Chapter 509 To The Hospital
“Since you hate me so much, why go through all the trouble to come to me? I’ve made my intentions to never call her my mother clear. Isn’t that what you want?”
I did not take Janette’s snide remarks seriously as she was an unimportant person to me.
“If it weren’t for her declining health, do you think I would stoop to come to you? If you have a heart, you would visit your own mother.”
We regarded each other with intense and mutual dislike in the ensuing silence. In a funny way, we tolerated each other’s existence for the same reason—our mother. If Janette was not Alicia’s daughter, I would have already had security escort her out of the building.
“If I have a heart?” I repeated incredulously, my temper rising once more. “Whether or not I pay her a visit isn’t any of your concern. I’ve had enough of you, Janette. Either you leave quietly, or I’ll have security rough you up before throwing you out. I don’t have the patience to be civilized with you.”
“You’ve gone too far, Anna!” she shouted, thoroughly angered at that point. “I’ve already swallowed my pride by coming here to beg you to visit our mother. What else would you have me do?”
“You are the one assuming that I would do that,” I answered coldly. “As I’ve made it clear, I’m never going to reconcile with her. Let me remind you that you came to me today. Weren’t you all high and mighty back then?”
“You’ll regret this, Anna!”
At that final ominous threat, she turned and marched out of my office.
I did not like to be blackmailed. As Janette was already out of earshot, I swallowed the savage retort that was already at the tip of my tongue.
I wondered how many more times I had to deal with this going forward despite having already made my intentions very clear.
However, my heart twinged guiltily at the news of Alicia’s dwindling health.
Despite feeling like I could never forgive her, I did not wish her harm as she was my mother, after all. Though she had done something to hurt me, I could never repay the debt of being nurtured in her womb for ten months.
Over the next couple of days, I did not see Alicia lurking around anymore when I arrived at work. Though it did make me feel more at ease, I could not help feeling a little worried as well. More than once, I caught myself wondering if she was too sick to come to my office.
I tried to dismiss my concern as an unfortunate by-product of the unbreakable bond between mother and daughter. Soon, my worst fears were realized in the form of an abrupt phone call from Janette informing me that Alicia had been admitted to the hospital.
The news heralded a sense of panic I had never felt before in my life. I did not remember feeling as terrified as I did when I pictured her being diagnosed with some awful, incurable disease.
Though I did not admit it to anybody, the news of her hospitalization dissolved some of the resentment I had held onto her for so long. It gave way to an anxious yearning to see her being well again.
After Janette hung up, I felt completely lost in my panicked reverie.
Michael was the first person I thought of. I called him blubbering in tears and he did all he could to comfort me over the phone as he got ready to drive over to see me.
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