The Mafia's Rose

If I had ever thought things would turn out for my mom this way maybe I would have tried and worked harder to have good savings at least to cater for her needs.

About six years back when my dad was still with us and the goings were good, life was sweet then, I had what I could call the perfect family, we aren't much... just a family of four my mom,dad and older brother wayde but then my father was involved in a ghastly car accident and all effort to save him proved abortive.

The medic-aid covered the bills to some extent and when the money was finished we moved on to spending from the family savings we had and then after four surgical operations and eighteen hours the surgery room he died.

It all started when mom was in the kitchen making lunch and then she started coughing thinking it was the smoke choking her but as it went on she felt dizzy and began bleeding through the nose right before she passed out, the smoke alarm went off this alerted our neighbor, Mrs clayton. She came over to check what was wrong, she found my mom on the ground and rushed her to the hospital, I was called on from work and had to rush down there to speak with the doctor, He had already done some tests and scans on her.

"Doctor what is wrong with her, I hope it's not so serious though" I asked as I fixed my gaze on the tall man. He is a middle aged man with brown eyes covered with big glasses, was neatly dressed from head to toe.

"Uhm miss Jenna" He said as he cleared his throat. "l hate to break it to you this way but your mom has stage four leukemia which is cancer of the blood " He said.

This is the biggest shock of my entire life, the only person who I took most important that I loved so much was dying of cancer and there's not much that I can do.

" What, how, and why cancer doctor, why in the world cancer?" I asked as tears began to roll freely down my cheeks.

" I'm really sorry but I don t know how, but the good thing is that you have me here I'm one hundred and ten percent sure your mom will be alright as soon as we start her treatment"the doctor says.

I couldn't think of the fact that mum has leukemia I was still in deep thought brooding over the news , the doctor called out and that was when I jerked back from my thoughts.

" so sorry please what the way forward" I said my voice was shaky as I spoke.

"well at stage four I can only advise that she should be hospitalized, we need to to start working on her we need to put her on some medication and also start her chemotherapy " He said ,and paused for a minute to continue "But I'm sure you know that treating cancer comes with great bills?does she has insurance or medicaid or anything to help cover the expenses or to relieve the bill a bit "He said.

But this threw me back to when my mom stopped working just when dad died ,we practically lived on her money from the insurance for the three years and then I and my brother wayde had to drop out of school to get a job ,since feeding became so hard and we had nothing again to live on,paying bills.

Realizing all this made me burst out in tears, the doctor was so surprised as I cried.

He let out sad smile and rubbed his forehead " I'm really sorry you have to go through all these but be hopeful because this is not my first time treating this cancer, I've had patients who were believed to only have two months left to live ,but stayed and enjoyed their life till about five to ten years and from the scan I did to your mom's organ is weak ,because the cancer cells has eaten up most of it but thankfully it hasn't gotten to her kidney, if it had then the chances would be very slim and I won't be able to assure you about she surviving it " He said these words just to give me hope or to cheer me up but it wasn't working as I sobbed even more.

"How much time does she has left doc"... I said as the last word choked my throat,"two to three months but hopefully as we start treatment she could stay longer,it is all to help her enjoy her life,for a longer period", he said.

As he said all these I felt the urge to see my mom,I wanted to see how she was doing . Though,Mrs clayton was with her when I got here and she was still asleep then.

"Okay doctor,I and my sibling will begin making preparation for the money,in the meantime I'd like to go see her before I leave for work "I said as I stood up.

I didn't wait for him to bid me goodbye but I could hear him say in the background. When I got to her ward Mrs clayton was still there and a nurse was there too,but she was still asleep.

"Oh jenna I'm so sorry for your mom, but I'm sure she will be alright ",she said.

And I looked over at her to fake a smile, my eyes were red from crying in the doctor's office which she also noticed, I walked over to the bedside to sit by my mom,her face was pale and clear like she was out of blood and her untied hair was all over which made her appear like she only had few days left.

My mom is only the same age as Mrs clayton, but with what she has been through ,these past few years made her appear like she was old enough to mother our neighbor's wife,they were both light skinned but my mom had the dark hair ,while Mrs clayton is blonde, but now Mrs Clayton's is all round beauty queen, when compared to my mom probably because she has little or no worries, she has a complete family already.

I looked at the time and I was already running late for work, now that I have a big responsibility to sort I really don't want to lose this job, I work on two shifts ,meaning I have two jobs,I work as a librarian in the morning and end my shift 2pm, then resume as a waiter in Gray's diner till 10pm.

"Uh,Mrs Clayton I'm about going back to work at the diner ,and I'm sure you know how Mr Gray's is about punctuality ,and I really don't want to lose the job at least ,pending the time I get one that can pay me at an higher price ".I said while picking up my phone and purse and stood up to leave

" Oh ,okay please take care of yourself, I'll hang around for sometime to see if she comes up and I'll leave, okay goodbye "she said as I made my way out the door.

"Goodbye " I answered back.