Chapter 89 Inconsiderably Cheap
BELLA'S POV
I got up gingerly as I headed to the living room, where my mom was sitting, scrolling through her phone. More than anything, I wanted to watch television. But even that was too much to pay for. She looked up at me, and her eyes softened slightly.
I rolled my eyes as I tried not to say anything else. I didn't want her trying to be nice to me all over again. Now that I was getting better, she could at least look at me properly, and she could go out with me as well.
“More spots have cleared,” she whispered, making me nod.
“Did you cook anything?” I asked, but she wasn't even willing to answer me.
“Do you think we should go and appreciate the doctor for everything she did?” My eyes widened as my mouth turned in a sneer.
“You've got to be kidding me,” I said. “Didn't we pay for the drugs? After all, she's just doing her job.”
“The drugs were still inconsiderably cheap.”
“Mom, can you please stop?” I asked, losing my patience as I collapsed on the chair.
My insides were still feeling like they were twisting from the insides. But it was much less painful now. The drugs were working slowly. Much slower than I would have liked.
She sighed like she was equally tired of me as well. “Aren't your friends going to visit?” She asked calmly too.
“I don't have any friends,” I barked. “And you know that.”
They all abandoned me the moment they knew that I had hepatitis C. They didn't even want to breathe the same air as me.
The time of my sickness was the only time that I managed to somehow miss Anna. She would have cleaned after me like her life depended on it. She would have even hawked her stupid cakes if it meant that she could get me pills. That was how stupid and extremely senseless that girl was.
It was still good that she wasn't in the house anymore. Mom could pay more attention to me just as she had always done.
“And aren't you going to work?” I asked, eyeing her. That was when her shoulders slouched. I held my breath. She was about to say something that might wreck my world.
“I lost my job,” she whispered, making me sink further into the cheap chair that we had.
“What?” I asked, stuttering. “How did you lose it? What did you do?”
“I was late,” she spat, raising her voice slightly. “I was too busy taking care of you and cleaning up the house. Something you couldn't do.”
“Like you would even let me touch the things in the house.” I muttered, and she flinched. My mind was already going through a thousand and one thoughts.
“You need to get a job as well,” she said, and I eyed her.
“I don't have to. I'm still trying to get better.”
“You would rather starve to death then?” She asked in a sharp tone. “Because trust me, I would gladly throw you out on the street so that I would be able to take care of myself. You have been nothing but a burden.”
I flinched. The words stung.
“And you've been nothing but a worthless mother! If you were that nice, you wouldn't have thrown Anna out of the house!” I didn't know where that came from, but it was too late to take the words back.
My mom was on her feet immediately. “What did you just say?” She asked, making me sink further in my chair. “I did every fucking thing for you! I chased her out of the house because you didn't like her. Because I didn't want to feed two mouths!”
I shrugged, feeling less guilty for what I said earlier. “You don't have to act like I was the only one who hated her.”
All the color drained from her face, but that didn't stop me from speaking. “You hated her right from the moment dad brought her home. I grew up watching you hate her. You can't blame me, but I just walked in your footsteps.”
My mom was in front of me, grabbing my arm so hard that I cried out. I felt her fingernails dig into my skin.
“How dare you?!” She screamed. “How much more ungrateful can you be?”
My head throbbed, and I immediately felt dizzy, unable to hold myself upright. She realized what she was doing, and she finally let go of me.
“Go to your room,” she ordered, pointing at the stairs. I didn't need her to tell me twice.
I headed upstairs to my room, holding on to the banister like my life depended on it. By the time I managed to push the door to my room open, I was trying hard to catch my breath as I collapsed on the bed.
My heart was hammering in my chest, hoping that my mother didn't somehow trigger the illness back with all her screaming.
Everything that she had done for me so far was nothing but my right. She didn't have to start screaming about it.
I inhaled as little as I could, not wanting to inhale the stale smell of the room. It was getting worse with time, since my dirty clothes were piling at a corner. Mom could no longer afford to pay a high electricity bill. Meaning we had to use as little light as possible. There was no way I was using my hands to wash my clothes. And now that I had somehow angered her, asking her to help was out of the question.
I clicked my tongue, listening to her silent sobs through the thin walls of the house.
If she just worked harder, we wouldn't even be here. My phone buzzed, gaining my attention immediately.
“Quinn’s Med Care Releases Celibrex, The Final Cure For Chronic Eczema.”
The Quinn Foundation again? I couldn't help but scoff.
They obviously had no use for their money. How much more stupid could they be?