Chapter One

Humming the song playing on her earphones, Hazel opened her bag and placed a file in it.

Her dark brown hair flying backwards due to the fan blowing in front of her.

"Have you taken the documents you came for, dear?" Her mother asked, walking into the living room.

"Yes, mum. Heading back to college now. And don't worry, I promise to be back on Friday so I can spend the weekend with you," she assured, switching her gaze from her bag to her mother.

Her brows drew together and her lips tugged downwards.

"Hold on, mom..." she trailed off, narrowing her gaze at her. "Why do you have dark circles around your eyes?" Hazel asked.

She had noticed some changes in her mom's features. Quickly, she cupped her mother's face in her hands as she stared carefully at her.

"You've really lost weight, and you look so pale too. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes I'm totally fine. I'm probably just under the weather, " Her mom shrugged and smiled reassuringly.

Even with that, the creases around her eyes told Hazel a different tale.

"Alright if you say so but," she took a pause, her gaze softening as she caressed her mother's cheek tenderly, "please do take care of yourself okay?"

"Sure."

"And I'll take even better care of you during the weekend," Hazel promised, planting a kiss on her forehead.

"The house gets so lonely sometimes, and it makes me miss you so much." Her mother explained, sighing heavily almost as though she felt bad for asking Hazel to spend time with her.

"Oh, mom..I miss you just as much as you miss me when I'm in school. But I'll be back as soon as I finish my test on Friday" Hazel assured, squeezing her mom's hand comfort her.

"Alright then, you should get going," her mother uttered with a soft smile spilling into her eyes.

Hazel smiled and nodded in agreement, picked up her bag and walked out of the house. She shaded her face with her hand as it was quite a sunny day. She turned around to wave her mother goodbye, an assuring smile formed on her face.

Her mother waved back, tears forming on her face once Hazel turned around. Almost as though she'd never see her daughter again.

Hazel walked down the pavement a bit and hopped on her parked bicycle, her bag hung on her back and rode to school.

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On arriving back to her school's dorm room, Hazel tossed the bag she was holding aside and plopped on her bed which was carefully placed on the right side of the room next to a window.

"I wonder where Dahlia is." She soliloquized and glanced at the second bed placed on the opposite side of the room. Dahlia was her roommate.

An alarm on her phone buzzed and she gasped "Oh no! I've got a lecture in 10 minutes". She hopped off her bed and changed her clothes as quickly as she could.

She put on a black 'Nirvana' T-shirt and blue jeans that flattered her curves, brushed her hair and put on black sneakers. She picked up her phone and her bag and rushed out the room, locking it behind her.

She got to her classroom and walked to a seat in the middle a row next to the window, hung her bag on her seat and sat down. Other students came strolling in and chatted away with their friends.

Hazel, who isn't very social picked up her phone, but at the same moment, the lecturer walked in so she had to put it away and pick out her pen and notebook.

After an hour, the bell rang to signify the end of the class and she got up, picked her bag and walked out the door.

"Babe!!" A male voice called out to her when she got to the quad.

She turned around and saw her boyfriend, Kyle, an average height blonde haired and blue eyed guy running toward her. "Hey, how are you doing, baby?" He greeted and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hiya. Just got back from home. I have to start prepping all my documents including high school certificates in preparation for my final year." Hazel greeted back, pecking him on the cheek before holding his hand.

"Sounds good. I was wondering if you'd wanna be my date to a party this Friday night?" Kyle offered and smirked flirtatiously at her hoping she'd say yes.

Hazel remembering she already promised her mom she'd spend time with her replied, "I already have plans this weekend. But we can shift it to next weekend and I can sort it out"

"Plans?" He questioned with an eyebrow arched upward, "What plans?"

"Oh well, I kinda pro-"

She got cut off by her phone suddenly ringing. She took it out her back pocket, it was an unknown number. She picked up "Hello?"

"Good day, am I speaking to Hazel Campbell?" A woman's voice asked from the other side of the phone.

"Yes you are." Hazel replied, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"Your mom has collapsed suddenly. She has been rushed into the hospital with an ambulance after a woman who claims to be your next door neighbor called."

