Keeping her disguise, Emily lowered her hat across her face as she crossed the lobby and slipped into the hospital. Maintaining her low profile, she visited her brother without alerting the press. At this point, nothing else mattered but her brother's well-being.
A few of the doctors and staff working on her brother's case recognized her, but thankfully, nobody snitched her identity and sold her pictures to the paparazzi. Either they respected her privacy or didn't think she was worth the trouble.
"Please, do everything you can to save my brother." Emily pleaded with the doctor. She couldn't lose the person she loved the most. "No matter the cost." Her desperation was evident in her voice.
Standing outside Jonah's room, all she could do was watch her brother's deteriorating health from a distance and pray for a miracle that would save his life. If she could only take her brother's place, she would. She would rather suffer than see him in pain.
"We're doing our best, but first, you have to settle the bill." Dr. Beal looked apologetic, clearly uncomfortable discussing money matters with her. But what could he do? She believed the doctor was just following the hospital protocol.
"Of course, I'll do that right away." Emily would do anything for her brother. "Just schedule his surgery as soon as possible." She knew she had no more time to spare.
She would swim across the ocean, climb the highest mountain, and even reach for the star if that was what it would take to save him. She would do the impossible for the people she loved.
But first, she had to come up with the money.
Although she had a few successes in her acting career, most of her income was used to purchase a new home, a car, and cover her daily expenses. Unfortunately, being a star was not cheap. She had to maintain an image that came at a hefty cost. Then, whatever little savings she had left went straight to her parents.
Clearly, her parents lied to her, discovering that they barely used the money she sent them on Jonah's treatment.
"No, this has to change." She promised she would not let her parents get away with this. She would not let them abuse her and her brother anymore. She would fight with everything she had to get custody. She would take full responsibility for his care from now on.
After discussing the pending operation and the pre- and post-treatment plan with the doctor, she returned to her brother's side. Since she arrived a few hours ago, her brother had remained unconscious due to the medication injected to stabilize him. But the doctor assured her that he would wake up anytime soon.
"I'm here, Jonah." She sat on his bedside, gently gripping his weak fingers in her hand. It broke her heart to see her brother in this condition. At his age, she thought he should be in school, studying to fulfill his dream.
Jonah should be in the court, playing hoops with his friends. Not lying on this bed, confined in this hospital, looking lifeless. Obviously, her brother had been suffering for some time, as could be seen in his pale skin and barely noticeable muscles.
No! This was not the life she had envisioned for her brother. She didn't work this hard only to realize that her efforts were in vain.
"Get well soon, Jonah! I promise that once you get out of this hospital, we'll never be apart again." Emily stretched her free arm and ran her fingers through his forehead, pushing his short, straight hair away from his handsome face. If only he had been better, she believed girls would be lining up to vie for his affection.
At the moment, all she could do was listen to the machine beeping in silent anticipation and watch the steady movement of the air pump as it moved upward and downward. Still, fear gripped her heart at the thought that she could lose him in an instant.
Tears threatened to trickle down her face, but she stopped them. She could not let her brother see her break down. She had to be strong for him, especially now that he could barely breathe on his own.
"Look who finally decided to show up."
Emily heard her voice before noticing her standing by the door. When she turned around, she realized the beautifully made woman was not alone. The two people she never wished to see again walked into the room as if they had every right to be there.
"I'll be damn. She finally remembers her family." The sadistic voice of her father echoed in the small walls of the room, painfully reminding her that sharing the same blood didn't necessarily equate family.
These two might be their parents, but from the way they had behaved, they might as well be strangers.
"Well, look at what you've done." Her mother pointed to her brother, apparently blaming her for his current condition. "If you had only sent the money as I told you, we wouldn't be in this situation."
Emily tried so hard not to hate them despite how they treated her and her brother. After all, they were still her parents, but this last stunt was the last straw. She was not putting up any more of their bullshit.
"Family?" Emily hysterically laughed at the audacity of her parents to show up in her brother's hospital bed after they clearly neglected her brother's needs. "That's funny." She even clapped her hands, amazed by their performance.
"How could you even blame me when I have given you everything I have?" But apparently, no matter how much she gave them, it would never be enough. Her parents would always squeeze her for more. "Actually, if there is someone to blame, it's you guys. You should be providing for our needs, not the other way around."
Emily was done being their punching bag, cash cow, and door mat. She was not going to take any more crap from them. If they could not be the responsible parents that her brother needed, then she would wipe them out of their lives.
She should have cut ties with them a long time ago. Her parents never deserved her love and devotion. It was time she gave up on hoping that they would ever change.
"I think you should leave." Emily thought she and her brother were better off without them.
"How dare you talk to us like that?" Her father shouted.
The next thing she knew, her vision turned black as her body landed on the floor.
"You ungrateful brat."
Emily heard as pain spread across her face.
Did her father just hit her?