The Mold

Compromise

A/N^Mandy, a.k.a Arabelles mom

Arabelle's mother stands in front of her bed frame and only stares. She has her phone in her hand, eager and alert fingers poised over the 9 and 1, expecting to have met an intruder hidden in Arabelle's room. What she saw instead scared her exponentially more. There laid Ary, stiffer than a hardwood floor, laying ominously still atop her floral bed sheets. At first glance, the scene simply portrayed a sleeping Arabelle, peaceful and silent. But her own mother, and possibly anyone else with a trained eye would have noticed the wrinkled mess of comforter lying beside her, and the almost invisible movement of her chest that implied troubled breathing. Being a slave to her reflexes she dropped the phone and quickly ran to her daughters bedside, checking her pulse with hurried fingers. After 3 seconds of absolute and indubitable silence, Mandy felt a small and almost unnoticeable surge of blood beneath her daughters skin, proving her to be alive. It was so small, so minuscule, that movement was, and the next one came only a little less than 3 seconds after. It didn't take a Ph.D to figure out that something was wrong, and even if it did it most likely wouldn't have taken Mandy that long to figure out anyways. Should she call a doctor? It was apparent that her daughter was in need of medical attention, but yet Mandy's hands still sat motionless beside her. It would be the logical thing to call a doctor, the most morally right that is, but Mandy's financial situation stood as a large barrier between doing what was morally right and what was most cost efficient. It's not that Mandy didn't love her daughter, because she did,
with all of her heart, but she had another child, and no insurance. Whatever Arabelle is currently suffering would most likely drain her already measly paycheck and leave her family with even less than what she had to begin with. 

After much inner emotional debate, Mandy came to a compromise with herself. She would give it 24 hours. If Arabelle didn't show any sign of healing in the next 24 hours, Mandy would put everything else on hold and rush her to the nearest health clinic, but if she did show improvement... Mandy would do everything she alone could to help her ill daughter.