Carter Brothers: Eli (Rated R novel)

Prologue

A/n shoutout to benjaminRivers2115 for the amazing cover! Black and white is always so classy. Benjamin does do book cover requests so if you're looking for one I highly recommend checking him out :) 

Prologue 

"Excuse me. Excuse me!"

The young bottle red-head glares at the petite blonde from over her screen. Murky brown eyes, just about visible as they shoot lasers from all the heavy dark eye make-up.

"Yes. Can I help you?" sneers the red-head. Ivy grits her teeth and stares back at the woman for a moment, assessing her mousse brown roots showing from the terrible dye job and almost snorting in disgust. Seriously?! If you're going to dye it, at least do it right.

"I'm here to see Mrs. Stanford. Which room would that be?" presses on Ivy, her eyes still fixed on the girls terrible hair.

"Room 12 on the Fairdale Ward. If you follow the blue signs, they'll direct you to the ward. Will that be all?" politely but coldly directs the woman.

"Yep," grimaces Ivy spinning on her heels and striding in the direction of Fairdale.

Her sneakers squeak to a stop reaching the ward and she knocks to be let in. Visiting hours were still a good 2 hours to go, but Ivy can't wait. She needs to make sure her mother's alright. As one of the nurses asks for her business, she quickly reports it to them before the nurse allows her into the room. With it being the town hospital precautions of safety is highly scrutinised to protect the staff and also the patients.

"Mom? Mom?" gently shakes Ivy at her sleeping mothers shoulders. An ounce of guilt weighs down on her for waking up her poorly mother but for her own reassurance she needs to make sure she's okay.

"Excuse me Miss. Please let her rest for now. She's had a lot of tests done," explains the nurse.

"Why is she being kept here? Is she okay? What happened?" whispers Ivy, deep green eyes flashing with concern and more so prominently fear.

"She's relapsed again. Doctor Stacy has recommended chemotherapy as soon as possible but I'm afraid the only available slot we can give you is for next month. Until then, she's been prescribed oral-chemotherapy tablets. These can be taken at home but must be taken exactly according to the instructions. I have some brochures on it, actually. They basically give you all the information you need about the pills. It's strong stuff so expect some side-effects; these can be anything from vomiting to nausea to hair loss or even diarrhea. It's hard to predict but if it's too severe just come back in. Now, your mother should know about all this but if you do have any questions feel free to ask. And...I'm sorry, Miss Stanford."

Ivy forces on a wavering smile and blinks back the tears.

"Right...Um, may I have some time alone please?" she asks, trying to keep her voice even.

"Of course. I'll just go get those pamphlets."

As the door softly clicks shut behind the nurse, ivy has time to allow her heavy to drop and a few tears to roll down her cheeks. Why?! Why does this have to happen again?! She cries to herself. Isn't it enough that she and her mother has had to go through it all once before?! What-

"Ivy? Sweetheart?" comes the soft calls of her mother. Ivy hastily wipes the tears and tear trails from her cheeks before spinning around to face her mother.

"Hey mom," she greets, making her way to her mothers bed-side. Sitting herself on the designated seat next to her mother, she takes her hand in her own and gently strokes.