Her_Dilemma: In Between Two Dons

Novah's POV

Pacing about with my lips in between my teeth, I had my back against the wall as a million and one ideas ran through my head at once.

Blinking uncontrollably, I tried to push back the tears that had pooled up in my eyes but it was to no avail as it began to flow down my cheeks in torrents.

Mother had been ill for a while now, causing us to go bankrupt all in a bid to pay for her medical bills and other necessities.

Working around the clock, I tried to keep up with the bills that keep piling up each day but my efforts were not enough.

Just this morning while I was attending to a customer at the mall, the hospital called, informing me of my mother's condition and immediately, I made my way here.

It had been more than two hours since mother was wheeled into the OR, yet no one had stepped out or gone in.

Sliding through the wall to the floor, I pulled my legs to my chin as I began to sob uncontrollably as fear overtook my body.

The attention I was getting didn't move me as I was too depressed to care.

Mother was the only family I had.

Since birth, I had never met with my father. Even after I pestered my mom so much to tell me about him, she wouldn't say a word and so I gave up trying.

If anything happens to my mother, I'm going to be doomed.

Putting my hands together, I muttered a swift prayer to my maker and as if on a cue, the door of the OR flung open and immediately I rose.

Staring at the doctor in charge with a look of fright on my face, I asked, "My mother?"

Flashing me a smile, he peeled off his gloves before grabbing my shoulder, the smile on his face never leaving.

With my heart beating against my chest, I kept my gaze steady as my legs shook from fatigue.

"We should talk in my office." He said, steering me in the opposite direction but I was adamant.

"I want to see her before leaving." I said stubbornly but he got the upper hand over me.

Now seated on the chair opposite him in his office, I watched as he flipped through the files that were scattered on his table.

Grasping the warm mug of cocoa he had offered me, I parted my lips several times to speak but words refused to form.

For more than ten minutes, I sat there, watching him as I struggled with my words before he finally decided to come to my aid.

"Your mother is critically ill and needs to be operated on in two hours." He dropped the bomb shell and immediately, the mug I was holding crashed against the floor.

Grasping the edge of the table with my eyes which were pooled with tears, I asked, "Did you just say two hours?" My voice was shaky as my heart rammed against my chest.

Beads of sweat broke out on my body and I could literally feel them dripping from my skin to the tiled floor.

"You owe a lot of money Novah." He took a deep breath before picking up the pace, "With my influence, I had been able to cover up for you when the matter arises during our discussion but I can't do that this time around."

"This surgery is not my specialty... your mother will have to be transferred to the neurosurgery department so she can be operated on..."

The rest of his words fell to the ground as I was too numb to react to a thing.

Fiddling with my fingers, I allowed my eyes to roam around the office for a while as I racked my head which was already hurting.

If I was told when I was still a kid, living the best life with mom in our comfy home that in my early twenties, I would be in a tight corner like this, I wouldn't have believed it a bit.

Overnight, a happy family changed to a mourning one.

"Novah!" Doctor Fernandes called and immediately, I doubled over, holding my chest as my chest as my heart constricted against it.

"Novah! You have to calm down."

"My mother is going to die." I cried in anguish, imagining how my life was going to turn out without my mother.

"Come on Novah, don't say that. You always told me about your belief in miracles, is your faith wavering already." He tried to soothe me with his words, instead he ended up making me even more furious.

"There is no such thing as faith when it's glaring that my mom is going to die." I yelled with my heart in my mouth.

"Novah... calm down okay. We can..."

"I don't have money for her surgery and no one will lend me such a huge amount of money."

Exhausted from my demonstration, I pulled myself to my feet, locking eyes with Doctor Fernandes who was staring back at me with a pitiful look on his face.

"I can't watch my mother die." I mumbled but before he could respond to my words, I dashed out of his office.

Avoiding making contact with people, I walked by the wall with my hands wrapped across my chest.

My vision was blurry as my eyes were cloudy with stubborn tears that refused to return to my glands.

In my absentminded state, I walked out of the hospital, pulling my feet down the alley that led to the road.

"Mom..." I muttered, the good memories we had shared clouding my senses and at the same time making me light hearted.

When I got to the point when her health began to fail, I halted for a moment, grasping my gown with both hands.

"Mom wouldn't be getting the surgery, I don't want to show my face at the funeral parlor." I muttered.

Raising my head slowly, I watched the speeding vehicles on the road and immediately, an idea popped in my head.

Smirking, I ran into the road without looking for incoming vehicles and at once, a car picked me off the ground.

The warm blood trickling down my face as a result of the hit made a little smile appear on the side of my lips.

