Chapter 2 A Mother's Cruety

CHAPTER TWO

Ivy's POV



"No... no... no..." My voice cracked as the flat-line's scream filled the room. "I know that sound too well... that cannot be happening! Nurse!" I slammed my palms against the glass shield, the vibration rattling through my bones.

"You need to calm down, Miss Ivy-"

"I'm not going to relax!" My fists slammed harder, pain biting into my knuckles.

"He's slipping away, and you're asking me to calm down?! Do something!"

Inside, the doctor barked orders with brutal precision. "Get the crash cart-NOW!"

A nurse shoved a tray into his hands, and the next moment, I saw the defibrillator paddles pressed to my father's chest. His limp body jolted under the shock.

"Again!" His chest heaved once more under the current, his head lolling to the side.

"Still nothing!"

"Charge it-clear!"

Another violent jolt. My breath caught. Then-finally-

Beep... beep... beep...

The machine's sound shifted into a shaky, relieving rhythm. My legs gave way, and I slid down the wall, sobbing into my hands.

Minutes blurred before the door opened. The doctor stepped out, mask dangling from his chin, his face drenched with sweat.

"He's stable... for now," he said, his voice low but heavy.

I looked up at him with red, swollen eyes. "For now?"

He exhaled hard, his tone firm. "That infection nearly killed him. We need stronger medication, more advanced monitoring, and that means additional costs-far more than what you're paying now. If you can't make the payment in the next 48 hours, we won't be able to keep up this level of care. He'll be right back where we started... or worse."

My stomach twisted. "By tonight? I don't... I don't have that kind of money!" My voice rose, shaking with desperation. "I've given everything I have already, doctor. You know me, you know I just need to..."

The doctor's gaze didn't waver. "Then you need to find another way. Quickly." And with that, he walked off, leaving me clutching my chest, feeling the air squeeze out of my lungs.

I sank onto the bench outside his room, burying my face in my hands. The hopelessness was suffocating. I couldn't think of anyone else, nothing, my mom...

Yes, I could try my luck and see if anything could happen.

I wiped my tears and pulled my phone out of my pocket, sniffing back the tears that didn't stop rolling down my face.

The phone rang once... twice... thrice, and she picked it up.

"Ivy..." she drawled, her voice sounding as sleek and exotic as ever.

"Mom, please..."

"Oh, please, Ivy, don't tell me you're on the same matter," she responded, sounding tired of me begging over and over for money she'd never given me.

"Mom, please... it's urgent. Please, just this one time, tonight. I'm not going to-"

"I've told you, Ivy, your father's a lost cause. He's been in a coma for three years, and you want me to pay?"

"Mom, please... you have the money. Please, he's dying. I just need to save him tonight, he's-"

"He's already gone in my mind, Ivy," she cut in sharply. "And you should start accepting that. Stop wasting your life and money on a corpse that's breathing through machines."

My heart clenched so painfully I thought it might burst. "How can you even say that? He's your husband!"

"He was my husband," she corrected coldly. "Now, he's... just a body. And I'm not throwing away my savings for your guilt trip."

"Mom, you left him a week after he went into a coma! The company's money, his money, properties... everything was with you, Mom! You took everything!"

"Mom, please!" My voice cracked, and my hands shook as I clutched the phone tighter. "If you don't help me now, tonight will be the last time I ever see him alive. Do you understand that? Please!"

There was a long pause, and for a second, I thought she might give in. But when she finally spoke, her voice was dripping with ice. "Goodbye, Ivy."

The line went dead. "No, Mom... Mom! No!" I begged, falling to the floor again, as if it were me who was dying.

I sat there, staring at my phone like it had betrayed me, until my vision blurred from the tears. A hollow, aching emptiness spread through my chest. I dropped the phone onto my lap and buried my face in my palms, my shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

"Ivy..." a soft voice pulled me out of my misery. I lifted my head to find a nurse standing there-the same one I'd seen earlier by my father's bed. She crouched in front of me, her sharp eyes softened with pity.

"I'm sorry," she said gently. "I heard some of that. It's... a lot for one person to carry." Her voice was smooth, almost coaxing. "You've been fighting for him for years. That kind of love... it's rare."

I shook my head violently, my sobs breaking the rhythm of my words. "Love doesn't matter if I can't keep him alive. They want more money, so much more, and I don't have it. I don't have anything left!"

The nurse sighed-a deep, conflicted sound. She glanced around to ensure no one else was listening, then looked back at me.

"I shouldn't say this," she began, lowering her voice, "and I hate myself for even thinking about it... but you look like you've hit the end of the road."

I sniffled, staring at her through swollen eyes. "What do you mean?"

She reached into the deep pocket of her scrub top, her fingers lingering there as if she were still deciding whether to go through with it. Finally, she pulled out a small black-and-gold card.

"Only for tonight," she said firmly, pressing it into my hand and curling my fingers over it. "Take this to the address on the back. Don't call, just go. Tell them you need money urgently, and they'll... handle it."

I stared at her, confused and wary. "Why are you doing this?"

Her gaze drifted toward my father's room, then back to me. "Because I've seen that look before-the look of someone about to lose everything. This might save him... but it might also change you. Forever."

Another sigh escaped her, heavier this time. "It's your choice, Ivy. If you want to save your father tonight, that's the way. But once you step through that door..." She shook her head. "There's no turning back."

She stood and walked away before I could ask anything else, leaving me with nothing but the weight of the card in my trembling hand.

I looked down at it-gold and black with a strange, bold name printed on the front. Flipping it over, I found an address scrawled in neat handwriting.

And just as my eyes traced the last line, the hospital corridor lights flickered above me.