Page 6 of Coerced

I held up my hand and shifted back and forth on my feet. “No. I don’t need anything other than acceptance of what I’ve just said. We’re fighting this battle together. Mom’s not doing it alone. When this is over, when the treatments are done and Mom is better, every sacrifice we make will have been worth it.”

Seemingly aware I didn’t intend to back down, my father’s chin jerked down slightly, and tears rolled down Mom’s cheeks as a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Jasmine was a mess. No doubt she believed the worst in this scenario.

“Jazzy!” I called.

She lifted her head from where it was resting on Mom’s shoulder, wiped at her tears, and looked at me.

Once I had her attention, I ordered, “You can’t fall apart on us. We need you. Mom needs you.”

Jazzy nodded.

I smiled. “Are you in?”

“Yeah,” she whispered.

“Good.” Needing a moment to deal with how I felt about everything that had just been dumped in our laps, I said, “I’ll make dinner.”

Without another word, without even giving my mom a hug, I took off toward the kitchen and got to work.

I pressed my lips together and focused on what needed to be done. It wouldn’t do me any good to cry. My mom was going to be fine, and I needed to hold my family together until they all realized that was the truth.

TWO

Aria

One Year Later

“Just stay here.”

As unwavering as my father’s stance was, I could hear the agony in his tone.

“I can help,” I offered.

Dad dismissed the thought with a slight shake of his head. “No. Stay. This is going to be one of the last days you have here, so I want you to enjoy it.”

He couldn’t have actually believed that was even remotely possible. All the enjoyment was sucked out of my life a year ago, and it never got any better. Enjoying anything felt like an impossible dream now.

“But—”

“Aria, please,” Dad begged me. “Your mom and your sister need you here more than I need you there. I’ve got to get to work, and I’m going to pray for a miracle.If that miracle doesn’t come today, I’ll be making the call when I get home tonight.”

I inhaled deeply through my frustration. I wanted to fight, to tell him we had to find another way, but I knew he was right.

Things were bad.

The worst they could have been.

I’d been pushing so hard for so long—we all had—and had reached what I thought was my breaking point at several moments throughout the last year.

But I’d look at my mom, recognize what she was going through, and realize that if she could do what she was doing, I had it easy.

Unfortunately, willpower and determination would only take all of us so far. It was a harsh lesson I was in the process of learning. It took more than that to battle cancer.

The sad reality was that it was costly. The costs were tremendous. The little savings my parents had was gone in a matter of weeks. I’d been saving up for a place of my own, but my parents needed help with my mom’s medical bills. We had insurance, but it didn’t come close to covering the costs associated with her treatment.

And it was said that when it rained, it poured.

We understood that better than anyone.