of desperation.
I stood there, silent, until I couldn’t anymore. I bit into my knuckles until I tasted blood. My mother was dying, and I couldn’t save her. I needed money, and fast.
And then it hit me. My father.
It took everything in me, but I left the hospital and took the nearest bus. My mind was spinning the whole ride. I hadn't stepped foot in that house in years, not since I was a teenager. I stayed with them for years, until I was old enough to realize I was never wanted.
The gates of the mansion were still the same, tall, proud, cold. The guards recognized me and let me in without a word. The house looked untouched by time. The same curtains, same couches, same soulless air.
I stepped inside.
There he was. My father. Sitting in his oversized chair, reading the newspaper like it was any normal day.
He didn’t even look up.
“Good day,” he said blandly.
“Good day, sir,” I replied. I refused to call him ‘Dad’. He never earned it.
He finally looked up, brows raised. “What are you doing here? I heard you just got out of jail.”
I flinched. “Yes. I did.”
His tone was empty. No warmth. No interest.
Then Megan walked in, his golden child. She kissed his cheek and he smiled like she was the center of his world. His wife came in right after her, and the second she saw me, her eyes narrowed.
“What the hell is this doing here?” she spat.
“I need help,” I said. “Please. That’s why I’m here.”
They all paused.
“My mom is dying. She needs surgery. I need one billion dollars.”
Then Megan stepped forward, a gleam in her eye. “One billion naira, huh?”
“Yes.”
“What if I said I’ll give you the money… but only if you agree to something?”
My heart clenched. “What is it, Megan?”
She grinned. “There’s a man. A suitor. I was supposed to marry him, but I won’t. I can’t. He’s a crippled billionaire, useless, bitter, lonely. A disgrace to his family.”
I stared at her.
“You want me to marry him?” I asked.
“Exactly. In my place. You do that, and you get the money. Deal?”
I turned to my father. He said nothing. His eyes just watched me like I was some pawn in a game he’d already won.
Then he spoke. “His father owns companies we’ve merged with. He asked that one of my daughters marry his son. But I won’t give my precious Megan to that man. So you’re the only option left.”
Tears burned my eyes. “You’d rather sell me off than her?”
“If you do it,” he said calmly, “you’ll have the money by tomorrow.”
My stepmother smiled like the devil herself. “So… deal? Or no deal?”
I looked around at all of them. These people were my family by blood, but strangers in every other way. My mother was dying in a hospital bed, and I was here being auctioned off like I was nothing.
But if I said no, she would die.
My hands clenched at my sides. My lips trembled.
My lips parted and the words that came out shocked me also. “I won't!”
- Writer
