FAKING IT WITH THE BADBOY BILLIONAIRE

XAVIER

"How's mum?" I ask tearfully as I sit across from Dr Ablack in his neatly painted office.

"Your mum isn't too good, Xavier. You would have known if you were always in the house," the doctor reprimands me.

I get it, I have been a shitty son. Mum was sick, and I did not even know that. When I received a call from my friends that morning, little did I know that I would end up in the hospital before the end of the day.

"What of Thomas?" I ask because there's no sight of my father anywhere.

"He is on a trip, he will be back soon."

Of course, that's typical of Thomas. He is never around, even when his only wife is dying.

"Pending his arrival, you can stay with your mother while I figure out what exactly is wrong with her," the doctor says and stands up from his seat. He is a tall, hefty man and has been our family doctor for years, so when my doctor says not to panic, we know better than to panic.

"Alright," I tell him, before moving over to the women's wing of the hospital.

"Mama!" I scream as soon as I notice how much pain my mother is in. It breaks my heart to see her in so much pain, and tears stream down my face.

"Xavier, what did the doctor say is wrong with me?" My mum asks in her thick black American accent.

I know this isn't the time to talk about how black mum is, but it amuses me each time she speaks. I've lived my whole life in Georgia, I've never got the accent. One will think that it will ease up now that she is confined to a hospital bed, but it's worse.

"Mama, you still speak like this?" I tease her to create a distraction from the pain she is feeling.

"You are still mocking your mum," she mocks and playfully hits me on the face, but she winces in pain at the contact of her skin with mine. I gently take her arm and rub it slightly, a trick she taught me as a kid.

"You should be careful, mum. Don't be in such a hurry to hit me," I chuckle at her sloppy attempt to hit me even though she is ill.

My father walks in, interrupting us; I could tell from the look on his face that he is not pleased to see me. I greet him nevertheless, but he ignores me and walks up to my mother, kissing her on the forehead. Nice, he could be a good husband but never a good father to me. That's ironic.

"Thomas, your son is greeting you", my mother says weakly, nudging him towards me.

My father and I are typically like Tom and Jerry. We argue all the time but share a deep affection for each other. He stretches his arms for a hug, but I know he is just doing it for my mum's sake. She hates to see us fight or argue with one another.

"Where the hell have you been?" He whispers through gritted teeth.

"None of your godamn business! Mama was here all by herself. It would be best if you answer that question yourself," I reply to him and pull away from the hug, still smiling hard at my mum so she won't suspect a thing.

My father takes a seat next to my mother, holding her hand tenderly, she smiles at him and whispers something I don't quite catch.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier Laura, I got held up. If it were up to me, I would have been here sooner. You have nothing to worry about now that I'm here." My father says and I look at him spitefully. Excuses every time, that's what he is good at. Never around, even for something as important as his wife's health. On the bright side, he is here already, so I guess I can cut him some slack.

"It's alright, Thomas, I understand. The important thing is that you are here now, and that's all that matters."

He walks inside, holding a series of papers with him. He stops at the foot of mums bed and looks at me before looking at my dad and then down at my mother.

"Would both of you like to come to my office or we should do this here?"

"Please doctor, just tell us the news. I'll rather we all know now." My father tells him.

"Okay, I'm afraid Laura has brain cancer and the tumour is spreading at an alarming rate?" Dr. Ablack says and I could feel my chest tighten.

I blink rapidly, trying to get over the shock of the news. "What do you mean spreading at an alarming rate? How long does she have to live?"

"Not a very long time Xavier, I don't want to put a definitive time frame on it. But it's not a really long time." The doctor shakes his head and I fall back against my chair, my head in my hand.

"Is there any treatment? Surgery? Drugs? I'll pay anything, you should know money is not my problem." My father asks the doctor.

"I'm afraid at this stage, the chances of a successful surgery are about one point eight per cent She would not make it out alive, the best thing we can do for her right now is to give her drugs to reduce the rate at which it is spreading, and it's just going to slow it down by a little bit." The doctor explains I do all I can to keep myself from crying, my father hates to see me cry and I hate it myself, so I bite my lip and close my eyes shut.

"Start on the medicine right away then." My father tells him and he nods his head.

"Excuse me." He says before walking out of the room.

My mother smiles at my dad, squeezing his hand as tightly as her feeble hand can manage. "It's alright Thomas, you know I'm a strong woman. I'm going to fight this with all I've got. My mother reassures him.

"I know you are Laura, it's one of the reasons I married you." My father says and they smile at each other.

"Now can you give Xavier and I a minute, I'd like to have a word with him," she releases my dad's hand and he walks out without looking at me in the face.

"You heard what the doctor said, don't have much time left." My mother started.

"I heard him, mama, the drugs will work and you'll have plenty of time left," I reply, covering her hand with mine. I hate to see my mother in this state, all my life I've known my mother as a strong, intelligent hardworking woman. She was a super mom, managing her life and social standing very well. She loved me and treated me with love and care and attention. Always there whenever my father was away on a business trip or an emergency that has to pull him away from town. During those periods my mother acted as both my mum and dad and never complained even once. I respect her greatly and I would do anything in my power to make sure she is well.

"I'll ride on your faith then." She says and smiles at me, breaking my heart even more.