"Aiden, come sit," the elderly woman said with a hollow voice while gazing at her grandson.
Something was wrong. That was the first thing that came into Aiden's mind.
The young man rushed to sit next to his grandmother and held her hands. Busy with his endeavors to gather enough money for his grandmother's hospital fee, he forgot that his grandmother had leukemia.
"Grandmother, is everything alright? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?"
The elderly woman burst into tears right away.
"Aiden, oh, Aiden... You knew, didn't you? How long have you known?"
Aiden's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.
"Why, why didn't you tell me?"
Aiden sighed inside his heart. He did plan to tell her, but not so soon. He wanted to have a working plan on his hand before he told her the bad news. Aiden wanted to give his grandmother hope for survival and not a death sentence.
"Grandmother, calm down. Did Dr. Hunter tell you?"
It was very unlikely that Dr. Hunter approached Grandma Thompson on his own accord. Having been rejected by said patient so many times, he knew that Grandma Thompson refused the idea of being sick. That was why he called Aiden to receive the biopsy result in the first place.
To Aiden's surprise, Grandma Thompson nodded her head.
"Grandma, you went to see Dr. Hunter today? But today is..."
Sunday. It was poker day.
"I did not feel well before the mass even ended. I excuse myself from my friends and went to the hospital to collect my biopsy result.
The nurse told me that the result had already been handed over to you. She would not give me a second copy. I started arguing with the nurse, and then I felt faint.
When I came to myself, I was already lying on a patient bed and Dr. Hunter came not long after to see me. He explained everything to me."
"Grandma, how are you feeling now???"
"I am fine. Aiden, don't stray from the topic. Why didn't you tell me anything? What is with this talk about a vampire hospital? We cannot afford it!"
Aiden put an arm around his grandmother's shoulders and tried his best to calm the elderly woman down.
"Grandma, don't worry. I have managed to get myself a student loan. It is enough to cover your treatment in White Chapel. I plan to tell you once I have the money for the first installment in my hand."
Grandma Thompson might be old, but she was not dumb. No student loan would have agreed to lend out that much money!
"Aiden, I might be old, but I am not senile yet. Stop lying to me," she snapped.
"Grandma, I am getting the money. Please trust me."
Grandma Thompson trusted her grandson with her life, but she also knew that an eighteen-year-old young man did not have access to that huge sum of money. Not legally. Grandma Thompson would not be able to live with herself if something had happened to her grandson because of her. Not on her watch.
"No," the elderly woman stubbornly said. "You listen to me, Aiden Thompson. Drop whatever plan you have in mind. I will not go to any White Chapel or Black Chapel. I will start visiting the Cancer Center downtown so you don't have to worry about it anymore!"
Aiden's heart lurched to the ground. The so-called Cancer Center downtown was less a place to treat cancer, and more the final resting place for cancer patients! The center focused more on comfort and not healing!
"Grandmother, I beg you," Aiden grabbed his grandmother's hand desperately. "Please let me take care of you. I know you are worried about me. If I can prove to you that the money comes from a trustworthy source, will you believe me? Will you go to the White Chapel for me?"
Grandma Thompson heaved a sigh. She pulled her hand away from Aiden's grasp and rose to her feet. After walking in circles restlessly a few times, she turned to her grandson with a sharp glare.
"It must come from a trustworthy source," she repeated Aiden's words. "Else, I am not going."
A relieved smile appeared on Aiden's face. He got up and gave his grandmother a big hug.
"Thank you, Grandma! I will not disappoint you, I promise!"
Grandma Thompson had a pained expression on her face. Clearly, her grandson was going through troubles because of this old woman, but why was he the one to say thanks? The elderly woman sighed and whispered almost inaudibly, "I am sorry, Aiden…"