Promises - Joel Pimentel

Chapter 25

Maya's POV

"Mr William would you like your walking stick?" I ask the old gentleman peacefully sitting on the couch.

"Yes love, that would be great thank you" he replies smiling.

I make my way to the side of the couch and grab Mr William's wooden walking stick, handing it to him as he slowly began to stand up with my help.

"Thank you, Maya"

"Not a problem. Now, let's get you upstairs shall we?" Mr William slowly begins to walk towards his stairs while I followed behind.

"Careful, you know how he likes to speed up those stairs" Mrs Williams chuckles from the kitchen.

"Don't worry ma'am I've got my eyes on him" I joke back.

All I had to do was help the old gentleman upstairs to go to the bathroom, then help him come back down. After that was done, Mr William decided to take a nap in his bed as walking up and down the stairs had tired him out.

"Did you need anything else sir?" I ask, standing the doorway of his bedroom, making sure he was comfortable laying in his bed.

"I should be alright darling" he replies.

I close the door and head back to the lounge, taking a seat next to Mr's William.

"Thank you for that Maya. We both really appreciate your help" she says.

"It was my pleasure" I smile back.

There was a long silence before I spoke up.

"So, you're husband. How sick is he?" I ask.

"He's in his last stage of kidney disease. We all pray that he doesn't do any life-threatening activities that could be dangerous for him but you know how stubborn he can get"

"Isn't there any cure for that?" I asked as Mrs William continued to knit.

"There's no actual cure for someone with last stage kidney disease except a kidney transplant but even then, we barely know anyone here and we can't ask someone to just donate their kidneys, no Mr William wouldn't approve of that"

"I'm so sorry about that" I grab her warm hands and rub circles to comfort her.

Before she could reply, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get that" I stood up to open the door, revealing two police officers and two others who I'd never expected to see standing right behind them.

"Are you Maya Francis?" one of the police asks.

"Uh...yes?"

"Who's at the door Maya?" Mrs William asks from the lounge.

"Excuse me Mrs William but I will be back" and with that, I exit the house and close the door behind me.

"Maya, we need to take you to the police station for questioning. You're not in trouble, we just want to talk" the police officer says.

"Yeah okay sure" I was a little hesitant at first but what did I need to be afraid of if I knew I wasn't in trouble?

My parents stepped into their own car as I sat into the police officer's car. As soon as we had reached there, I was told to wait in an empty room, it seemed more like someone's private little office. The police were talking to my parents while I was still waiting. They then came back with my parents filing into the room, taking a seat.

"I know you're afraid and confused and I don't want you to be. Your family is worried about you and we need to know the truth and nothing but the truth" he starts.

There was no point in lying so I decided to go right ahead and confess every little detail.

"What even is there to say? I wanted to run away from home, so what? It's not like anyone cared. My own family was against me, my own best friend hated me and even my own ex-boyfriend wasn't there for me when I needed him"

Realizing what I had said out loud, I knew I sounded like an idiot and an attention seeker expecting everyone to just drop everything and come running to help me.

"Miss Francis, what we want to know next is, how did you end up at the William's house?"

"I don't know, I guess I was walking alone around town. I ended up at a shopping mall, that's where I met Mrs William. She was having trouble loading her groceries so I offered to help her, all the way to her home. She invited me in for tea and I accepted. When night time had arrived, I was telling her I had to go. She then asked me if my parents would pick me up but I told her I actually didn't have anywhere to go since I had run away"

I bite my lip as I pause, not wanting to continue on.

"Mr and Mrs William offered me to stay the night. I accepted that offer too and I guess, since then I've just been helping them around the house. Mr William is quite sick and he's not exactly in the right state to take care of himself and I thought that was the least I could do since they were generous enough to offer me food, shelter and clothing"

"I just... I guess I just wanted to run away to a place where I could start fresh" I finished.

3:49 pm

"Mom, are you mad?" I ask as I look up at my mother with guilt and sadness in my eyes.

"I'm not mad Maya, I'm just glad you're safe and alive. We were all worried sick"

"I'm sorry I scared you" I fidget with my fingers.

We were currently at a shopping mall as my dad had to retrieve some cash from the bank that was located inside the mall. My mother and I were waiting outside.

"Don't be sorry. Maya sweetie you know your father and I love you very much and we would not be able to live with ourselves if we knew something terrible had happened. If you needed someone in your life you could have just spoken to us or any professional who could help you" she says.

"I know, I've learnt my lesson" I weakly smile up at her.

I had already told her about Mr and Mrs William. I had told her Mr William's condition and what stage of kidney disease he was at. I decided to take a walk around and scanning windows of the shops, I come across a medical centre. Going inside, I see brochures of different types of diseases, including kidney disease. Picking it up, I open the brochure and walk outside making my way back to my mom.

2 hours later...

"Do you think Mr William will be ok on his own?" I ask my mum as we were already back home.

The brochure still in my hand.

"Maya you have done more than enough for them. You can always go back and visit, but right now, your safety is a priority" she replied.

We were all sitting on the couch as a family. I had the brochure folded in my pocket before taking it out slowly and having a look at it. I had done enough research about Mr William's condition and I wanted to do anything to help him live longer.

"Mom, dad, there's something I need to tell you" I stand up, facing them.

"What is it sweetheart?" my dad asks.

"I want to donate my kidney to Mr William"