Chapter 32

The taxi stops in front of the hospital and Nina gets out of the vehicle, running into the hospital. She greets the receptionists and security guards as she passes by. She already knew everyone there, both because her mother was an employee there, and because she had been there every day for the last year.

She goes up to the children's wing and enters the hallway to Hannah's room. She felt a suffocating sensation in her chest, the more time she spent away from Hannah, not knowing how she was doing, the air became heavy and more difficult to breathe.

Nina enters the room with everything, different from how she always acted, strangely feeling anxious and distressed.

Nina turns on her heels, confused, looking around, as the room was empty.

Her heart starts to race and she places her hand on her chest. Breathing became extremely difficult, actually and she felt as if she was going to die.

— Nina! Nina! — Celia, her mother comes running in and screaming, realizing that her daughter was having an anxiety attack.

She hugs her daughter and pulls her to bed. She pats her face a few times, saying:

— Daughter, calm down! Try to fill your lungs with air.

Nina shakes her head no, the despair she felt wouldn't let her calm down.

— I'll help you, come on! Take a deep breath…

With great dexterity, Célia manages to make Nina breathe again.

She calms down, but that bad feeling in her chest doesn't ease her.

— Mom, why did they take her out of the room? — Nina asks, already with tears in her eyes, she knew that for them to take the girl out of the room, something must have happened.

— Daughter, I need you to calm down and be strong.

Nina places both hands flat on her face, letting the tears flow. Her mother's speech confirmed that something happened.

Célia takes a glass of water and hands it to Nina, who, with shaking hands, tries to drink the liquid, which spills more out of the glass than in her mouth.

— Mom, where is my daughter? — Nina asks, afraid of the answer.

— Let's talk to the pediatrician, he can explain better, dear. — Nina looks into her mother's eyes, amazed to realize that she didn't seem to know how to tell her what happened.

Nina goes to the doctor responsible for Hannah's case, supported by her mother.

In the room, the doctor offers her a tranquilizer and Nina refuses, she wants to know what happened straight away.

The doctor reveals that last night, Hannah had a very strong fever and because of her fragile state of health, she had to be taken to the ICU.

Nina doesn't stop crying, surprising her mother. She knew that her daughter usually kept her feelings to herself, but she didn't know how fragile Nina was at that moment.

— Miss Moon, I know this may be too much for you, but the lymphoma is progressing. — the doctor says, handing Nina some papers with exams — We need to start exposing the little one to chemotherapy.

— No, no... — Nina breaks down, feeling extremely guilty about her daughter getting worse. She broke the promise she made by not visiting her daughter the night before.

— Daughter, we have to be stronger than before. I spoke to the hospital director and he said he will allow the treatment, even with the huge debt we owe to the hospital.

— Mom, don't you understand? This treatment leaves the person very weak. I don't want to see Hannah like this, I don't want to see her losing her beautiful hair. I can't bear to see my daughter like this.

— Well, there's a way we can make sure she doesn't suffer so many side effects and doesn't lose her hair. — The doctor says, calling her Nina, who wipes her tears — However, this treatment is much more expensive.

— I authorize you to do it! — Nina is filled with hope — If she's not going to suffer, I authorize it! I'll do whatever it takes, but I'll pay for this treatment!

— Nina, the director authorized common chemotherapy. For this treatment, as you are already in debt to the hospital, you need to pay at least the debt you already owe.

Nina widens her eyes, terrified. The debt was already very high, exceeding one hundred thousand dollars. She had no idea how to cover this debt, but still, she looked at the doctor and said:

— I'll be able to pay off the debt, don't put her on chemotherapy before I pay it off.

Nina left the doctor's room and went to the ICU with her mother. There she observed the girl, sleeping, connected to oxygen. Nina couldn't hold back her tears, seeing her daughter so weak was torturous.

— Daughter, did something happen? You are not well at all. — Hannah's condition was desperate, but Célia knew her daughter, she didn't lose control in front of anyone. She always tried to stay positive, but at that moment her emotions were more heightened than usual.

— Mom, was I a bad child?

Célia is surprised by the question and caresses her daughter's back, saying:

— No, my dear. You were as adorable as Hannah. She was just a little clumsy, but she was obedient and never made a fuss about anything.

— Why does everything always go wrong for me, mom? Why do I attract so much hate? I can't take it anymore...

— Daughter, everything that shines attracts flies.

— I don't want to shine, I just want to be at peace with my daughter.

— Impossible, you were born with this radiance that no one will be able to erase. Things will get better daughter, please don't stop believing.

They hugged and Nina didn't leave the hospital that day.

The next day at eight sharp, Dominic arrived at the Bright Corporate office. Nina was already there, waiting for him.

They entered the office, in silence. He wanted to talk about the latest events, but he didn't know how to start and Nina was extremely silent.

She was airy, and that aura of positivity she showed was gone. Her shine was off.

This bothered Dominic deeply, and he didn't hide the fact that he was watching her. But Nina only thought about Hannah and how she would get the money to at least pay off the hospital debt and be able to subject her daughter to treatment in which she would suffer less. That's why she didn't notice Dominic's gaze.

Nina, after thinking about how to get more money, remembered that she had planned to talk something serious with her boss. Therefore, she got up and stood in front of her desk.

— Mr Dominic, I wanted to discuss something. It's actually about my request to work more overtime.

Dominic gets up, walks and stands in front of her, making her feel intimidated.

— Continue… — Dominic says, encouraging her to continue speaking.

— Well, yeah... I don't want it anymore, unless it's some work here, inside the office. You know, I don't want to go to parties with you or any place frequented by high society.

— Nina... — Dominic says, and takes her chin, making her look at his face. He looks into her eyes, analyzing and then continues — I don't like what I see in your eyes.

Nina looks away and then says:

— I know this heterochromia thing is really weird.

— No, — he lifts her chin again, so that she maintains eye contact with him again and continues —- I like your eyes, I just don't like what I see through them. What happened to you at that party, Nina?