Sharon stirred in the couch beside the window in the ward that had seen her despair, cry, and cling to hope over the years. The blanket she had covered herself with slid down with her movement.
She didn't stretch like one would after a comfortable nap. She didn't even know when she actually fell asleep. Time felt like a blur, while only the memory of how grey the world had seemed earlier felt as clear as ever.
She didn't glance at the scenery of the city through the window beside her, nor at the sky that had darkened at some point. She turned instead toward the only bed in the ward to look at the head of hair so dull that it didn't even look like the blond hair she had inherited anymore.
In the loud silence that left all the distant background noise of the city muffled, Sharon bit the inner side of her lower lips thinking about not only the trouble before her, but also the one outside, the one which might cause this trouble here to become truly hopeless.
If it was before, she would not have lacked the money to afford the treatment for years even if she had to go bankrupt. No, she would not have even needed to see the bottom of her pocket. But now, with how things were, her career at risk on one side and the company she had created mired in a deliberate trap akin to a black hole, she might barely be able to make things work for a month or two, or for half a year if she was lucky, if she was lucky and if she had no sword hovering not above her head, but above her very life.
And all of that because of the Lenners and their conflicts. Lenners, Lenners, Lenners and Lenners again…
What did she do to deserve such a thing she never asked for? Just why could that family and its people not leave her… and her mother… be?
Biting her lip further, almost to the point of tasting her own blood, Sharon's blue eyes turned moist, their beauty turning poignant, and in a way, even more striking now that the outer layer of strength had melted away.
Sharon didn't wallow in self-pity for long. Taking a deep breath, her expression hardened. She took out her phone and sent a message. She looked at her phone for a while, but time, and the world, could not go faster just for her, or because of her. So she exhaled softly after a while, calming down the waves in her mind.
Sharon raised her head from her phone and turned to the view outside. Night had fallen, and it was made to look even deeper by the bright artificial lights that dotted the urbanscape.
The change in the sky had brought about the usual shift below too. Gone was the bright, hurried atmosphere that sought to fight for the day, or tomorrow. In its place was the sudden relaxation after the tension. The calm that should have characterized the evening was still far away. The night was still not worryless yet, and the heat from the day was just abating.
Sharon blinked, and watched in silence, lost in the background noise of the machines her mother was hooked onto.
*Beep~ Beep~ Beep~ Beep~ Beep~*
Her mind calmed down, her heart calmed down, even her body calmed down. And for a second, she felt light. For a second only.
*Ring~ Ring~ Ring~*
The abrupt sound from her phone startled the blonde. She hurriedly cut it off. Exhaling in relief, she instinctively checked on her mother, before smiling bitterly. It would have been good if the sudden noise had been enough to wake her up.
Letting out another exhale, this time with emotions difficult to put into words, she lowered her head to check the name of the caller, then stood up to leave the ward. Only then did she cover the phone and take the call:
"Hello?"
Unlike Sharon's lowered voice, Glenn's was bright, with no intent to hide the teasing it was carrying:
"Dear, are you really, seriously interested in him?"
Sharon's lips twitched, but Glenn's bright tone did work in diluting her gloom a bit. Walking to the end of the corridor that held the elevators and the door of the stairwell, she held the bar of the window and smiled helplessly while looking outside:
"I am not interested in him, but if that helps you get me what I asked for, you can think whatever you want."
Glenn laughed unapologetically:
"Alright, I will believe your words for now. I will send you his location. Whatever you want to use it for, just remember to protect yourself."
Sharon tilted her head, her smile one-third helpless, one-third bitter, one last third amused:
"I don't even know how I should understand the implied meaning of your words, but still, thank you."
"Don't mention it."
*Beep*
Sharon lowered her hand while shaking her head. But her smile turned more amused as she looked outside while thinking about the conversation. A hint of laughter even bubbled up to the surface before her thoughts were interrupted by her phone vibrating.
She lowered her head to take a look. After reading the message, she took a deep breath, pushed everything, both feelings and thought, aside. Straightening her back, she took one last look at the address she received, then turned around.
After going back to the ward to get her bag, she tucked her mother in, then came back to take the elevator down.
Even at night, the lobby of the hospital was still a spectacle of a multitude of feet coming and going. Only, there were fewer people hurrying around with looks of despair mixed with hope on their faces. Most were relatives coming from work or coming back after freshening up to accompany their sick partners, friends or family for the night.
It felt like life had slowed down with the sun going away, and death had done the same. Though, the truth was just that working hours were over, and the entrance to the ER department was elsewhere. Life slowing down or going faster would always ever be only an illusion.
Sharon hurried through the lobby, then to the side of the road. Finding a taxi, she gave the driver the address, then buckled her seatbelt.
Tonight would be her only chance to turn her situation around.