Hazel's eyes shot open in shock because she had only last seen her mother a few hours ago. "What?? Which hospital??" She asked, her voice shaking and her lips quivering in shock

"Central City Hospital." The woman replied

Hazel hung up, hands shaking and eyes filling with tears. She ran out of the quad leaving a confused Kyle behind and into the parking lot where her bicycle was parked on a bicycle chain.

She unlocked it and rode as fast as she could to the hospital. At the hospital, she ran to the reception "Hi I-I got a call…saying my m-mom was here..?" She explained, trying to catch her breath.

"Madam, please calm down. What's your mom's name?" The lady behind the counter at the reception asked.

"Madeleine…Madeleine John.." Hazel replied, her throat was dry and there was sweat running down her face.

"She's in Ward B Room 12." The lady replied.

Hazel thanked her and ran in the direction the lady had pointed at. She got to the front of the room and peeked through a transparent opening on the door. It really was her mother.

"Mom…" She whispered, legs quaking and heart thumping. A doctor and two nurses stood surrounding the bed her mother laid on, and a nurse put an oxygen mask on her.

She was about to open the door when one of the nurses in the room turned and saw her. She ran to the door and told her no one was allowed in until the doctor was out. Hazel nodded and started to pace back and forth in the hallway.

Minutes later, the doctor came out. Hazel ran toward him "Doctor? Please..what's wrong with her??" She asked, her hazel eyes filled with worry and fear.

"Please calm down, madam. Who are you to her?" The doctor questioned.

"She's my mother, sir.." Hazel replied.

"Well-" The doctor started, adjusting his glasses as he went on "-she's very sick. She's caught a rare disease in her heart."

Hazel's eyes filled with tears. "Will she be alright…?" She asked shakily.

"She will be needing a heart transplant, and the surgery will cost 2million dollars" the doctor explained.

Hazel fell to the ground. 'Where would i get such an amount of money?' she thought to herself. The doctor tried to help her up.

"You'll need to get the money as fast as possible. The illness is already slipping toward the final stage. I'm honestly surprised non of you had noticed until now. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do anymore until you can get the money. I'm really sorry" he added with an apologetic look on his face.

The doctor walked away, leaving a devastated Hazel standing. The nurses came out of the room and glanced at her. She put a hand in front of one of them and asked "Can she be discharged?"

"Yes of course. But not right away. She'll need to stay here and be monitored for a few days before she can be taken home." The nurse replied. "But you can go in and see her now."

Hazel nodded and walked into the room her mother was in. She laid on the bed, wires connected to her and an oxygen mask she was breathing through.

"Mom…" Hazel mouthed and walked slowly toward her mother's bed.

"Hey, dear.." Her mother greeted, struggling to get even a word out.

Hazel finally bursted into tears at that moment.

"Hey hey hey…I'll be fine…I've been through worse. You know this…" Her mother said, wearing a comforting smile on her face.

"But, look at you…all these wires…that mask…" Hazel commented pointing at the oxygen mask on her mother's face.

"Yeah, not exactly a pretty look for a pretty lady like me I'll say." Her mother laughed and Hazel laughed along, wiping the tears from her eyes "We've been through all sorts of things and conquered…this won't be any different. I need you to be strong. We'll get through this together, okay..?"

Hazel nodded in agreement. A nurse walked in and said "She needs to rest now, ma'am. Could you please excuse us?"

"Sure, of course…" Hazel replied, blowing her mother a kiss and whispering "I love you" before walking out.

She walked up to a door, knocked on it and stepped in. The doctor who had examined her mother was seated on the other side of a table placed at the end of the room.

"Yes? How may I help you?" He asked.

"I need a favor from you…" She pleaded. "Can you please not tell my mom about the illness she's suffering? I don't want her to feel any worse.."

The doctor sighed and replied "Alright. I'll communicate it with the nurses assigned to her"

She thanked him and walked out of his office. She goes outside the hospital and suddenly there was a loud clap of thunder and seconds later it had started to pour. It rained so heavily, almost as if the universe was in grief with her.

She quickly ran back inside the hospital to shade herself. "Why is this happening to me…?" she said to herself, unknown to her that that was only the beginning of the trials life had to throw at her.

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