Years back
On a cold rainy night, everything moved slowly and blurry in her head, the air was thick with tension, lights flickered in a blur, machine beeps sounded like it was far away as she ran towards the hospital door, she screamed out loud for help, her scream sounded like an echo, her whole world seemed shattered.
"Doctor… somebody help," she stood at the door, her red cotton dress drenched, and her body trembling. The water dripped to the floor softly but loudly enough in her head. Her heart pounded in her ears as she watched three nurses run towards her with a gurney. In her eyes, it all looked so slow and draggy. All of a sudden, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Miss, where is the patient?"
A calm but concerned-looking lady dressed in a hospital robe, a nose mask hanging on her ears, and white gloves clinging to her hands tightly, she stood in front of her—jolting her back to reality, and without hesitation, she pointed her skinny hand towards her ride.
The nurses ran towards the car to carry the patient. The cloud was gloomy, rain showered down softly, thunder roared like it was angry, and everywhere was thick with chaos. She stood puzzled, watching as the nurses pulled heavily pregnant Monica out of the cab. She is supposed to be happy for the condition Monica is in, but why does she feel pity for her?
The nurses rushed past her, pushing the gurney so fast like their life depended on it, and a harsh noise suddenly snapped her back to the present.
"MISS!" An old man's voice screamed loudly at her, his shirt already soaked and dripping from the rain, She startled and rushed to him.
"Yes… I'm sorry, mister, how much?" She asked, speaking in a rush as they both walked back to the car, she handed him the money, and watched him zoom off. Standing in the middle of the drizzling rain—thoughts ran through her head endlessly, She tried to pull herself together, letting out a heavy sigh—She walked back to the hospital, pacing through the hallway restlessly and waiting for what the doctors had to say.
Noise of agony filled the air, and the tiny hair on her light skin stood frozen in position as chills engulfed her skin even with the thick old Cotton dress she wore, she could still feel the chills run through her.
She suddenly sat on the visitor's bench in the hallway when a subtle, shaky voice called out, loud enough for her to hear.
"Miss Aida?"
"Yes," she answered. Standing up sharply as a tall, moderate-looking man approached her and halted a few inches away from her.
"I'm the doctor in charge of Monica's delivery. Hum… we delivered a twin, two baby boys… but, I'm sorry to tell you this, we lost Monica,"
Aida's eyes widened in shock, her hands flung to her mouth sharply, heart pounding faster and harder, eyes filled with tears waiting to drop at one blink as the doctor continued.
"She seemed to have consumed something stronger beforehand that already affected her stomach walls, however operating on her was not an option because there could be some difficulties in stitching her back, She managed to deliver before passing.
I'm sorry. I'd like to have your consent so we can wrap her up" the doctor said.
She stood frozen, gazing into the doctor's eyes without a word, her body trembled vigorously. She nodded at the doctor before finally speaking.
"Can I see the babies?"
"Of course, they are being checked and cleaned up. We will also need names for them. Shall we?" the doctor gestured towards the ward.
She sniffed, nodded her head and a heavy sigh followed, before following behind him. Monica was already covered by the time they entered the ward.
She slowly walked closer to her body and paused beside her before gently sliding down the white material halfway down her face with her fingertips. She paused again, fixing her gaze on the lifeless Monica, her skin looked faded, worse pale, but Aida's expression remained unreadable, one couldn't tell if she was regretful or furious.
Just as she was about to close Monica's face, a lady's voice called out.
"Miss Aida, I'm sorry for your loss. I'd like to know who you are to Monica, to confirm if you can sign her death certificate, I'll also need names for the babies," A fair-skinned lady asked.
"Yes nurse, hum… I'm her sister in law, her husband's younger sister" she responded.
"Is her husband alive? Or perhaps any family members of her own?" the nurse added.
"No, I'm the only one she has after her husband died" she added.
"Alright, please come with me"
She covered Monica's face and paced behind the nurse to where the babies were lying, a frown curved on her face as she walked closer to the babies, touching their cheeks softly.
"Here ma'am, please sign here"
She stared at the document for a second before signing it.
"Names please" the nurse added.
"My brother always wanted Jason and Johan, let's use that," she said. Eyes fixed on the babies.
After some minutes she was left alone with the babies, and somehow her heart felt heavy, thoughts ran through her mind, unspoken words hung in her throat, she stood up slowly and stepped out of the ward, pacing through the hallway and back to the hospital entrance.
The rain had stopped but drizzling softly, and her arms were folded over her chest.
*How do I care for these babies?, I can barely feed myself* she thought out loud.
She turned to walk back to the room, but her ears caught an interesting conversation at one corner of the hospital, She gently moved closer to listen but she could only hear crumbs.
"I'm willing to pay any amount the person wants just to have a child I can raise as mine, doctor, do something, please" It was a woman's voice, she sounded desperate and urgent.
Aida moved back a bit, confusion loomed in her eyes as she searched through her mind.
*They are not my children, and I can't take care of them both. I can as well give her one, and use the money to take care of myself and the other child. No one has to know*
Her thoughts were loud enough in her head, she concluded on her decision so fast, pushing the door open fiercely, she shouted, "I'll give you mine, how much will you give me?"
The doctor and the wealthy woman dressed in an expensive silver dress that could probably feed Aida's generation for decades to come turned to look at her in shock before standing up sharply.
"Miss Aida?" the doctor called
"Yes, I'll give you a child, as long as you keep your bargain," she said.
"Yes… yes please. How much do you want? Just name it and it's yours" the woman requested.
She stood frozen, looking at both of them, hands crossed over each other, eyes twitching uncontrollably and once again, tension and confusion hung thick in the silent air.
"Ten million dollars" she called.
"WHAT!" the doctor answered.