I wake up by a knock on the door at 6 am. I barely had 4 hours of sleep as I assisted mom in having her dinner at 11 and waited until she fell asleep, which is nearly 2 am. I take a brief look at mom sleeping in her bed before I head on the door. I twist the doorknob slowly and pull it open, avoiding any noise.
"Hi"
"Hush," I said, putting my finger on my lips to stop the woman from speaking loudly.
"Oh, sorry," she whispered. The woman standing in front of me is probably in her mid-40s, wearing a pair of white uniforms. It's easy to identify her as a nurse.
"It's okay, let's talk in a low noise to avoid waking up, mom."
"I understand. By the way, my name is Lucy. Mr. Angelo sent me to be Athena's personal nurse. You must be Angel."
"I am. Nice to meet you, Lucy."
"Nice to meet you too, Angel."
"Lucy, please come in."
I open the door for Lucy and lead her to the couch.
"Sit down. I'll just have to wash my face."
"Sure, I'll wait."
Angelo was right. When I look at myself in the mirror, there's already a dark circle forming in my eyes due to lack of sleep every night taking care of mom. I shrug my shoulder at it. It's the price I pay for wanting to attend to mom and badly want her to be back in shape.
I start washing my face with a facial cleanser and then pat on a face towel before heading out to talk to Lucy while mom is sleeping.
"Ms. Lucy, have you had your breakfast?"
"No, I haven't yet. It's too early for me; I only had a coffee before leaving home."
"Alright, I'll buy you breakfast then so we can have it together."
"Thanks. I'll look after your mom while you are out."
The fast-food restaurant is my only option, as usual, since staying in the hospital with mom. It is the most convenient way to get food this early.
The fast-food restaurant is just a walking distance from the hospital, a few blocks away. It's been my short morning workout to walk to the restaurant and hospital back and forth. It's pretty refreshing; staying in the hospital for the whole night and day can be tedious.
I drop by the nearest 7/11 store to get some snacks and to the fruit stand where I pick a few fruits. My body needs to be healthy, so I don't get sick. Mom needs me now more than ever.
I get everything I need and walk back to the hospital in haste as I am pretty worried about mom. I don't know why I always have this feeling to look at mom as much as possible. It's like I don't want to take my eyes off of her. I don't want to lose her. Before my thoughts run wild, I fasten my pace in walking to get to mom quickly.
I walk into mom's hospital room seeing her and Lucy chatting.
"It seems like you are getting to know each other, huh?"
"Yes, Angel, Lucy here is a good talker."
"She is? Well, I guess we will have a good chat while she's with us. By the way, I brought some food for breakfast as usual fast food. Mom, you'll have to wait for your food. I will help you wash your face and brush your teeth first."
"Angel, I can help your mom; you can just prepare the food for breakfast."
"Sure, I'll prepare our breakfast."
I'd like to object since I love helping mom do her morning routine, but then it's Lucy's work. I can't let her prepare food for us; it would be inappropriate for the job she signed for us.
Lucy and I have our breakfast after she helps mom with her morning routine. Mom was right; Lucy is a good talker.
"Do you have a family, Ms. Lucy?"
"I have, in fact, my eldest is almost the same age as you. Abby turned 15 this year."
"She is two years younger than me, Ms. Lucy. I hope I'll meet her one of these days."
"Sure, she'd be happy to have a new friend like you."
I constantly check on my phone hoping to get a message from one of my friends. I didn't have the time to call Sam, Luke, and Maddox last night as I had to help mom with her late dinner. I only had the chance to text them about our trip to Singapore. The three of them suggested having a get-together since it is Saturday. I wonder what they have in mind as I am excited to spend time with them.
Everything is uncertain about when mom and I will come back from Singapore. I have no idea how long the treatment will be prolonged until mom is okay again.
The caller's ringtone of my phone cuts my reverie. And as I was thinking about Maddox and my friends, it was like a magnet that Maddox's name appeared on my screen.
I immediately swipe the screen to answer. "Hello, Mad?"
"Baby, how are you doing there? Are you with your mom?"
I look at mom sitting on her bed. "Yes, I am."
"Angel, what do you think about a get-together before you leave for Singapore?"
"Sounds good to me. But I don't know if I can leave mom for that. It will depend on what kind of bonding you have in mind and how long it will take for me to be out. You know I can't leave mom for long hours. Although, Ms. Lucy is here."
"Lucy? Who is Lucy?"
Lucy looks at me in confusion while having her meal in front of me.
"Mom's nurse, Angelo, hired a nurse for mom. But still, I can't be out for a long period. I'm uncomfortable leaving mom." I repeated.
"Baby, it's good that someone is helping you, though. I know it's tough trying to balance your academics and taking care of your mom," Maddox expressed. He sounded concerned; he is the sweetest. He can make my worries and stress fade a little.
"Yeah. By the way, what plan do you guys have?"
"We were planning to have dog rescuing again like what we did before. Remember?"
"Yay, that's a great idea. We will be able to save more street dogs and puppies again. Let's do that. I'll just have to ask mom. Please wait."
I shift to mom having her breakfast.
"Mom, it's Maddox," I said, showing her my phone. Maddox and my friends want a get-together before we leave for Singapore. Rescuing dogs like we did before. Would that be fine with you?"
"Of course, anyway, Lucy is here."
"Thank you, mom," I said, giving mom my sweetest smile.
"Mad? Mom approved, so we can rescue dogs today."
"Alright then, that's settled. We will prepare all the things we need, and then our friends and I will pick you up in the hospital in an hour."
"Okay then, I'll be waiting."
I cut the call, and then a successive knock on the door follows. It can't be Maddox and our friends since he told me it would take them an hour to prepare before picking me up.
I open the door, and the best teacher in Harper International School appears.
"Ms. Jerselle, you're here. Come on in."
I gesture, letting her in.
"Mommy, this is Ms. Jerselle; she is my closest teacher in the school and our class adviser."
"Nice to meet you, teacher Jerselle," mom said as she proposed a hand.
Ms. Jerselle takes mom's hand for a handshake.
"It's nice to see you. Angel has a beautiful mom."
"Yes, that's my mom." I chimed in.