HARD TIMES, DESPERATE MEASURES

SOPHIA

My head was buried in my palms as my whole being was overwhelmed by the entire situation. It was all happening so fast and it was hard for me to keep up.I was sitting very close to my father's bed. IVs and needles were stuck into his hands. White colourless liquid seeped through the thin pipe into his veins. I kept looking hard at them, as though by doing so my father's eyes would swing open and he would smile at me and tell me that it was all a bad joke.I closed my eyes, feeling the lump in my throat grow bigger. I felt a trail of tear roll onto my cheek, staining the collar of my shirt.I was trying so hard to be strong. I didn't want to break down but everything in me at that moment was literally shattered into irreplaceable pieces. It felt like pieces of my heart were being ripped out as my mind replayed everything the doctor had said as regards my father's health."He has a brain tumour."My breath caught in my throat for a moment."It's been growing for quite a while now," he stated, "but it hasn't reached a malignant stage just yet, thankfully, you brought him in on time. With surgery, he'll get better in time." He added quickly, his face maintaining a practiced calmness only people of his profession had the ability to master. He had just told me that my father had a brain tumour— it wasn't something I had ever imagined would happen to him."But, like I said," the red-haired doctor continued, "it's not in its worse stage yet but the more he's left untreated, the more likely it is that his condition will get worse." My heart sank so low in my chest. It was at the very base of it. I was numb. I wanted to speak but the words felt stuck in my throat. My eyes suddenly felt heavy and the world around me spun. I felt the doctor grab onto my arm as he helped me stand. "How much... does he need?" I asked, my voice hesitant, my body weak and my mind plunged into a state of numbness."Just five hundred thousand dollars." He replied.My body tensed. The world had vanished before my eyes. I looked down at the floor and it was all black. My breath hitched in uneven gasps and my hands flew to my chest, clutching onto it as a tight knot formed and twisted its way up my throat. Where in the world was I going to get that amount of money when we were already drowning in debt?The fact that the doctor had attached 'just' when calling out the amount was just crazy, like it was something I could easily pick out from a tree."Sophie." I jumped when I heard my name and turned to the direction of the door. Cassy, my best friend—not minding the fact that she's way older than I am—and my father's business partner was standing at the door. There was a solemn look in her eyes and the lines in her face had become more prominent. She mustn't have gotten enough sleep.She walked in, "I rushed over as soon as I heard." She said gently as she lowered herself at the foot of my father's bed.I sighed, forming words became a herculean task. She placed her hand over my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. I looked at her. Her face looked hopeful but sad. I knew the truth—she too, but we wanted to cling to the hope that everything will be alright.Even when I knew deep down that things were far from being alright.Later that night, we were seated at the couch in my small living room. The paint on the wall was starting to peel off. It looked like a dump because father and I were always too busy to take out time and really clean up the place. She had followed me home. Said she wanted to keep me company for a few days and would move in later during the week."Sophia, is there something you'd like to eat?" She asked me, scanning through my refrigerator to see if there was something to at least eat.But there was nothing. There has been nothing in there for some weeks now. I heard the door of the refrigerator close and then a sigh leaving her lips before the side of the couch where I sat dipped with her weight."Look, being this way won't help. It won't cure him and it won't save Evergreen Post. You should be thinking of what must be done to save your father and his legacy." She paused and scooted closer to me on the couch, "look, even if he goes through with surgery and he makes it out alive, the fact that his small newspaper station he had worked so hard to build had been taken away from him will send him right back to coma." At some point, while she was talking, it felt like her words were sweeping past my ears. It felt like her voice was an echo, so far away while my mind worked up ways to save my father and his legacy.The only way to do that was to raise some money but how was I going to do that? My brows were creased slightly as my mind worked to come up with a solution. After some excruciatingly long minutes, it finally clicked."I'll change the pattern." I abruptly spoke up."What?" She asked, confused about the suddenness of my action.I turned to her, "there's only one way for me to save them both, father and Evergreen Post.""And?" She pressed further,"I have to resort to crowdfunding grants and to pitch our work to larger networks. That's the only way I can think of right now." I explained to her, my voice dripping with desperation.Her face creased with worry, "do you think that might work? It's usually very hard to get grants. It takes a really long time to process and—" she paused, "I don't think we have that long." I shook my head, "at least I have to try. There are tools I can use to make it work." She sighed and gave me a small smile, it was faltering but she tried to keep it up and fill it up with some encouragement.I had no other choice. This was the only way I could think of and it was the best way there is—for now. I could only pray that it would work out as fast as possible.