Journey

it's been a year since Danielle and Nick got back together, They were now married. Danielle tried to help Nick the best way she could but Nick's Condition had become unbearable, his jealousy and rage only increased, he had stopped feeling sorry for hitting her when they argue, it almost always results in him attacking Danielle or Elena or them both. he's become so lost in himself that he now derives some pleasure from hurting them. it became so bad that he would beat Danielle' in public and threaten to kill her if she ever left him. "I'll hunt you down and kill you if you ever try to leave" he'll say. somehow Danielle still loved him and tried to manage him, but if this rage and vile behavior were a result of his condition or something new she wasn't so sure anymore, and it worried her that her daughter had to see this.

One day Nick got home early and drunk, his alcohol needs has increased just as foul attitude, he walked to the room where Danielle was, kicked her out of the bed, "You good for nothing woman, look what you've done to me, you came in with your bad luck, you killed your family and now you made me lose my job. He said to her while dragging her hair as he pulled her on the floor behind him. she begged him to stop but instead he continued and even harder. Danielle tried to get on her feet but she was received with Nick's hard fist on her face she fell back down and passed out. Nick left her on the floor and walked out of the house.

One 1hour later, Elena who was now 14years old, came home from school. She was excited to give the news to her mom about her upcoming competition with Top Ville High School. When she got home, she called out her Mom's name but she got no response. She went to her room and met her on the floor lying lifeless. "Mommy, mommy" she shouted as she fell on her knees to where Danielle was. She laid her ears on Danielle's chest, she could hear a faint heartbeat "thank God she's still alive" she thought to herself. She immediately called the emergency unit and gave them their address.

Danielle was in the hospital with Elena when Britney walked in with her husband, Rob. "What happened? I had to come as soon as Elena called to tell me you were here" Britney said. Danielle was awake but she wasn't still strong, she explained what had happened earlier that day. Britney was furious as she called the police for the arrest of Nick. Danielle didn't want that, this was my husband, after all, she tried to make her stop but she didn't listen.

"Do you want to die before you know this man isn't good for you? Just look at you, you look older than your age, take look at Elena, do you know what you're making her pass through, okay, what if no one came early to see you in that state" Britney said as she sighed.

The next day, Nick's mother, Beth came to the hospital to see Danielle when she heard the news too. She wasn't happy when she met her in that condition, she had bruises on her face and her left eye was pretty out of shape. Beth fell on her knees to beg Danielle for her son's attitude. Danielle made her get up as tears rolled down her cheek she clearly understood.

"Can you please beg Britney to let Nick go?" Beth said and cried. "Please let him out, he should be taken for rehab this time." She continued. "It's the fine mom I'll talk to her." Danielle assured her " I don't think I can take this anymore, I want to a divorce with your son." Danielle said. Beth cried as she heard but she knew she is doing this because of her health and she had no choice but to accept her decision.

Danielle was discharged the next day, Britney requested for Nick's release and Beth made him go for Rehab. Danielle got home with Elena and Britney. She decided to take advice from Britney, she went ahead to file divorce papers. Britney's car was parked outside as they made their way to pack everything they had. Life was unfair to Danielle but she was happy she had her daughter to take care of. They were done packing everything. Danielle made a copy of the divorce papers and also left a note for Nick when he gets out of rehab. Britney drove them back to their old house (Danielle's parents' home). They haven't been there for years. The house was old and dusty, they had a lot of cleaning to do. Britney helped out with their necessary needs as they settled in fully. For a week Danielle and Elena had peace at home, no fight, no curse words, and nagging anymore. Elena was happy her mom was doing fine and likewise her. She told her about the competition which was coming up soon. Danielle was so happy her child was doing well despite the problems they faced.

Elena was already doing well for herself at such a young age she was brilliant but still had a lot to learn, she loved photography so much, she got few jobs at Britney's workplace. She was good at it too. Though Danielle wanted her to take her studies seriously and not let anything distract her.

It was a breezy day for Danielle and Elena as Elena kept taking pictures of their garden. They would always come out on weekends to dress their garden. They were both laughing and having fun when Danielle started complaining of a headache and how weak she felt. Elena thought it was stress and she needed to get some sleep. "Mom you need to rest, you overwork yourself sometimes, you'll break down one day," Elena said to her. Elena dropped her Camera and directed her mom to the house even when she was adamant but Elena still insisted. Danielle has been feeling a lot weak lately but she couldn't tell what the problem could be. As she got to her room upstairs, her legs were so weak she couldn't stand straight, she fell to her feet and fainted. Elena heard a thud it was coming from mom's room. What could that be?" She thought to herself.

Danielle has been feeling strange lately, her hands were shaky, her lips were peeling and she had eye bags, But they all thought she was just stressed out. "Mom are you okay?" Elena called her mother but she got no response, she ran to her room and met her mom on the room floor lying helplessly. "Mom, what's wrong?" She still got no response. She ran out to the neighborhood to call Ava, their family friend and also the nurse who helped Danielle when she was pregnant with her. Thank God Ava was around, They both got back home and met Danielle still lying at the same spot. Elena went out to call Britney about what happened while Ava checked on Danielle.

Danielle was admitted to the same hospital she had her delivery. Ava was still at the Doctor's office while Elena was by Danielle's side hoping she wakes up soon. Britney walked in to see both Danielle and Elena, "what happened to her? Did anyone hurt her again?" Britney asked.

Elena was still in tears.. "sssshhe collapsed" Elena replied, "But Ava is in the office with the doctor, you could go in if you want". Britney went straight to the Doctor's office as she was directed. She got in and met both of them. "What's wrong with her?" She asked them. "Calm down and have a seat" Doctor said to Britney. "You see, as I said to Ava before, Danielle has some symptoms which aren't normal and I'm really surprised that no one noticed them. She's been feeling weak lately, shaky hands and pale face, which are the symptoms of....". Britney and Ava were anxious and curious about what the problem could be. Ava knew those symptoms and could tell what the problem was but she didn't want to believe that was the case. "What does she have doctor?" Britney asked worried and anxiously. "Danielle suffers from blood cancer" He replied. Britney and Ava broke down in tears. "At this stage of cancer she needs to be taken good care of and try as much as possible to show her love and please she isn't supposed to do any tedious work anymore. For now, we will prescribe some drugs for her." The Doctor said to them. "Doctor Tyler", Britney called after checking his tag on his white coat, "Is there nothing else we could do to save her life, I mean we could undergo surgery on her or do some chemo stuff or anything else" Britney continued as she demonstrated with her hands and her attention on the Doctor. "Well it's a 50/50 case, she might come out alive or might not. We can't be so sure of that." Doctor Tyler said to them. "And one more thing, she will be discharged tomorrow." He continued. Britney couldn't believe her friend would go through all these things, she thought of Elena. "You know we shouldn't let Elena know about this, for now, it is going to break her especially now she has her competition coming up, it'll be a huge distraction, probably we could lie that Danielle just had a stress-related issue so she could get over it," Britney said to Ava. Ava agreed with her. They both thanked Doctor Tyler and made their way to the room where Danielle was. Elena was still sitting close to Danielle, by this time she was awake but wasn't looking so fine, you could tell she was sick. "What did Doctor Tyler said?" Elena asked as she saw Ava and Danielle walk into the room.

"Well mommy is just a Lil sick and the doctor said she lost a lot of blood because she's been stressed out lately," Britney said to her. "But she will be fine in no time and she'll be discharged tomorrow," Britney said.