"I did it." I muttered and then shut my eyes, blocking off the screams surrounding me.

Novah's POV

It started as a dull ache and then the pain began to come in bolts, causing me to squint as I tried to sit up.

"Oh dear, you should stay down." A feminine voice rang in my head and with all the strength I could muster, I snapped my eyes open.

My head was still fuzzy and so it took a while before I could fully adjust to my current environment and immediately I realized I was in the hospital, I sank deep in my bed.

"I'm supposed to be dead." I groaned, pushing my hand into my hair in anguish and just then, Doctor Fernandes walked in.

"Why did you save me?" I said the moment he appeared by my side.

"Calm down."

With a solemn voice I proceeded to say, "I can't face my mother, allow me to die before she does."

"Novah, you need to calm down." I was about to yell at him when he said, "Miracles do happen, another just did."

Staring at him with my mouth slightly agape, I tried to speak but words refused to form no matter how much I tried.

"Yeah! Miracles do happen." Smiling at me, he ruffled my head and then turned to the nurse who was beside him.

A few minutes later, I was seated on a wheel chair with Doctor Fernandes pushing me in the direction of his office.

Several times, I casted him a glance, expecting to hear him give a hint of what was going on but he was mute.

This continued until we arrived at his office and with one powerful push, the door caved in, granting us entrance into the room.

The first thing that greeted my nostrils was a strong masculine cologne that made me take in a deep drink of air all in a bid to get every single droplet of scent.

"Have you said anything to her?" A masculine voice asked and immediately, I turned around only to lock eyes with a gray-eyed man.

His appearance and the aura he was emitting showed nothing but wealth and opulence.

One after the other, I took note of his pieces of clothing which must have cost millions of dollars all together.

Wondering who the man was, I shifted my gaze to Doctor Fernandes who was behind his table at the moment.

"Uhm... Novah, meet Riana Gunnar. He was the one who ran into you earlier... I mean, the accident."

"There is no need to apologize, I'm fine." I said with a panicking tone as I wondered why on earth a man of his caliber would want to apologize to someone like me.

"Moreover, it was an intentional act." I added with a nervous chuckle.

Taking a deep breath, Doctor Fernandes leaned forward and then held my hand, giving it a soft squeeze.

"He wants to apologize but that's not the main point here."

Taking in a deep breath, he sent his teeth into his lower lips and after a brief silence, he said, "I know this is awkward but Riana had offered to pay your mother's bill..."

Indeed it is a miracle! - I screamed in my head, not bothering to listen to the rest of his words.

Turning around, I wanted to say my thanks to him but Doctor Fernandes stopped me, "There is a condition attached to his assistance."

"What could that be?" I wondered aloud as I began to fiddle with my fingers.

"You will have to become his surrogate."

It was as if I was doused with a bucket of cold water.

Staring back at Doctor Fernandes with widened eyes, I couldn't spill a word as I was too stunned to even think of anything.

"Novah, this is the miracle you are praying for. You shouldn't let it slide." He pressed on.

"You are joking right?" I asked when I finally found my tongue.

"Please, for the sake of your mom..."

Ignoring him, I began to wheel myself out of his office. It was difficult and I was hurting badly from the stress my body was undergoing and at the same time, my mind was in disarray.

Now in the middle of the hallway, I stopped and then placed my hands over my ear only to let out an ear splitting scream.

The next time I opened my eyes, I had tons of eyes probing me but I didn't care.

Miracle my foot - I spat out.

"He claims he wants to help, so he should do so without any attachment." I huffed and then began to sulk.

Suddenly, my eyes fell on Doctor Fernandes who was watching me from a distance.

At once, I began to wheel myself only to freeze when Riana appeared in front of me, his hands tucked into his pockets and his cold pair of gray eyes on me.

"I'm desperate, I wouldn't mind forcing you into doing my biddings." He said through his teeth.

His arrogance made me even more furious but he wasn't Doctor Fernandes whom I could yell at for being unreasonable.

Gulping, I tried to speak but I was too scared to say a word.

"Your mother has just thirty minutes before she goes into a shock as predicted by the doctors in charge of her." He smacked his lips.

"You have ten minutes to make your decision." He ended with a note of finality.

Looking over my shoulder, I locked eyes with Doctor Fernandes who wore a neutral expression.

"Sir... I mean... I can repay you." I managed to say after so much struggle. "I'm hardworking and industrious, it wouldn't be long before I pay you back in full." I added in a bid to convince him but he was unmoved.

"Five minutes left." He said, pushing his hand in front of him.

Rejecting his offer was my response to this but I was conflicted about it all. The dying look on my mother's face made me squirm on my seat.

