Ch. 09: Sandy And Family.

The door opened to a room painted all white, and Sandy came in. She had a look on her face that made it known to everyone in the room that something had recently gone down but the look itself was neither happy nor sad.

Her mother was sitting on a chair close to a bed. A doctor stood over the bed, and on the bed was a middle aged man, asleep.

"Hey mother, how is father doing?" She asked, walking closer to them.

"Well, the doctor can tell you," the mother said. Her face had a tired expression.

"Oh," the doctor began, almost nervously. "He's getting better. We are doing our best to stabilise him and his situation. You know the ailment is incurable.”

"Please, do all you can," Sandy said, looking at the doctor with pitiful eyes. "Ehm, doctor. Can I speak to my mom privately please?”

"Oh, sure can do. I was about attending to something else either way." The doctor left in a few minutes. 

"So, mother, guess what?" Asked Sandy, a bit enthusiastically once the doctor left the room.

"You know that I am bad at guessing, Sandy," the mom said, still as tired as she had been. "Just spill it out will you. You do not have to torture me with your silly games."

"Oh, if you say so. I have finally divorced Ethan." Sandy said, partially smiling.

The mother spiked up in excitement, talking about how Sandy was finally free, standing up from the chair to go hug her daughter whose hands were folded. Sandy did not receive the hug in the way her mother thought she would.

When the older woman finally noticed it, she stopped and stepped back for a while. "What's wrong?" She asked. “You don't seem as likely and happy as I thought you would have been. Did anything happen?”

"Nothing happened," Sandy said to her, looking to a corner of the room, avoiding her mother's penetrating eyes.

"There has to be something," her mom retorted. "You have hardly been in moods like this, even when you were still married to that poor thing, you were never unsmiling for more than an hour. So what is it? Or don't tell me that you are now suddenly inlove with the bum."

Sandy heaved a sigh of resignation. "Of course not. I can never fall inlove with a man like that you know that."

"Then what happened? " 

"I'll tell you," she finally succumbed to her mother's will and wishes. "I finally got rid of him but now I think Ethan was not who we thought he was. Something happened today that made me consider that."

She went ahead to narrate the story of the kidnappers coming into the shop and how Ethan was the only one who could stand up to them and fight and even beat the intruders while the man she was with, cower in fear after being beaten when he claimed he was an expert martial artist. She felt so ashamed narrating the story to her mom.

"I found out today that Ethan was not entirely useless,” she continued. "He is an expert martial art fighter. He saved us and Kelly, the owner of the Jewelry shop, while the man I was with, Matthew, only embarrassed me and himself. And not only that, he is now getting married to Kelly." 

"Wait. You mean Kelly? Kelly Redmond?" Her mom was shocked as well.

"Yes. The Kelly Redmond. The richest, hottest, most eligible yada yada yada spinster in the city, mom. She proposed to him."

For a few minutes, the mother could barely believe her ears. But soon she merely sighed and put her arm over her daughter's shoulder.

"Well, I still stand by my words," the mom began. "You do not need to worry yourself over these things. Ignore it. We all have our time to shine. You should be happy right now because at long last, you are now free to be with any man of your choice. Forget Ethan. He is a nobody." 

"You fools," an firm but slightly weak muscular voice said from the bed. The two women turned back to see who was talking. They already knew, infact, and they dreaded it.

"Father?" Sandy was surprised. "You're awake. Uhm, how long have you been listening?"

"Long enough to know that the both of you are being really stupid and reckless." 

"Why?" The mother asked, annoyed at his words. "Is it because of that good for nothing, Ethan. You would insult us because of him?"

"Oh yes, Vivian," he replied. "I'm saying this, because I know exactly why I brought that man home to get married to Sandy. Because right from the first day I saw him, I knew he was special even though he was poor and looked miserable. But all of that is irrelevant now. You have most certainly lost him, you fools. You have certainly lost him. I am sure of that.”