A young lady in her early twenties could be seen running towards the entrance of a hospital.
"Nurse, please, how can I get to room 204!" she asked in panic.
"Take the elevator, then make a right turn after arriving up," the nurse replied calmly.
With tears in her eyes, she ran and took the elevator. While in the elevator her heart was heavy and all she could think of was her Grandfather, Johnson Green.
Mr. Johnson has always been her pillar and shield ever since she was a little girl who suffered at the hands of her stepmother.
The suffering came briefly after her mum had passed away. Hearing that the only member of her family who truly cared for her was on his deathbed made her so emotional.
She was trying so hard to hold the tears back but she couldn't.
The elevator soon arrived at her destination and she quickly wiped the tears of her eyes and rushed out, before taking a right turn as instructed by the nurse to go towards her grandfather's ward.
As soon as she stepped in, a harsh voice called unto her.
"Deborah, you are the reason your grandfather is on his deathbed you evil child, you should have died with your mother!"
Her Stepmother, Elizabeth cursed out but Deborah quickly ignored her and ran to her Grandfather's side.
"Grandpa how did this happen?!"
Mr. Johnson quickly gave off a chuckle accompanied by a series of coughs and then he said:
"Debby my girl, I just decided to take a stroll outside the mansion and the stroke hit me."
He was saying this with a corny attitude. Immediately, Deborah scolded him saying:
"Grandpa you gave us a heart attack, you know the Doctor's instructions but instead you chose to go against it and now you are here. Promise me you won't do this again."
He quickly smiled and made a pinky promise with her while still coughing.
Elizabeth saw this affection between both of them and immediately became envious of her stepdaughter.
She had always wanted her daughter, Barbara to have this kind of relationship with her grandpa but the girl was too stubborn and always gave the man a heart attack while this venomous Deborah was his favorite.
She knew that the old man's time was limited and if he should eventually give up the ghost, Deborah would inherit quite a fortune and she didn't want that.
She wanted Deborah to have zero to none of the assets Mr Johnson would leave behind. All these thoughts were going through her head when Patrick, her husband and Deborah's father entered the ward.
His voice interrupted her thoughts and he began scolding Elizabeth.
"Honey, I told you to watch Dad at all times but you chose to ignore him and hang out with your friends... this is very unacceptable!"
Elizabeth tried to defend herself but she was cut short by Patrick who immediately went to hug his father.
In a few minutes, Johnson and Patrick had already started discussing the family's businesses ignoring Deborah and Elizabeth.
Elizabeth used this opportunity to draw Deborah outside the ward.
PAH!
She gave Deborah a resounding slap on her cheeks that made her cheeks go red.
"Deborah, how could you make me look bad in front of your Dad and Grandpa."
Before Deborah could explain herself she gave her another one and all Debby could do was clench her fist as she beared the pain.
She wished that woman wasn't her stepmum and sometimes she felt like she should give her the beating of a lifetime but always ended up deciding against it, because she would only result in a bigger scene.
Some people passing by saw this and decided to whisper:
"She must be a very wayward girl for her mum to treat her this way."
Another person said she might have gotten knocked up by a man who wasn't her husband and they all seemed to share these thoughts but they dared not say it out loud.
Deborah finally got her composure back and explained to her stepmom that she went for her school activities as she was soon to be a graduate of the Department of Biotechnology.
"Stepmum, you know this is my final year and I have to face my academics squarely," she said.
"And so? That's not an excuse to leave Johnson in such a condition and disappear."
Deborah, not wanting to be made the victim quickly responded.
"But... Stepmum, you were specifically asked to take care of Grandpa and you decided to step out with your friends, how is that my fault?"
As they continued arguing back and forth Barbara stepped in.
"Hello, mum and... hello to the half-sibling that has decided to make my life a living hell,"
She rolled her eyes at Deborah as she said the last part, before asking with nonchalance.
"How is grandpa?"
Her mum gave her a look of dissatisfaction and replied.
"He's stable now. Go in and say hi."
Barbara was about to do so before she whispered something to her mum who gave a look of bewilderment.
Barbara flashed a devious smile to Deborah before entering.
As she got inside the ward, she shouted, "Grandpa and Daddy!"
Pretending to be excited to see both of them, she added.
"Grandpa, you know your health is paramount to us. You shouldn't be taking such risks."
Mr. Johnson could sense she was being fake but played along with her; he knew that the spoilt kid couldn't wait for his demise to have his assets spilled between her and her mum but they were both in for a surprise.
Mr. Johnson chuckled before responding. "Barbara thanks for coming, I'm fine now. How is your final year going?"
She quickly beamed and started smiling, then replied.
"School is fine..."
She wanted to go on but was cut short by Patrick who told her.
"Barbara, can't you see that your grandfather wants to rest."
She loved it when all the attention was on her instead of Deborah but before she left, she turned around dramatically and announced with a sly smile:
"Everyone, I have some news to give you guys on Deborah."