Counting Pennies, Losing Daughters

On the night of New Year's Eve, I wake up in a hospital ward with an IV drip connected to the back of my hand.

A nurse passes me the hospital bill.

"It's 300 dollars in total, including the emergency treatment fee and the cost for a bottle of glucose drips."

When I turn on my phone, I feel my heart sinking. I only have 29.01 dollars left in my bank account.

The wallpaper of my phone is a countdown of my family contract's app. Today is the date when I have to renew my family contract for the year.

In order to accumulate enough money to go home, I've been working as a staff member in concert venues. Earlier, I had collapsed backstage, so I was quickly sent to the hospital.

The dial tone keeps beeping for a long time. Finally, my mom answers my call in what seems to be a noisy background.

"Mom, I'm at the hospital right now. I need 300 dollars to pay the hospital bill."

"You're at the hospital?" Mom's voice turns shrill immediately. "Why did you visit the hospital during the holidays? You really are a jinx!"

"I fainted earlier. I was working at a concert venue—"

"What? So, you refused to do chores at home during the holidays! Instead, you decide to work at a concert venue?" Mom interrupts immediately. "I don't have 300 dollars on me! You'd better come up with a way to pay that bill of yours!"

"Mom…" My hand tightens around my phone. "Today is the last day of my family contract's renewal period. I'll renew the contract once I pay the bill."

"Renew the contract, huh?" Mom just sneers at me. "That's a part of your duties! How dare you use it against me! Helena Lambert, if you don't renew the contract today, you can forget about calling me 'Mom'!"

After that, she ends the call.

I can only grip my phone to the point that my fingers turn white. After that, I tap on a social media app in hopes that I can borrow money from my friends, only to see the latest post on the social media feed.

My younger sister, Hannah Lambert, has posted a photo collage there.

"I'm here with my parents to watch my favorite singer's concert! Snagging tickets to the first-row seats is definitely worth it!"

The background of those photos is the same concert venue where I work part-time at. It's the most expensive venue in town.

Apparently, tickets cost 2,900 dollars each.

I zoomed in on the photo.

My father, Justin Lambert, was in the corner while holding up a lightstick. My mother, Bella Whitfield, was hugging my sister, Hannah Lambert.

Their smiles were blinding.

I stared at the photo, and my fingers trembled as I gripped the medical bill.

The nurse rapped her knuckles on the table and asked, "Are you going to pay the bill, miss?"

My phone vibrated again. Hannah had just sent a message to me.

"Mom told me that you're pretending to be sick again to ask for money, Helena. Can you be a little more mature? Mom and Dad work really hard to earn money."

I stared at the screen before calling Dad. It rang for a long time before he finally picked up. I could hear the deafening cheers from the concert in the background.

"I'm in the hospital, Dad," I said. "I need 300 dollars to pay the medical bill."

"Why are you in the hospital, Lena?" he asked, sounding guilty.

"I passed out from malnutrition."

"Why didn't you take better care of yourself—"

Mom's piercing shriek interrupted Dad before he could finish his sentence. "Are you talking to Helena? Is she asking for money again? Don't you dare give her any, Justin."

Mom snatched the phone out of Dad's hand and screamed into the receiver, "Stop this nonsense right now, Helena! You won't be getting 300 dollars from us. In fact, you won't even be getting a single cent!"

"Mom," I said calmly. "I know that the three of you are at a concert."

Mom briefly fell silent on the other end of the line before she shouted, "So what if we are? Hannah's been under a lot of pressure because of her studies. Is it wrong for us to help her relax? Does it make you that upset to see her happy?"

"I passed out from malnutrition. I'm in the hospital right now while the three of you are watching a concert with VIP tickets that each cost 2,900 dollars."

"So what?" Mom demanded, completely dropping the act. "I can spend my money however I please! I'm already being extremely generous by giving you 500 dollars every month for your allowance, you ungrateful child!"

I stared at the IV bag and asked, "How much does Hannah get every month if I get 500 dollars? 10,000 dollars? 20,000 dollars?"

"Shut up!" Mom shrieked. "Both of you get the same amount! Is getting jealous the only thing you know how to do? If you don't renew the family contract today, you can forget about coming home ever again, Helena!"

The line went dead then, the busy tone echoing in my ear.

I leaned back against the chair and looked between the medical bill and the timer that was ticking down on my phone screen.

"Miss?" the nurse asked as she walked over to me.

I looked up and smiled at her. I then refunded the silver bracelet that I had bought for Mom. It had taken me a long time to save up enough money from my part-time job to be able to afford it.

I had to give Mom a present every year whenever it was time to renew my family contract. If I didn't give her anything, she would refuse to renew the contract for a long time. Most of the time, she would wait until tears were welling in my eyes before agreeing in a so-called act of benevolence.

Fortunately, the silver bracelet wasn't out for delivery yet.

307 dollars were refunded to my bank account.

I paid the fee. I then tapped into the family contract app. I stared at the contract renewal screen for a few seconds before I tapped on the "cancel contract renewal" button.

A notification window popped up on the screen, asking for my confirmation.

"After cancelling the contract renewal, you'll be assigned a new family in five days. You can cancel the contract termination at any time during the waiting period. Please confirm that you want to cancel the contract renewal."

I tapped on the "confirm" button.