angel baby (heavy editing)

14.0

Kathy slowly opened her eyes, the white light causing her to close it again. A minute or so later, she opened her eyes and looked around the strange room. It didn’t take a genius to know she was in a hospital.
It has finally happened, hasn’t it?
Her eyes finally landed on Chris whose eyes were red rimmed and snort filled his nose. If Kathy had the strength, she would have reprimanded him. As their eyes met, the tears returned and spilled on Chris’ cheeks.
Kathy frowned, “Why are you crying? I’m fine, see?”
She tried to sit up but the pain that clutched her head blinded her eye sight for a few seconds.
Fuck.
It was never this bad.
Chris was on his feet helping her back on the bed.
“You should stay down until the doctors arrive. Mom went to speak to them”
Instead of taking a seat on the chair like he initially did, he took a seat on the bed and took her hand in his studying it as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world.
Kathy watched him, a sad look on her face.
I’m about to die, better to get this over with.

“My biological parents died when I was seven due to the fire I caused”, Kathy started to say and looked up to gauge Chris’ reaction. He looked up at her then back at her hand.
“It was at night. I was a rebellious kid, you know. Whatever my parents told me not to do or touch was exactly what I did and touched. My mother had earlier bought candles and candle stands for Hanukah the next day and I was intrigued. When everyone went to sleep, I snuck downstairs and played with the candles. Can I have some water?” Kathy stopped her story to ask.
Chris let go of her hand and took the water by the table and gave it to her. She sipped from the straw. Once she had her fill, he took it from her and set on the table going back to clutch her hand.
“At seven years old, you’re a child but also very aware of what you do so I knew what I was doing when I set the curtains on fire. What I didn’t know was that it would spread and it would spread fast. One second, it was a small fire that I could have easily put out and the next, the whole house was burning. I could have alerted my parents but I was too stunned, too stunned to move. There was so much fire, Chris. By the time the fire brigade got to our home, it was too late, my parents had died of suffocation and eventually…burnt to death and what did I get from that incident? A little pathetic burn on my thigh. So there was only one plausible thing. I was put in a home for wayward children. It was like an orphanage but also a correctional center. I stayed there for three years and because I showed good behaviour, I was put in foster care and who knew; maybe the family would love me enough to adopt me. They didn’t and neither did the three other families I was thrown away to live with. And then I met you and Lia and surprisingly the single mother with a broken son were the ones who didn’t give up on me. It’s so sad I’ll have to leave soon”
Chris looked up,
“Where are you going to?”
“Heaven, Chris, or hell where I belong”
A single tear dropped from Kathy’s eyes.
Chris brought out his fidget ball and handed it to her.
“I don’t need your stupid ball, Chris. I need you to hug me”, her voice broke at the last word.
Chris immediately hugged her and they stayed like that for a while as Kathy sobbed quietly.   

“Kathy has a tumor growing in her brain and a surgery has to be conducted immediately to save her life”
If Lia thought the day couldn’t get any worse, she had thought wrong. At this point, she didn’t know what to do anymore than to sit back as the bad news hit her from left and right.
“The surgery, how much will it cost?”
The doctor hesitated before saying,
“Twelve thousand Euros and it must be done immediately”
The number knocked the air out of Lia for a second or two. She wouldn’t be able to afford that kind of money in ten years if she worked fifteen hours a day. It was over.
“I…Is there something else we can do? Could you give her some pills until I find the money? Just give me a few days, a week, a few weeks tops"
"I'm sorry Ms Simpsons, I afraid if the surgery isn't conducted in two days, Kathy's predicament will worsen"
"Oh god, how could this have happened?"
Lia was shaking now. She didn't know what to do.
"If only the tumor was discovered earlier, the surgery wouldn't have had to be conducted in haste"
Lia got her near hyperventilation under control.
"I have a question"
The doctor signalled for her to go on.
"The stage at which Kathy's um tumor is, how long could she have been having symptoms? Are there even symptoms?"
"Yes Ms Simpsons, there are. As it varies for people, the length of time might not be accurate but in Kathy's situation, symptoms like severe headache, dizzy spells and the likes will have been occuring for a few months now"
Lia was about to throw up. Why didn't Kathy say anything?
Hell was truly real and she was living in it.