He was kneeling at my mother's bedside, holding my hand, tears streaming down his face.
“Mom, I'm going to make enough money to fix your heart. And I'll make Irene the happiest bride in the world.”
I opened my eyes, disoriented. More than half my pillow was soaked through.
My chest felt hollowed out. The only thing I could feel was the tears running into the corners of my mouth.
Salt and bitterness.
My phone rang. The hospital.
I fumbled to answer. “Ms. Thomas, your mother's condition has taken a sudden turn. You need to come right away.”
The hospital corridors at that hour were deathly still.
The doctor stopped me outside the operating room. “Her heart is at its limit. If we don't do a transplant soon, she won't last much longer.”
I sagged against the wall, my fingers trembling so badly I could barely hold the phone, and still I dialed Sean's number again. And again. And again.
He didn't pick up until the eighth call.
“Sean, Mom's heart is giving out. I don't need much. Just ten thousand dollars……”
Two seconds of silence on the other end. Then a bright, girlish laugh.
“Mrs. Morton, Mr. Morton is in the shower. He doesn't have time for you.”
I froze for two seconds, then forced words through my raw throat. “Secretary Summers, I'm requesting ten thousand dollars. My mother's heart can't hold out any longer and she needs surgery immediately. I'll sign an IOU with interest. Please, I'm begging you, approve it now.”
“Oh, and why should I care?” Bernice's lazy laugh dripped with venom. “Some half-dead old hag trying to squeeze money out of Mr. Morton. Keeping a useless thing like you is already a loss. Now you want to drag along some old bag who won't die? You and your mother really have no shame at all.”
“If you're really that desperate for cash, why don't you go sell yourself? You're a little old for it, sure, but do it enough times and you'll scrape the money together eventually.”
Before I could say a word, the line went dead.
I slid to the floor. The pain in my chest tore through me, but not a single tear would come.
Close to dawn, my mother was finally wheeled out of surgery.
The doctor spoke in a low voice. “We saved her for now, but she cannot take any more stress. Another episode and no one will be able to help her. You need to move forward with the heart transplant as soon as possible.”
Back in the room, she was already awake.
She reached out with calloused, trembling fingers and touched my face. “Why have you gotten so thin? Where's Sean? He hasn't visited in so long.”
I pressed my cheek into her palm, fighting back tears. “He's arranging the surgery. Mom, they found a donor heart. We'll be able to operate soon.”
She smiled. Every deep wrinkle on her face softened with relief.
“As long as the two of you are doing well, that's all I need. Sean loves the smoked meat I make. I set some aside. Remember to bring it to him.”
I bit down hard on my lip. “Okay.”
Outside the room, I found the doctor. “Schedule me for a kidney donation.”
Three days later, I got out of bed and went home to get a change of clothes.
The second I pushed the door open, a brutal force slammed me into the wall.
I couldn't keep my footing. The impact sent a sharp, searing pain ripping through the incision on my abdomen.
Sean's voice came down on me like cracking ice.
“Bernice told me everything. You used your mother's so-called emergency to demand a million dollars for surgery. She turned you down, and you cursed her out, told her to go die, told her to sell herself.”
“So tell me. Without that million dollars, is your mother dead?”
Very slowly, I turned my head. I stared at him, unable to comprehend what I was hearing.
Stared at a man so blinded by a woman who lied with every breath that he looked ready to tear me apart like an animal.
My mother could barely speak through her illness, and still she was thinking about his favorite food.
And here he was, wishing her dead.
The pain was a poisoned blade, flaying every nerve I had left, inch by inch.
Beside him, Bernice let out a long, theatrical sigh and put on her most magnanimous voice. “Mr. Morton, let it go. She only cursed me out a little. I'm fine, really. But your wife demanding a million dollars just like that, when you work so hard for every penny? She just bleeds you dry. Honestly, it breaks my heart for you.”
