The Vampire Next Door

Chapter 26

Mia and I walked around the streets of London after trying her best convincing me to go out. A part of me didn't want to leave so that I could finish reading the journal. I only had read two pages, with not much written on them, and my mind is about to blow up. I also didn't want to leave the journal unguarded, but again, nothing will happen right? I'm just over thinking things...

So here we are, walking around the busy London streets. It's cold today. My coat and the hot chocolate that I was holding were doing a good job of keeping me warm. The next thing I know we reach a small park and sit on the cold bench. I looked around, it was a nice day for everyone. The little kids were playing in the snow, and some were having snowball fight. They looked happy. I found myself smiling at the sight, my smile soon turning into a frown, for no reason. I'm supposed to be getting over him. Why am I not? 

"..earth to Sarah, earth to Sarah. Are the wires connecting?" 

I turned to Mia, who apparently was talking to me. I should stop zoning out. "W-what?" I asked. 

She sighed, "I said, you have to go to work tomorrow or you'll get fired. 'Cause you know, if you skip tomorrow as well without an excuse, it'll be three times in a row and you might get fired."

"Oh," I answered, "I know."

She smiled sympathetically at me. 

I looked down at my phone and realized it's 3:30pm. "Shoot, mom's appointment is in 30 minutes, I   told her I'm coming with her." I told Mia about mom's never ending coughs. She finally agreed to check herself after denying and trying to tell me she's okay. Mia offered me a ride to the hospital more than  once, but I denied her politely. I didn't want to bother her much. Plus, a cab sounds fine right now. 

***

"W-what?" I gasped. Mom received her test results, they weren't good at all, just like I suspected. Once the doctor said the word 'tuberculosis', my heart sank. I knew this disease. I studied about it during high school, it was a deadly lung disease. This is not good. I was doing my best to keep the moisture forming in my eyes inside, and somehow I was succeeding. I didn't even want to look at mom's reaction. I just couldn't.

"Tuberculosis," the doctor repeated, "very serious bacteria indeed. Usually the bacteria aren't something to be really scared of, but those, they look serious." He pointed at the x-ray copy he had and pointed at what seemed the chest area, "If you look closely over here, you could see the lung figure, a healthy lung should appear a little bigger. But the x-ray results are saying otherwise- Say, how long have you been coughing for? When did it start exactly?"

My gaze finally landed on my mother, I couldn't exactly read her face. She replied slowly, "About.. two weeks? Yeah, roughly two weeks."

"Have you felt shortness of breath more often?"

"Yes."

"What about your appetite?"

"Uh, I don't think I'm eating as much..."

While mom answered his questions, I couldn't help but feel guilty for not noticing any of this. I'm the worst daughter ever. I learned that the treatment might not work, which made my heart sink even more. Mom was already deep in the disease, she could have had an easier treatment if she came in earlier. Her treatment, which has a possibility of not working, consisted of few pills that she had to take three times a day to 'prevent further bacterial activity'. He said if her coughs didn't decrease, she would be having the three-month-treatment in the hospital.

She was also prevented to go back to work, considering she was a nurse, and she might infect other patients. Her disease is contagious. Which made things even worse. If there's anything I certainly know about mom, she hates staying home and do nothing.