Chapter 2: Seven Months to Live

       Chapter 2: Seven Months To Live

 

       I was rushed into the hospital room. All I could remember was passing out and being at a party. It was late at night; I was flat broke without a single dime to my name. I was starving; I had to make some money somehow. I so eagerly wanted to quit all of this, selling myself to other men, but I had no other choice. I was running low on money to pay the bills, and I was about to be evicted from my house. I was horrible; I couldn't even keep a solid job. So I had no other choice, but to turn to the stuff that I knew best, and that was prostitution. I went to Club 88, I didn't want to be there, but I had no other choice.

       I walked up to the pole, and was prepared to sell myself once again. Maybe I would get lucky tonight, and find someone who would pay me lots of money. And then that's when it happened, as I was doing my dance around the pole, the crowd was all rowded up, and I got a whole lot of lustrous stares from the many men who were there. Suddenly, I collapsed right on the floor. I don't really know what happened, but the next thing I knew I was laying in a hospital bed, with my mother by my side. It was quite a surprise to see her there, since we hadn't really been on speaking terms for the last couple of months.

       I opened my eyes slowly and wearily. I felt so exhausted as if I hadn't slept for days. My mother suddenly yelled, "Jada, you're awake! Oh honey I was so worried about you."

       "Mom, why am I here? What happened?" I stuttered.

       "I don't know, I was hoping you would be able to tell me. Did you drink too much, Jada?"

       "No mom. I told you that I stopped drinking. I'm sober."

       The door suddenly opened, and the doctor walked inside, "Oh, I see that you finally woke up. Are you feeling any better?"

       "I just feel really tired. Do you mind by telling me what I am doing here, and what happened?"

      His face suddenly turned cold and gloomy.

      My mother interrupted. Her face looked frightened and panicked, "Doctor, what's wrong, is everything alright?"

       "Well, no. I'm really sorry to tell you this, but your daughter tested positive for HIV."

       Tears started to stream down my mothers face. But me on the other hand, I didn't know what to feel. This was all so shocking. This was just the kind of thing that I thought could never happen to me. I knew exactly why this was happening to me, I must have gotten it from one of the countless men I had slept with.

       The Doctor continued, "And there's one more thing that I need to tell you." He looked down as if what he was going to say was far worse than what he had just told me. What could possibly be any worse than someone telling you that you have aids?

       "Due to your condition, and you not being diagnosed with it sooner, your life expectancy is only about seven months."

       My mother whose face was already covered in tears, broke into a waterfall of tears. I hated to cause her so much disappointment. My life must have been one big disappointment to her. She must have had so many dreams and ambitions for me, and yet there I was prostituting on the streets. I myself, consumed with much regret, burst into tears.

 

 

       Barely able to speak I turned back to doctor, “Please, this must be some kind of mistake. Do I really have aids? Is this all really happening to me?”

       I don’t even know why I asked that, I knew what his answer was going to be. But somehow deep inside, I was hoping that this could all be a mistake.

       He answered, “No, I’m sorry dear, it’s true.”

       My mother finally barely able to speak as well asked, “Is there anything we can do? Is there any cure or something we can do to make the aids go away.”

       “No, I’m afraid not. No one has come up with a cure for aids yet. However, there are drugs that can slow down the HIV virus, and slow down the damage to her immune system. But that‘s just about all we can do.”

       That’s when it hit me, as I laid there and saw my mother crying. I had wasted the last part of my twenty years of life away. Never thinking about tomorrow, and never thinking about how my decisions could affect those around me. I felt so selfish, to make my mother go through all of this. And in spite of the times I cursed at her, and even fought with her, she still loved me. And there she was sitting there, when no one else was. I was probably just a distant memory to those men that I slept with. Now I realized how much of a mistake I had made of my life.

       Even though I only had seven months to live now, I was going to make the best of those last months. I was going to do more those short seven months, than I had ever done in my whole life. I was determined to change for the best.

 

 

Reviews

[Night Rain Kitsune]

Wow. That's good Brit. It's sad though...you have a lot to explain with it lol, like what is the characters name? And some other stuff, but I'm sure you'll get to it later right?