At the hospital Raymond paced the floor outside the ER room where his mom was being examined by the on-call doctor.  Every few seconds he would stop to stare at the closed curtains, waiting… waiting for the doctor to emerge and tell him what the hell was wrong with his mother.  He felt sick, angry and above all like a good for nothing son for upsetting his mom.  This was all his fault!  Everything was his fault!  If anything happened to his mom... he can't even begin to imagine it.  "What's wrong with her?" he muttered incoherently to no one in particular.  "Why did she suddenly have such intense pain?"

Mandy sat huddled in a chair, her own worries etched on her face as she watched Raymond pacing back and forth.  "Auntie will be okay," she whispered to him.  "She has to be."

Out of the corner of his eye, Raymond saw Ron striding towards him with a sullen look.  Once Ron was upon him, he immediately clutched his friend's arm and said, "My mom is in a lot of pain.  She's in there now," he inclined his head towards the closed curtains.  "Can you find out what's wrong with her?  I'm sick with worry."

Ron ran a hand through his unruly hair as he thought of a best way to break the news.  He saw Mandy getting up from her chair to join them and gave her a faint smile of greeting.  Facing the two of them he said, "There's something you should know about Auntie."

The tone of Ron's words alarmed Raymond to the point of breaking down.  "What?" he asked hoarsely, urgently.  When Ron didn't immediately respond, he hollered, "What are you holding back from me?  Dammit Ron!  Tell me!"

Jolted by Raymond's outburst, all the surrounding people, whether staff or patients, halted to look at them with mild disapproval.  Ron gave apologetic looks to everyone and pulled Raymond to an empty room just a few feet from the ER section.  Closing the door he turned to face Raymond with a grave expression.  "I don't know how to tell you this.  It's very hard on me too."

Pushed beyond his patience, Raymond bit out, "For heaven's sake, just tell me!"

Ron knew he had to tell Raymond despite his promise to Gigi that he won't.  It was for the best if they wanted her to pull through it.  Time was running out and if she didn't get her surgery soon there would be no hope at all.  Taking a deep breath for courage he slowly said, "Auntie has stomach cancer."

The world stopped as Raymond tried to comprehend what Ron had just told him.  Shaking his head with disbelief he said, "Wait a second.  Did you just say that my mom has stomach cancer?"

Ron nodded his head in response and then added, "I ran the tests myself."

Raymond slumped to the floor, his hands covering his face.  "Why didn't she tell me?" he rasped and there was a quiver in his voice.

"Raymond," Mandy said his name softly and kneeled down beside him.  She held him in a tight embrace hoping to take away some of his pain.

Raymond turned in Mandy's arms as the tears he had been trying to hold back came streaming down his face.  "I can't let her die," he said brokenly.

"And she won't," Mandy agreed forcefully.  She looked up at Ron and asked, "What are Auntie's chances of getting through this?"

"Right now the cancerous cells are centered in the lining of her stomach.  She can make a full recovery with surgery.  Meaning removing the cancerous cells from her stomach before it spreads to her other organs."

Hearing that Raymond immediately shot up from the floor to squeeze Ron's shoulders and demanded, "Do the surgery then!  What are you waiting for?"

"It's not that simple," Ron said quietly.

Seeing the frown on Ron's face, Raymond asked bleakly, "What do you mean?  Is there more to my mom's illness that you're not telling me?"

"No… that's it," Ron affirmed and continued to explain, "But we cannot perform the surgery at this hospital.  Our hospital isn't up to date with all the new equipment to take on a surgery like this one.  And we don't have the specialists to perform this kind of surgery."

"Then send my mom to another hospital to have the surgery," Raymond interrupted impatiently, his eyes raking Ron with an incredulous look as to why this was even substantial.

Mandy sensed that was the main cause of Ron's concern.  She touched Raymond's arm and said, "Raymond, let Ron finish," and then nodded her head at Ron to continue.

Looking straight at Raymond, Ron explained, "The only hospital that is capable of performing the surgery is St. Francis.  They are a private hospital and that means…" he trailed off.

