Chapter 1
Do you love my mom?
"Dad, where is mom?" And why are you home this early? I thought you were supposed to be at the workshop." Young Viola questioned her father when she got back from school that fateful day and met her father sitting on the couch, drenched in thoughts; he didn't even notice when she opened the door and came in.
Viola, my dear, your mother is in the hospital. I was at the workshop when the neighbours called to inform me that she slumped, and they rushed her to the hospital." Her father explained.
"Oh no! This can't be!" Still standing in her school uniform, Viola cried, and her watery eyes started pouring out tears streaming gently down her face in less than a minute.
She knew that her mother had been complaining of mild aches for the past few days, but she never expected it to lead her to being hospitalized.
"Then, what are you doing here, Dad? We have to go! We have to take care of Mummy!" She said, dragging her father's hand to lead him out of the house and head over to the hospital.
"Hold on, Viola; you're still in your school clothes; you have to change first, and Mummy still has people taking care of her at the hospital. Don't worry, she'll be fine."
Even as a little child, Viola got disturbed by her father's confidence in speech that doesn't make any sense to her hearing.
She stood still and glared at him without a word, her heart bleeding as she tried to ponder the meaning of his statement.
"Dad, do you love my mom?" Are you wishing for Mom to die so you could rest from taking care of her medications?" Viola finally voiced out.
"Viola! Don't say that!" Her father yelled.
"I love your mom. She's my life! I don't think I can survive it if anything bad happens to her."
"Then why are you not by her side right now in the hospital, Dad? Why are you so confident that other people can take care of her even in your absence? Why are you seated at home while my mother is out there struggling for her life on the hospital bed?" Viola lamented, and with the increasing pitch in her voice, she sobs intermittently.
Her father gazed at her; he didn't want to allow himself to get angry at her because she was only a child, and she's not wrong for thinking that way.
But he wasn't home because he was tired of taking care of his sick wife; he loves her with all of his heart.
It was never his wish to be at home while his wife is there lying down on a hospital bed with no close family around her.
How can he explain this to young Viola to understand?
"Dad, I'll see you at the hospital!" Young Viola angrily went in and changed and left the house to be with her mother.
She doesn't have any idea of the hospital her mother was taken to, but she was confident that she must definitely find her in one out of the three nearby hospitals in the community.
"Viola, wait!" Her father called out and grabbed her hand tight.
"I'm not home because I don't love your mother, Viola. I'm home because money is needed for her medical bill, and I don't have such an amount of money!"
He explained with a cracking voice, showing concern over his wife's health.
"She's supposed to be discharged and come home, but what I have is not enough to settle the bill. The neighbors offered to look after her for me as I sorted a way out to provide the money."
Viola felt weakened by her father's explanations. She could see reasons why he was at home.
"But he cannot keep sitting at home and abandoning her there! Something has to be done to bring her back home!" She thought.
"So what are you going to do now, Dad?" She asked calmly.
"I've called my friends and family that I believed could help, but help isn't forthcoming from anyone. I don't know what else to do, Viola. I don't know what to do!" He lamented, and as a little child with a fragile heart, he nearly lost hold of his tears, which almost fell off in his little daughter's presence.
"Dad, don't worry; everything will be fine. Just carry the little money with you, and let's go and see her. Maybe the doctors would reduce the bill for you if you beg them!" She held her father's hand and suggested calmly.
Her suggestions sounded funny and unreasonable, but her father tried to avoid giving her any reason to question his love for her mother again, so he accepted and they navigated their way to the hospital.
Besides, even if he keeps staying back at the house for 3 more hours, he has no hope of getting help from anyone.
"Viola!" Her mother struggled to shout her name, forcing a smile on her face while enduring the pains.
"Mummy! I miss you!" Young Viola ran and hugged her mom on the hospital bed.
She looked at her mother with pity, her mind flashing back to how she lost her two siblings years ago to the cold hands of death because her parents were not buoyant enough to pay for a good medical treatment for them.
"Don't cry, baby, I'm fine. I'm definitely coming back home today." Her mother consoled her and gently lifted her hands to clean the tears on her face.
Mrs. Gomez turned and looked at her husband; from the expression on his face, she could tell that something was wrong.
"Excuse me, Daddy, I need to ease myself." Viola said and left the ward.
She watched carefully and saw that no one who knew her was watching, so she quickly ran out of the hospital and walked down the next street opposite the hospital.
Reaching a mansion with a tall fence and an iron gate, she stood there and knocked profusely.