Even though I will forgive myself for letting this opportunity pass by, mother was definitely not going to forgive me since I aided her death.

"I think we are..."

"Yes!" I blurted, my whole gaze on him.

Riana's POV

Her response made a smile break out on my lips but it didn't last for long as I quickly switched back to a hard expression.

"You made the right decision, you should be proud of yourself." I said, my voice firm and deep.

From the little I had heard from Doctor Fernandes who had been her family doctor for several years, I couldn't help but to pity her.

Paying for her mother's surgery was something I could pull off easily without striking a deal with her but I couldn't hold myself.

She was young and so I believed she would be able to carry my child even though it was just a one night meeting.

At first, I wanted to discard this thought but when Doctor Fernandes wouldn't stop talking about her predicament, I had to propose the deal.

"Sir, my mother... the surgery... time is running by quickly." Her voice came out in a whisper as she grasped the edge of the chair with both hands.

"I have settled that already." I replied but the look on her face showed disbelief.

Before I could go through the hassle of trying to convince her that her mother was currently undergoing surgery even before I proposed the deal, Doctor Fernandes stepped in and then wheeled her away.

Pushing my hands into my pockets, I left my gaze on them for a while before shifting it in the opposite direction, watching the staff walking around.

Everything I wanted in life, I got them.

Wealth, fame and power, I wielded them at the tip of my fingers and not to talk of my marriage to a pretty woman.

Taking a deep breath, I sent my teeth into my lips.

The hunt for a child started the year we got married. I did everything I could to put my seed inside of her but she never got pregnant.

Worried, I had to see a doctor and after examination, I learned I wouldn't be able to have a child that has my blood running through him.

The thought of this threw me into disarray but I didn't let it weigh me down.

My belief that I was going to get a child despite the doctor's diagnosis was so strong that I continued trying but as before, there was no result.

This made me resort into surrogacy with the consent of my wife.

She picked out the potential candidate and after we looked into her background and health history, she got inseminated with my semen but still, the results were the same.

When I saw Novah earlier, a wave of conviction that she was going to bear my child hit me with a full force that I couldn't ignore, hence striking a deal with her.

Smacking my lips, I made my way towards Doctor Fernandes office and the moment I stepped in, he stopped the conversation he was having with Novah.

"My lawyer will soon be here." I announced, plopping on my seat with crossed legs.

From her expression, I knew she was curious as to why a lawyer was coming in and so I decided to explain things to her.

"I do things with caution so that at the end of it all, each party will have nothing to regret." I said, causing her to press her lips into a thin line.

Pushing her hand into her hair, she tugged on it for a while, "Thank you for paying for my mother's surgery." She said, her voice quivering.

"I have played my part, it's time for you to play yours." Leaning against my chair, I nodded at Doctor Fernandes who quickly crouched by her side.

"We have to conduct some medical tests to see if you are healthy enough to bear a child." He said to her and she nodded without thinking twice about it.

Few minutes after Fernandes had just left with her, the door flung open and my wife, Jaylen stormed in.

"You didn't tell me you were heading to the hospital." She snapped with an accusing tone.

Pissed, I replied with a hard tone, "So, how did you find out I was here? Were you keeping tabs on me?" I asked, locking gaze with her.

Instead of responding to my words, she said, "I heard from the lawyer that you requested a surrogacy agreement a while ago... what is it for?"

Her questioning was pushing me to the edge but somehow I managed to keep my cool. I wasn't going to answer her questions anymore as I didn't owe her such an obligation.

Crossing my hands on my chest, I leaned against my chair.

"Answer the damn question Riana." She yelled, stomping her foot against the floor.

Placing her hand on her chest, she leaned forward, "I'm the one who's supposed to choose a surrogate for you, why did you go behind my back."

"I owe you no explanation, woman."

"Oh really?" She huffed. "Are you taking me as a joke now just because I couldn't bear you a child?"

"Come off it. You were there when the doctor said I'm medically fit, you are the problem here." She snarled.

Hee words made my heart constrict against my chest as I grasped the arm of my chair, anger running through my veins.

Just then the fax machine beeped and immediately, I walked up to it and then pulled out the agreement the law office had sent.

"Are you going to ignore me?" She yelled, rushing to snatch the document from my grip but instead, I pinned her against the wall.

"You shouldn't get ahead of yourself." I said with reddened eyes, increasing my grip on her neck with each second.

"Sir, please let go of her." It was Doctor Fernandes who spoke, only then did I release her, causing her to fall on the floor with a thud.

"The result." I said, nodding at the envelope he was holding.

Passing it to me, I pulled out the documents it contained and after flipping through it, I placed the agreement before Novah.

"Sign it."