The Married Billionaire’s Surrogate

Chapter 2

The hospital walls seemed so hostile to Alicia that morning and at times she even thought that she couldn’t breathe. Walking side by side with Christina, who was tightly gripping her forearm, Alicia felt like a sponge with too much water absorbed. If someone came to tell her anything more she thought she would burst. And who could blame her after the whirl of unpleasant situations in the Wyatt mansion and the terrible news concerning the woman whom she owed her life.

She didn’t hear when Christina asked the nurse behind the counter about the room number as she held the counter with all her force to prevent from fainting, her mind full of prayers. Like in a delirium, doctors and nurses ran around her, shouting names and diagnosis, hurrying here and there, entering and closing doors while people in wheelchairs and bandages roamed the corridors desperately asking for assistance.

Before entering the elevator she spotted two women crying before a glass window, desperation written in the deep lines of their faces and their lips moving, in what she guessed was a prayer. What if she became like them? What kind of news awaited her? Another thought came to her mind about how terribly awful destinies the hospital held inside its walls when Christina led her to room number 156. A number she would remember her whole life, Alicia was certain of it.

“C’mon,” Christina gently encouraged her.

“I can’t, Chris. What if… What if,” Alicia started stuttering and couldn’t chase away the rest of the sentence out of her mouth.

“There’re no what-ifs anymore. Your mom needs you right now more than she ever did,” she whispered in her best friend’s ear and the both of them laid their shaky hands on the knob and turned it.

White light blinded Alicia and for a moment she couldn’t blink it away. She saw some movement next to the bed and was greeted by a short, chubby man wearing a long white coat and black-rimmed spectacles. The name ‘Dr. Mullins’ was written on his ID card.

“How is she?” Christina spoke from behind her as Alicia at once hurried to her mother’s side.

At first glance she couldn’t say that was the woman who raised her. Her brown face was sunken with worry and age and there were large tubes hanging from her nose. Although her lungs were moving from beneath the blanket and the numbers on the screen next to the bed indicated the existence of a pulse, Alicia found herself not believing it.

“She’s stable for now. Keeping in mind that this is her first heart stroke and let’s hope the last, she will do just fine. No need for worries, madam. Mrs. Balfe will turn out stronger and much better from this accident. My team and I will closely monitor her health during the next few days and then we’ll let her get home,” Dr. Mullins replied and with a nod to the both of them left the room.

“See, Al? That’s good news.” Christina came closer to Alicia and fondled her shoulders. “I will let you be with your mom now. If you need anything, I’ll be waiting outside.”

Once alone with the beats of her mother’s slow heart and her sleeping body, Alicia finally released all the pain from her heart and sobbed on her mother’s chest. Crying with the scent of medicines filling her nostrils, Alicia cursed her life, her youth, her work and herself. She cursed her poverty, inability to find a better hospital for her mother or more importantly a bigger house, better food and conditions to extend her lifespan.

Alicia was blaming it all on her, when she sensed her mother’s soft hand on her head. She startled and rose to look at her, tears still wetting her face. Melody Balfe had been a beautiful woman back in the day and still there were gorgeous features ornamenting those wrinkles. But she was also very strong and endured a lot of life’s hits. That was the case now as well.

“Nothing can kill your mama so easily, my dear Alicia. Even strokes are afraid of me.” The both of them laughed through tears.

“How are you feeling, mom? You scared me to death. Don’t do this to me ever again, okay?” Alicia got a hold of her mother’s hand.

“I feel like any other old woman, dear. And why are you frightening yourself so much? Your mama won’t be eternal and there will come a day when the One up there will summon me and you will have to say goodbye,” Melody told her weakly.

Alicia sniffed and slowly placed the strands of her mother’s gray hair away from her face. “Remember when I was in third grade and this white girl hit me just to see if a red bruise would appear on my face? I’ve never felt so humiliated in my whole life and when I came home, you know what you told me?”

“Hit me as hard you want, but you won’t break a Balfe. Oh, no, no.” The both of them said it at the same time. Again they burst into laughter mixed with tears and gripped each other’s hands tighter and tighter.

The warmth in the room engulfed them and for a while Alicia thought the time had stopped. She closed her eyes, resting her forehead on her mother’s chest and got carried away back to her childhood home, her tiny room with flowers drawn on the walls, the broken chair and springs coming out of the mattress. She smiled at the memory, realizing just how happier she had felt and how peaceful her dreams had been compared to the nightmares shaking her in the mansion. We truly learn how to cherish things after we lose them, Alicia thought to herself when her mother spoke again, but this time her voice was lower and more serious.

“You know, my Alicia, I’ve been doing laundry for people in the neighborhood and have been thinking of looking for a job in the bakery across the street, but it’s not enough for the bills, my beautiful daughter.”

“Which bills?” Alicia looked straight in her mother’s eyes.

“This silly stroke made, honey. Your salary from the Wyatt family won’t help us either,” her mother said.

“I will find a way, mom. The only thing on your mind should be how to get better. I’ll start working in another house. Mr. Wyatt knows a lot of people and he will certainly recommend me to some. The work in the mansion is too light for me anyway. I can work somewhere else as well.” She lied.