Chapter 2:
1064 Words
Hannah burnt in fury. She couldn’t just sit there and watch her only daughter get swooped away with love by a wretched living being.
“This is utterly outrageous! "How dare you do this on her birthday just because you want to embarrass her? "Or are you doing this to gather attention?” Her voice held anger, the room was silent and tense. Tedros was still on one knee, looking expectantly into her eyes, not caring about the people around.
Hannah noticed the situation becoming even more alarming, and she had to do something about it quickly. She walked over to where Tedros was, and before anything could be said. She raised her hand and smacked him hard across the face. He could feel the aftershock sting deep inside his bones.
The guests gasped, followed by chattering and subtle laughs. Haley was shocked, “Mother, why would you do that?”
She walked towards Tedros to help him up while staring at his face with concern, “Are you okay? That must really hurt, right?”
Tedros’ face flushed, at least the woman of his dreams still cared about him. Hannah yanked her daughter’s grip away from his and sneered, her face burning with anger, “You ungrateful daughter,” Her voice was loud and clear, catching the already diverted attention of the guests, then all of a sudden, her voice became low and soft, “You know I want the best for you, and obviously, he can’t give you that, what he’s going to give you is far from the best since he is already living a wretched life.”
“I’ll be in my room,” Haley said slowly, and with that, she buried the tears within her and dashed off without thinking twice.
Haley never planned her birthday to end this way. Her boyfriend proposing and wanting to take things to the next level, her mother slapped him, and she; the birthday girl cried.
Meanwhile, back at the party, Hannah stared at Tedros with disgust, “Get out, now!”
As Tedros walked out of the mansion, his phone vibrated. Out of frustration, he picked it up, curiosity growing within him since it was an unknown number.
Before he could say anything, a cold, thick masculine voice already said, “Hello, is this Mr. Moore?” The voice behind the phone sounded icily cold.
His heart skipped a beat, and he took a while before replying, “Yes, why? And may I ask who this is? Because I have no idea who I am speaking with.”
The man cleared his throat a little bit, breathed in and spoke, “Your father is currently at St. Morris’ hospital and your presence is currently needed there right away. "Have a good night.” And with that, he hung up, followed by three beeping sounds.
Tedros was shocked, confused and short of words. His phone dropped from his ear to the ground, his heart sunk and started beating fast. He had a lot of questions but none of them were answered. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, his tired eyes trailed his worn-out bike. Without waiting a minute longer, he mounted it on it and zoomed off like a flash.
* * * * *
He stared at the man wearing a white overall and clipboards in his hands in disbelief, then at his frail father, who laid there unconscious.
“You’re trying to say father has stage two cancer?” He blinked his eyes twice, trying to decipher whatever it was the doctor was talking about.
The doctor nodded slightly with a straight face, “That is correct, Mr. Morris, but the good news is, this can still be conquered with adequate drugs and chemotherapy, then your father will be better.”
Tedros was ready to sacrifice anything to save his dying father, even if it meant selling everything that belonged to him. He swallowed the unknown lump in his throat and tried to relax, “How much are we talking about here?”
“Mr. Morris, your father’s situation is going to worsen as each day passes by, and we have to do something about it before it advances to stage four cancer. "We need roughly around twenty thousand dollars.” The doctor said rather coolly.
Without thinking twice, Tedros blurted, “Use my insurance, it should cover it. When can you-” His words were interrupted by the doctor, “Mr. Morris, I already checked, your insurance doesn’t even cover one quarter of the payment.”
The doctor noticed Tedros’ demeanor changing, “I’ll give you some time to process this.” And with that, he carefully walked out of the room.
Tedros didn’t even notice when the doctor walked out of the room, he just sat there, dumbfounded while his world was carefully crumbling before him bit by bit, his heart was banging against his chest rib. He was done for! He couldn’t imagine the lifeless body of his father just because he was unable to get twenty thousand dollars to save him. He was gradually losing his mind. His eyes stayed fixated on his father’s body that didn’t flinch.
Like a jolt, he stood up. He knew he just couldn’t lie low and watch his father’s soul slowly slip away, he had to do something about it.
Again, he drove off to his girlfriend’s mansion.
He stood there, took a deep breath and walked in gently. He never thought he would be doing this, but he had to, not for himself, but for the sake of his father.
As he neared the sitting room where the party was held earlier, he still heard faint music and distant chattering. The balloons were being taken down, the gigantic portrait of Haley was being placed at the center of the room, and the room was being cleared while some made an exit.
From a distance, he saw Hannah fuming towards him in great anger. He gulped as he walked towards her.
As soon as she was a few inches away from him, her smile was replaced with a disdainful look, “Don’t you have any shame? After ruining my daughter’s party, you still come back?”
Tedros never uttered a word; instead, he just fell to his knees. Looking at the ground, he said, "Please help me, Mother."
- Writer
