Bitter sweet affair

Chapter 81 - Diagnosis

"Hello?" she answered curiously.
"I'm Grace and I'm calling from Brooklyn hospital center. Please, am I speaking to Miss Reyna Neils?"
Amelia was quite taken aback. She hadn't been called that in a while, but that was the least of her worries.
"Yes. How may I be of help?"
"It's about your mom; Mrs. Neil. We need you to come down to the hospital." Grace said in a serious tone and that made Amelia worried.

"Why? Is she okay?" she found herself asking. She never wanted to be in her mom's business or speak to her ever again but she was too worried.
"No. She's far from being okay. I can't say it all over the phone. Remember she has little time left" and with that, the line went dead.

The last sentence kept ringing in her head. Her mom had little time left?
Her phone dropped to the floor as she broke down in sobs.
Annie wrapped her arms around her in an attempt to calm her down.

"A-Annie... I got a call from...A hospital" she managed to say amidst tears.
"Okay? What was it about? Was someone hospitalized? Did..." Annie hesitated.
"Did...Someone die?"

"No. Well, not yet? It's mom Annie. She... They said she has little time left"
"What?" Annie said in disbelief.
"The hospital called Annie"
"Did they say exactly what happened?"
"No. We need to find out, Annie"
"I'll go grab my coat and we'll leave," Annie said still shaken up.

"I'll call Andre to come stay with Jasmine" Amelia sniffed. Annie nodded and left.
She called Andre and after the third ring, he answered.
"Hey-"
"Could you come over and watch Jasmine?"
She sniffed in her tears.
Andre was surprised, he checked the calendar and it was still a weekday. He was surprised Amelia had contacted him first and that she wanted him to be around their daughter.

"Sure, but I'm not close by and it'll take me about two hours to get there. Is everything alright?" He said, sensing something wrong must have happened but he knew she wouldn't open up to him but he asked regardless.

"I'll have someone stay with her. Call me when you get here" and with that, she ended the call. She put a call through to Mason and he answered after the first ring. She told him everything and asked if he could keep Jasmine company till she returned. She forgot to add a tiny detail that Andre was also coming. Mason gladly offered to do so and within half an hour he was there.

"Thank you, Mason. I owe you," she said to Mason before averting her gaze to her daughter.
"Mason's gonna stay with you for a while and your daddy will be here soon" she whispered into Jasmine ears and her face lit up at the mention of her dad.

"Be a good girl, okay?" Amelia said, managing a smile on her face. Jasmine smiled brightly before proceeding to hug her.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay. I'll take good care of her so don't worry" Mason said placing his hand on her shoulder. She smiled and hugged him. She pulled away and sniffed away her tears as Annie pulled the car into the driveway.

All through the ride to the hospital, Amelia couldn't keep her nerves in check, she had negative thought spiraling her head. What if, questions clouded her thoughts. She was barely hanging in there.

As soon as they arrived, they walked in and asked the receptionist about their mom.
They were directed to the ward her mom had been admitted into a few hours ago.

They walked in to see their mom laying unconscious with a doctor standing next to her.
"Are you both her daughter?" The doctor inquired and they both nodded unable to speak seeing their mom like that.
"Please, come with me" he said as he led them to his office.

"What's wrong with our mom?" Annie asked and the doctor's face turned expressionless, making them anxious.
"We got the result from the Brain MRI scan we did on your mom and the results aren't looking good" he paused. He noticed he had their attention and continued.
"Your mom has brain tumor; specifically craniopharyngiomas."

"How's that even possible? Is there anything to be done?"
"Surgery! She can get surgery right? We'll pay any amount" Amelia said crossing her fingers.
"I'm sorry but it's not about the money. The tumor would be difficult to remove due to its location near critical structures deep in the brain. The tumor has spread to the larger parts of her brain and she doesn't have much time left and I'm afraid there's nothing to be done." The doctor sadly announced.

"So what are you saying? That we give up on her?"
"I'm sorry but I'd advise you both spend the little time she has left together"
"Aren't you supposed to be a doctor? You're literally calling a live patient dead." Amelia kept yelling at him as she was frustrated, she couldn't believe her mom was on the verge of death. Annie tried calming her down, she wanted to cry, to scream but she couldn't. She had to stay strong for Amelia.

They decided to check up on their mom.
She was conscious and when she saw them she started crying.
Amelia walked up to her.
"Mom, can you see? That your money can't even save you. All these years of abandoning us to chase after money and yet you can't save yourself with that money. I can't even look at you"

Annie sat beside her mom and held her hand crying, her emotions finally kicking in.
"Mom... I-I don't even know what to say to you but you can't die yet, not like this. You can't"
"I'm sorry. I deserve this, I've been a bad mom to you both and you both deserved better. I loved you both and I know that I made a lot of awful decisions. Annie, my eldest daughter I'm sorry I put you through all that and almost made you lose the person you love, I'm sorry. Reyna..." she sniffed in her tears as Amelia had her back facing her.

"I'm sorry too. I made you get married to someone that couldn't treat you right and I wasn't there to pull you into a hug and console you, I'm sorry. I couldn't be the mom you both wanted me to be and I'm sorry... I'm sorry my daughters I'm sorry. I love you both so much and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that it took this tumor to make me realize all this. I'm sorry for being this pathetic mother. I'm sorry that I chose Money over you both. I wish I'd done things right. I'm sorry that I'll be leaving you both behind again. I understand if you can't forgive me" She cried more.

"We're never gonna forgive you mom. Never"
With that they both left the hospital.