The Heiress' Revenge-Chapter 84

A R I A N A

My phone ringing cut through my haze, it was a call from Asher’s school.

My heart, which was already pounding, jumped into my throat as I answered with a shaking hand.

"Ms. Melendez? This is Nurse Grace from Asher’s school there’s been an incident your son collapsed during gym class he’s conscious now but he was unresponsive for a moment. The ambulance has taken him to St. Mary’s Hospital. You need to come right away."

My heart dropped as reality came crashing down on me.

Today is defiantly not my day.

What!

No!

Please no!

"No," I whispered. "Is he okay? What happened?" I asked as new set of tears formed at the brim of my eyes.

"please come to the hospital Ms. Melendez they’ll explain everything."

I ran out of the building with my body quivering in fear I didn’t remember getting a taxi to the hospital It was a blur of traffic lights and panic.

I got down of the taxi and ran through the automatic doors of the emergency room.

I must have looked like a madwoman with my face was streaked with tears my hair was a mess and my clothes were wrinkled from my long night of work but I didn’t care, all I wanted was for Asher to be okay.

"Asher !" I cried to the nurse at the front desk, my voice shrill with fear. "Asher Melendez! They just brought him in! Where is he? Is he okay?"

The nurse was calm. "Please, ma’am, take a deep breath I’ll take you to him."

She led me to a small, curtained-off area where Asher was lying on a bed, looking small and pale.

He had an oxygen tube under his nose and wires attached to his chest.

He was awake but looked in pain.

"Mummy," he said weakly when he saw me.

I rushed to his side, grabbing his hand. "I’m here baby mummy’s here I promise you everything is going to be okay, you’re going to be fine" I was trying to reassure him, but I was trembling all over.

A doctor came in a few minutes later cutting through the haze.

"Are you Asher’s mother?" he asked.

"Y- yes I’m Ariana Melendez please doctor What’s wrong with my son? Why did he collapse?"

The doctor looked at his clipboard. "We’ve run some tests, Ms. Melendez and It appears that Asher has a congenital heart defect. Specifically, a large ventricular septal defect."

I stared at him, not understanding the words. "What does that mean?"

"It means there is a hole in the wall between the two lower chambers of his heart," the doctor explained gently. "It’s something he was born with. Sometimes these conditions don’t show severe symptoms until a child is more active like in gym class his heart couldn’t keep up with the demand."

A hole in his heart.

Asher has a hole in his heart?

The words were like a nightmare but how?

I made sure to take Asher and the twins for check ups every after six month how is that we missed it? How?

"What... what do we do?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"He needs surgery," the doctor said. "And soon as possible to close the hole. It’s a very serious operation, but the success rate is high so I assure you, you have nothing to worry about."

Relief that there was a solution was instantly replaced by a new, cold dread. "Surgery? How... how much does that cost?"

The doctor sighed, looking sympathetic. "It’s a specialized procedure. With the hospital stay and everything... you’re looking at around eighty thousand pounds."

Eighty thousand pounds.

The number echoed in my empty head.

Where do I get that amount of money? I didn’t have eighty thousand pounds.

I lived paycheck to paycheck, my savings were for rent and food.

I felt new wave panic wash over me, Asher’s life was in danger and I didn’t have that much to save him.

New set of tears streamed down as my lips quivered, my baby needed a surgery to live, and I couldn’t afford it... I couldn’t save him this time.

I sank into the chair next to his bed, buried my face in my hands, and cried I had never felt so completely and utterly powerless.

I don’t know how long I sat there, crying and holding Asher’s hand luckily he had fallen asleep.

The steady beep of the heart monitor was the only sound resonating around the room and then my muffled cries.

Sarah burst through the door, her face pale with worry. "Ariana! I came as soon as you called Oh, sweetheart." She saw Asher in the bed and her eyes filled with tears as she wrapped her arms around me.

That’s when I completely broke down.

I sobbed into her shoulder, the words tumbling out in a messy, chaotic rush I told her about the hole in Asher’s heart and about the surgery.

"And Dante," I cried, my voice cracking. "Sarah, he told me... he was the one from the club, he’s Asher’s father... Dante Russo is Asher’s father."

Sarah pulled back, her eyes wide with utter shock. "What? No. Ariana, that’s... are you sure?"

I nodded, crying harder. "He knew everything details I never told anyone It was him... it has always been him."

We were both silent for a moment, trying to process the impossible truth.

"Ariana," she said, her voice firm. "You have to tell him."

I stared at her. "What? No!"

"You have to!" she insisted, grabbing my hands. "Ariana, look at your son, he needs surgery. An operation that costs more money than we will ever see and you know Dante can afford much more than that, he has the money to save his son’s life you should think about that and let him help you, help your son!"

I shook my head violently, pulling my hands away. "No, Sarah! You don’t understand! He hates me! If he finds out about any of the kids he’d take them away from me and I can’t live with that, I don’t want him to take them away from me"

The thought was my worst nightmare losing Asher or the twinsto Dante, a man filled with so much anger for me.

"But he’s his father!" Sarah argued, her voice rising. "This isn’t about you and him anymore! This is about Asher’s life! You have to swallow your pride and whatever war is between the two of you and save your son! Infact you have to beg him if you have to!"

"I can’t!" I cried, hugging myself. "You didn’t see the way he looked at me, he hate me so much "

I looked over at Asher, sleeping so peacefully, unaware that his life was hanging in the balance because of a war between his parents.

I was trapped telling Dante could mean losing my son and not telling him could mean my son would die.

There was no right choice only a terrible impossible one.