ATHENA

chapter 3

I walked into the house I wished I'd stop calling home. All of the lights were off but it was due to fact that the electricity still wasn't working.

I walked straight to my room, thank God mother was able to pay for water before he stole the remaining money. I entered the bathroom and washed myself. I brushed my teeth and stepped out of the bathroom. I slipped on a tank top and a pair of black jean. I went out and still couldn't find anybody. I decided to go knock on my parent's bedroom door.

I knocked softly, but when I didn't hear anything. I went in. I flickered on the flashlight I was holding. The sight in front of me just added to the headache I already had. On the bed was my father who was passed out. The room was a mess and there seemed to have been blood dripping from his nose.

"What the fuck did you take?" I shouted.

"Can you stop being a bitch for once. You're hurting my ears" he groaned.

"I'm being a Bitch? Then you're the bigger bitch. Your wife is laying there on the hospital bed fighting for her life and all you could think of is this? I yelled not caring if I hurt his fucking ears.

"I'm sorry" he whispered.

Did he just say he's sorry or am I hearing things?.

"I know I've not been the best dad but I'm trying. Nobody wanna employ me because of my record. What do you expect me to do? Who do you expect me to turn to? You or your mother? No. I know you deserve a better father and Stephanie deserve a better husband that's why as much as I want the two of you to leave, I still can't watch you go. It's going to hurt so much" he sobbed.

I feel so back for shouting at him.

"I'm sorry" I whispered.

"You have nothing to be sorry for baby girl, it's all my fault. If I hadn't turned to drugs and alcohol. You definitely won't be in this position or situation".

"How's my Wife doing" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

"She has cancer" I said and burst into tears.

"I can't do this alone daddy. I need you here, I need you now. I'm too young to be going through all this. I don't want to see my mommy die. I will never be financially stable because of the fact that the car, apartment, utility bills were all in my name. How am I going to handle all of this? This is too much for me" I wailed.

He moved closer and hugged me, I wanted to push him away but I couldn't, I really needed that hug. He didn't say anything, he just hugged me tight and I cried until I fell asleep in his arms.

******
I woke up the next morning and prayed everything that happened the previous day was a dream but who was I kidding? It's real and I need to face it. I brushed my teeth and straightened my outfit. I walked out of my room hoping to find my dad sitting or doing something else apart from drinking but I was wrong. He was nowhere to be found. I sighed and locked the door before heading back to the hospital.

I walked in on my mom and a man whom I guessed as the doctor the lady and the nurse told me about.

"Good morning beautiful" I chirped. I decided on my way to the hospital not to allow negativity in my life anymore. I have enough to deal with and the only way I can help myself is not think about the bad side of life but only think about the way to solve the problems at hand.

"Morning my princess. The doctor is finally here" she said.

"I figured" I stated. I looked over to the doctor to get a better look at his face. Gosh, he looked so good, hazel eyes, black hair, broad shoulders and white teeth. If we had met in a better situation, I would have flirt with him but anyways, we move.

"Hi, you must be her daughter" he stretched his hand for a handshake, I gladly took it. His hand was not too rough, I imagine how good those hands would be working wonders on every part of my body. I smiled at him which he gladly retuned. What's happening to me, I need to focus.

"Yes, I'm Georgina" I said.

"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful lady. I'm Dr. Phillip, your mother's oncologist" he said, looking directly into my eyes. Why must he look so delicious. He cleared his throat and that brought me out of trance before opening up the file in his hands.

"I was looking at her scans and I'm sorry but the cancers has done a number on her" he began.

"A number is an understatement, it did numbers" my mom said.

"The cancer shouldn't be attacking her organs so aggressively and quickly. I thought about removing the cancerous organs with a transplant but that takes months. Months that's not sure she may have" he said.

"Months that's not sure?" I asked my voice cracking as I said every word.

"I don't mean for it to come out that way" he sounded apologetic but I wasn't taking it.

"How many month do you think she has?" I asked him.

He was hesitant for a moment before answering "her cancer has spread more quickly than we thought. The pain she was having by her side increased yesterday, we did a couple more scans of her body. The cancer has now spread to her kidney" he said, sincerity evident in his voice "I'm predicting the way it's aggressively attacking her body and the amount of chemo she's going to go through—I believe that she has two months or less" he said.

My shoulder dropped. I just wanted to break down and cry but I couldn't do that in her presence, I told her I was going to be strong for her. I can do this, I'll try all I can to make sure she starts chemotherapy soon. I won't lose her anytime soon.

"I'll see about starting you up on that chemotherapy in about 20-30minutes" he told her before turning on his heel and walking out of the ward.

"You have work in less that 20minutes. You should be on your way already" she said "don't tell me you called in sick again today" she added.

That's one thing I love most about her, she makes every bad situation feel like nothing. A doctor just told her she has 2 months or less to live and she's acting like it's nothing. Like she heard nothing. It left me puzzled about how she didn't seem bothered to care.

"Mom, how can you act like nothing is wrong?" I asked, I feel bad for asking but I just wanna know where she gets her strength from. I wish I could be as strong as she is. She fighting for her life and it's not even evident in her face.

"How do you expect me not to be strong? That's the only way I can help you. You, my little princess is out there working so hard to make ends meet and now you'll have to work extra hours or look for a second job to be able to pay the hospital bills. Do you expect me to start moping around? The least I can do is show you that I'm strong and I'll fight this deadly disease and win" she smiled triumphantly.

Her speech melted my heart and I want nothing more than to give her a tight hug but I couldn't.

"I wouldn't go to work if I didn't have to come up with some ways to pay the electricity bills. It doesn't feel right to be working with you being here by yourself" I told her. I didn't tell her anything about father and the conversation we had the previous day.

"I'm fine as you can see. Please go to work" she told me.

"Fine, I'll leave. Make sure to take care of yourself and don't miss me too much" I smiled before grabbing my purse and leave the room without looking back. I knew I wouldn't want to leave if I looked back.

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