Ava's POV.
Mom...mom...mom..."I screamed".
I called but got no response...mother had suddenly collapsed in the middle of the market.
One moment she was scolding me for buying vegetables that were too expensive, the next she was clutching her chest, her face drained of color. The basket slipped from her hands and rolled across the dusty ground.
"Mom?" I caught her just before she hit the floor. "Mom, talk to me!"
Her lips trembled, but no sound came out. Her breathing was shallow, uneven—like each breath was a fight she was losing.
People gathered around us. Some tried to get help. Some just stood by watching. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart as fear crawled up my throat and wrapped its fingers around my voice.
"We need a hospital!" I screamed.
The ride there was a blur of sirens and panic. I held her hand the entire time, afraid that if I let go, she would slip away before we arrived.
When they took her from me at the emergency ward, I felt helpless in a way I never had before.
The hospital smelled like antiseptic and blood. I paced the corridor barefoot...I had dumped my footwear somewhere along the way...watching doctors rush past me with expressions that told me nothing and everything at once.
Minutes dragged into hours.
Finally, a man in a white coat stopped in front of me.
"Are you Ava Cole?" he asked.
I nodded, my throat too tight to speak.
"I'm Dr. Okoye," he said gently. "Your mother is stable for now, but we need to talk."
Those words—for now—made my knees weak.
We sat in his office. He folded his hands on the desk, took a breath, and looked at me with eyes that had delivered bad news far too many times.
"Your mother has advanced cardiomyopathy," he said. "It's a serious condition. Her heart is failing."
I stared at him, waiting for him to say something hopeful.
He didn't.
"She needs immediate treatment," he continued. "Medication, close monitoring, and a possible surgery."
I swallowed. "Wha...what?"..."How much would the Medication and surgery cost?"
There it was—the question that decided life or death.
He hesitated, and that pause felt crueler than any number.
"Initial treatment alone will cost about half a million dollars," he said carefully. "That doesn't include surgery or long-term care."
Half a million.
The word echoed in my head, hollow and unreal.
I let out a soft laugh, because crying would have broken me completely. "If we don't have it?" I asked.
Dr. Okoye met my eyes. "Then you should prepare yourself for the worst."
I left his office in a daze.
My mother lay unconscious on the narrow hospital bed, machines humming softly around her. I brushed her hair back gently, blinking away tears.
"I'll fix this," I whispered. "I promise."
But promises won't pay hospital bills.
Outside, I called everyone I could think of. Friends. Relatives. Old contacts I hadn't spoken to in years. Some didn't answer. Some said they were sorry. Some said they'd call back.
No one did.
I slid down the wall outside the ward, my chest aching as reality sank in. I had no savings. No rich relatives. No miracle waiting for me.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
I looked down, expecting another missed call.
Instead, it was a message from an unknown number.
Unknown Number:
Still interested in the job?
My breath caught.
A week ago, I would have deleted it without a second thought. A vague offer. Easy money. Dangerous work. I hadn't even replied.
Now, with my mother lying unconscious behind those doors, the message felt like a lifeline dipped in poison.
I typed with trembling fingers.
Me: What job?
The reply came almost instantly.
Unknown Number:
You'll work as an assistant in a company. You'll pass information. That's all.
Five million dollars. Paid upfront.
My vision blurred.
Five million.
I looked back at the ward, at the thin curtain separating my mother from the rest of the world. From life.
Me: Who is the man I'll be working for?
There was a pause. Long enough for hope and fear to wrestle inside my chest.
Then my phone buzzed again.
Unknown Number:
A very powerful man.
A man who cannot afford betrayal.
I closed my eyes.
Inside the hospital, my mother was dying.
And somewhere in the city, a stranger was offering me the price of her life—
in exchange for someone else's ruin...what do i do?...I panicked.
***
Mom had taken care of Finn and I alone after Dad passed and I could tell she was going through alot...always absentminded although she'd always make sure we were comfortable...she worked 4 jobs at a time and was always stressed out.
Before dad passed, life was easier...he worked for a big company as a driver and earned reasonably until he got involved in an accident that claimed his life later...I watched dad suffer before he died and it was hell for us all especially mom...she'd sit alone crying for hours all through the night and it broke my heart to see her that way all the time...she had even taken loan from the bank to make sure dad made it but...
It's been 3 yrs since his death...things had changed, mom I believe was getting over his death every day and little 5 yrs old Finn was now 8 and very calm for his age...he was smart, hardworking and respectful...full of energy and could not easily be bullied by his peers or those who were his seniors. I on the other hand was now 20 and out of school...I worked in a small coffee shop so I could assist mom in Finn's fee and groceries.
***
Mrs. Cole have been moved from the ICU to room 203 downstairs...although she's asleep now, we're not sure how it might turn out later because her system is failing and shutting down with every passing hour...we can't start treatment until payment is made...the earlier, the better. Said Dr. Okoye.
Tears filled my eyes, my heart ached then I managed to ask..."can't you just do something please? " I whispered while tears flowed out my eyes "please...just start the treatment...I'll get money and I'll pay please...don't let her die i beg you"...
I'm sorry ma'am but there's really nothing i can do...it's not in my power to help...I really wish there was something I could do...I'd leave now...he said and left while I stood, the whole world crashing on my shoulders then I saw Finn coming and I quickly cleaned my face.
"Let's go home"...I said and held him as we walked out of the very big hospital...it was one of the biggest hospitals in city X...we took a taxi home in a small village close to the main city...we had lived there for years infact I was born there.
****
Ava...Ava, Finn called as he came into my room...yes what's wrong i answered...2 men on black are here and asking of you he said...my heart skipped a beat...who where they?...why were they here?...what were they here for?...I asked myself and dashed out of the room in a hurry...could they be bad people?...I wondered...
When i went out, I saw a black lamborghini disappearing into the night and out of sight leaving behind a very chilled atmosphere of silence and fear behind then I saw a black envelope with a note attached "do not open".
What could it be...