I'm Open

Prologue

I remember the day so vividly. It was a Thursday. The sun was shinning bright. The sky was a beautiful shade of azure. There were no clouds. So peaceful, so relaxing. That was until my mother collapsed on the floor and became paralyzed. 

The sky lost its blue and was replaced with a dark shade of grey. Clouds came rolling in with rain as heavy as my heart felt. The lax air was replaced with winds as strong as the weight that was put all onto me. 

My older brother, Jared was at a club when she fell. He didn't bother picking up his phone when I called for him to keep sleeping Jonah and Lilly home. Too busy shooting dope to care if we fall apart. 

I packed an overnight bag, filled with diapers and treats for the kids, carried Jonah and Lilly into the van and drove behind the racing ambulance as they hauled my sick mother to the hospital.

Just at 17, I got the responsibilities of taking care of my family. 

My so called father left us when I was 15, Jonah and Lilly in mom's womb. Jared, has been partying since. 

I was waiting in the hospital waiting room, Jonah and Lilly sleeping, with their heads on my thighs, when the doctor came out to speak to me. 

The color drained my face as I felt my heart disappear. The day we've been dreading the most. Mom has became even sicker. Too sick to walk by herself.

The day is coming. I heard the voice inside my head say.

The doctor told me that her multiple sclerosis has worsened and she will need a wheelchair to get around. He told me that to keep her alive, we will need to pay 3,500 dollars a month for her therapy and an additional 600 dollars for her monthly medicine. Plus any other necessities for her treatment followed. So approximately 4,500 dollars a month. 

How did doctors think I could pay for my mother's medical bills? We live in the clades of Betta Valley. The clades. The poor part! How?

If she did not get the care she needed, she wouldn't live longer than three months. And well, I need my mother. 

I was left a couple thousand dollars from my aunt who recently died, I could use that, but I am going to need a job soon. A very good job. 

What am I going to do? I can't just let my mother die. I need her. 

The Thursday following the incident, I was allowed to bring mom home. She looked really sick. Her veins were visible. He eyes dark, with bags under them. Her face was droopy and held no emotion. The doctors told me it would take mom a while to recover from the stroke she just had. 

The first couple months I will use my inheritance from Aunt Karen to pay for mom and all of us, but I will need to find a job. Soon.

It's been two years since that night. The night where I was appointed the provider of this family. We've ran out of money. Aunt Karen only left us so much and with mom's condition worsening, there's not much I can so. I was working as a secretary at a car dealership but I was fired due to the slow business.

Mom has gotten better, but without her medicine, I don't know what will happen. I'm so afraid. Jared is still Jared, using the money hidden around in the house, for more blow. Jonah and Lilly started school a year ago, but still are a lot to handle. 

The only one working and making money is me. You know how hard it is to get a well paying job at 19? Well, let me tell you, it's hard. Everyone has been telling me to come back when I've had experience. Experience? I got that. Try taking care or four human beings since the age of 17, then talk to me about experience.