Facing A Hard Time

In a room dominated by white paint, a woman looked down listlessly at the back of the other woman's thin and pale hand.

She didn't know how long she cried, holding tightness in her chest to make her eyes a little puffy and her face flushed.

She did not sob, nor did she move in her seat. She was scared that her small movements would wake the middle-aged woman who had just slept thirty minutes ago.

Her hand didn't stop tightly grasping Luna's hand, which felt so weak without power. She kisses the back of that hand as if to say that she loves her and will always be by her side no matter what happens.

It has been exactly five days since Luna was in the hospital due to her weak body condition. And during these five days, there was not a day that Lucia passed without feeling sad.

At sixty-year-old age, Luna's hair has wholly turned gray. Her body was thin until the curves of the bones were visible from the outside.

Supposedly, Luna can live her old age calmly and not get sick like this. Lucia couldn't bear to see her mother tormented. She wanted Luna's illness to be transferred to her if she could. She is willing to endure all the pain as long as her mother no longer feels pain.

Underlying that, every twice a week, Luna must undergo dialysis in the hospital to control pressure and balance mineral levels in her blood, replacing kidney function.

But, usually, Luna refused to go to the hospital and missed her dialysis schedule. She was always afraid of being taken to the hospital. Moreover, she must consciously watch as her blood through the dialysis machine.

And exactly two days ago, Luna just underwent dialysis after an absence of almost three weeks.

At that time, the doctor who handled Luna scolded her for not forcing Luna to go to the hospital to do the treatment. Skipping the dialysis schedule is tantamount to endangering Luna's life.

Lucia knew the consequences of failing to persuade her mother to go to the hospital. However, she often felt that she could not bear to see her mother vomiting after completing the Hemodialysis process. In addition, Luna also often complains of headaches to the itchy surface of the skin.

And so, seeing Luna, who was now fast asleep on top of the ward, Lucia couldn't help but feel sad. The only thing she could do was cry.

Crying is her way of expressing herself to release all the sadness and tightness that dwells inside. Although, in reality, crying didn't make her feel much better at all.

Clack!

The room door suddenly opened, showing a tall man dressed in casual black entering with a box of food.

He is Finn, Lucia's older brother.

"Are you crying again?" scolds Finn, who understands Lucia's habits, as he closes the door.

"Let Mom rest. It would be best to eat first because you haven't eaten anything since this morning. You can get sick if you keep skipping meals like this," Finn continued while standing behind Lucia.

Lucia gave up. She placed her mother's hand slowly over the ward. Afterward, she turned around and received a food box in Finn's hands.

Finn smiles and pulls Lucia to sit on the sofa not far from there.

As long as Lucia eats, he doesn't bother his little sister. He only played with his phone after putting his jacket, hat, and black mask on the table.

And at the moment when Lucia has little food left, Finn immediately puts his cell phone away. He seemed to be considering something before deciding to say frankly to her, "I have a good news for you. I just made a new ad in the newspaper flyer and asked them to put the ad on the front page so many people could read it. In the next two days, they will circulate the newspaper."

Lucia didn't reply. She finished all the food first before finally returning to the topic Finn had brought up a moment ago.

"What about the guy who called you one week ago? Is he willing to donate his kidney?" Lucia asked directly the thing she wanted to know.

Finn instantly threw out his breath helplessly. His eyes moved to all corners of the small room, before finally stopping at Luna.

Because Luna was in an ordinary room, the existing facilities were elementary. This room only had one ward and two chairs near the door- which Finn and Lucia are currently occupying. Poorly, an AC does not operate optimally. So, this room feels a little hot.

It's not because they don't have the money to rent a better room. It's just that all the luxurious nursing rooms are full.

All that remains is a common type of nursing room. Therefore, willy-nilly Finn still ends up renting this nursing room because it is impossible for them to bring Luna home in such a drowning condition.

Finn leaned his back. Not much different from Lucia, he is also actually destroyed inside. He was sad and mentally devastated. However, as an older brother, he could not display his grief openly in front of the people he loved. So, he chose to wear a mask full of falsehood on his face.

After pausing for a considerable period, Finn finally replied bitterly, "it was a fake call. He doesn't want to donate his kidney but rather wants to play a trick on us. Yeah, a similar case repeated itself for the umpteenth hundredth time. I don't know why so many people enjoy fooling around about serious things like this."

Lucia's breath instantly choked. Her heart ached after the hope that she had hung high in the sky had to bear bitter.

One week ago, they were screaming with excitement when someone told them he was willing to sell his kidney. However, one week later, they got this kind of bad news.

Finn embraces Lucia, channeling his remaining energy so that his sister is no longer sad. "We're trying, so there's no need to be sad. Always remember that everything happens outside of our control. Moreover, we don't know which one is really serious or just playing around. It's okay."

Lucia nodded her head justifying. Yeah. It's not the first time they have faced this situation. They often get hundreds of fake phone calls and chain messages revealing that they are willing to donate a kidney in exchange for substantial compensation.

But every time Finn makes an appointment with those people the next day, the person he's waiting for never shows up. People trick him.

"I don't want to lose Mom," Lucia softly leaned her head on Finn's right shoulder.

Finn's hand moved to caress Lucia's shoulder, trying to calm the feelings raging in her chest.

"Mom will not go anywhere, and she remains here with us. As long as you're abroad, I'll take good care of her. I guarantee you that as long as Mom with me, I won't let mom miss any dialysis therapy schedules. I promise you that."

Lucia closed her eyes. Peace and tranquility are the two things she has always sought in her life. And those two things only Lucia can get from her two family members, Finn and Luna. She didn't want to lose any of them or even both.

Feeling that Lucia had been much calmer, Finn whispered, giving Lucia confidence right in the ear, "Sooner or later, we will pass this heavy phase. We need to be patient. It's all over soon."