"We have to pay for the surgery ourselves," Raymond finished, his face draining of color.  All his earlier hopes were dashed by this new piece of information.  He had heard of St. Francis and has read many newspaper articles about their top of the line quality and care.  But those services were only provided to patients who can afford them, mainly the rich and famous.  Raymond was neither.  Sad and depleted he looked anxiously at Ron, "Is there anything you can do?"

With defeat, Ron shook his head, "I'm sorry Raymond.  I wish there was but there isn't.  The cost of the surgery is roughly two million dollars."

Mandy walked to stand beside Raymond and took his hand in hers.  Squeezing it gently, she said, "Raymond, we'll think of a way to raise the money for Auntie's surgery."

Raymond looked down at Mandy.  He was incapable of words as the full meaning of everything that had been told to him just now settled within him.  His mom needed surgery to live, a surgery that required money he does not have.  Why did this happen to his mom?  Why?  Why?  Why?  The words screamed repeatedly in his head as a fresh wave of tears washed down his face.  He felt Mandy's arms on him as she pulled him towards her.  Wordlessly he allowed her to hold him, to comfort him.  He needed it.

--------------------------------------------

Charmaine walked aimlessly down the busy street.  She didn’t know where to go or what to do.  All she knows is that she doesn’t want to go home.  Raymond would probably be waiting there for her and she didn’t want to see him.  Not when she’s feeling so emotional with everything that she had heard between him and his mom.  She continued walking and stopped at a red light.  She believes that Raymond truly loves her but that didn’t justify what he did.  So what if his ex-girlfriend didn't harbored any ill wills towards her.  That could not erase the feeling of guilt that is pouring over her at this very moment.  She heard a consistent beeping noise and took a step off the curb.  She was suddenly pushed backwards and a second later a car came to a screeching stop in front of her making her crumble to the ground in shock.

“Are you alright?” Ben asked as he helped Charmaine to her feet.  He was cruising the streets with no destination in mind when he saw her standing at the corner waiting for the light to change.  He quickly got out of his car with the intention of going over to say hello but couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw her step out into oncoming traffic.  Thinking quickly, he raced towards her.  Luckily he made it when he did and was able to push her back safely onto the curb before the car could hit her.

Charmaine was frazzled by what had just occurred.  Regaining her focus she peered up at the man who was looking down at her with open concern and agitation.  “I-I think so,” she said softly and then realized the man was Ben Wong.

Ben gave her a reprimanding look and hissed, “What were you trying to do?  Kill yourself?”

Dumbstruck by his tone, Charmaine took a faltering step back away from him.

Ben saw the fear on her face and cursed himself for overstepping his boundaries where she was concern.  She had a way of making him act too boldly, things that he would never normally do with anyone, especially a woman whom he had just met.  Then again with Charmaine he can never seem to think rationally.  When he saw her standing there looking lost and disconcerted he wanted to immediately rush to her side and make her smile.  But then when she was about to step off the curb fear seized him.  Not thinking of his own safety he ran towards her.  All that was on his mind was making sure that she was safe.  And she was.  "I'm sorry," he apologized softly.  "It's just that you almost got yourself killed."

Charmaine saw the genuine concern on his face and her earlier fear of him ebbed away.  "Thank you for getting to me on time."

"No thanks needed," Ben said gently.  Looking at her red-rimmed eyes, he asked curiously, "Is everything alright with you?"

Charmaine gave him a helpless smile and replied, "I think so.  Although I don't know for sure."

"Want to talk about it?" Ben offered with a warm caring smile.  "I'm a great listener if you feel like opening up to me."

Charmaine stared at him in awe and wondered why she feared him from the start.  He had done nothing to instill that in her.  Looking up at the concern on his face she felt her emotions bubble from within and suddenly the events from earlier crashed down on her making her erupt in tears.  "You're right," she said brokenly, "I'm confused and don't know what to do."

Ben was taken aback by her tears and yet at the same time he was inordinately pleased that Charmaine was willing to share her feelings with him.  "Talk to me," he said softly and held his hand out to her.