****Lana's POV****

I used to think my life was hard. But nothing prepared me for when things truly fell apart.

The year Dad got sick and Mom left. Again. This time she took everything Dad had saved up. That year I knew what true pain felt like.

She showed up three years later, today, when I had just turned 22 and gotten a job as an assistant nurse at the hospital where Dad was admitted.

"I'm broke."

Those were the first words that came out of her mouth.

How foolish was I to think she'd ever change? All she ever cared about was money. Family came last, or maybe never at all.

I wanted to lash out so badly, to yell at her for being such a bad mother and for letting us all down, but I held it all in, for Dad's sake.

"Say it," she said with a smirk when she noticed my teary eyes.

"Say what?" My voice cracked.

"That I'm a bad mother and that you hate me."

"No, I don't."

She smiled, rolling her eyes. "You see, this . This is the problem I had with your dad, pretending to be so cool with everything. I guess the leaf doesn't fall far from the tree, after all."

"Aren't you going to ask how Dad's health is?"

"I know he's not getting any better." She punched in. "I'm not doing better myself. Like I said, I'm broke, and I need money."

"And?"

"And... you're my daughter, and I know you work at this hospital where he's being admitted. They pay you well."

I shut my eyes as the anger rose to my chest, but I wasn't going to let the better part of me.

"How much do you need?"

She smiled. "That's more like it. Well... enough to last me six months."

"I can only do three."

"Six. I can't commute back here in three months for more money, it's expensive."

"You'll be back?"

She shrugged. "Just give me the damn money, Lana."

I nodded sadly, walking off to my locker where I kept some stash, grabbed half of what I'd saved up, and headed back to her. I didn't know why I gave her so much, but maybe a little part of me wished she'd see how much Dad and I cared about her and she'd return the gesture.

I lied.

A big part of me wished she'd really care about us.

She was off the next minute, like she was never here. She didn't even say thank you after getting the money or ask after Dad. I just stood there in the middle of the hospital reception. I could feel hot tears streaming down my face but I showed no emotions, I was too hurt to.

"Lana," Kayla, my colleague and best friend called out, interrupting my wandering thoughts. "Is that who I think it is?"

I bit my lips, holding back tears, as I nodded. Kayla flew to my side and embraced me in a tight hug. Kayla was my best friend, my real solace in all of this.

"It's okay, don't cry." with that she wiped off my tears and guided me away from prying eyes. "Listen to me, Lana, you can't give that woman the right to hurt you this way, stop crying please,"

I sobbed rubbing my eyes as I held in the rest of the tears.

"That's more like it, now...guess what? I got a surprise for you."

I gave her a side-eye. "What's that?"

"It's a surprise, like I said." She chuckled. "Let's go to my locker."

She hung her hand over my shoulder and dragged me to the dressing room and to her locker.

"Tada!" she screamed, holding out a small cake, and my heart almost leaped right out of my chest.

"Kayla..." I pouted. "You shouldn't have... really."

"Why not? It's your birthday, girl. Cheer up, you know I got you."

I flew into her arms and hugged her so tight she started choking dramatically.

"La... Lana, you're choking me."

We both chuckled after I broke the hug, my eyes tearing up again.

"Come on, don't do that."

It's a shame my own mom didn't remember my birthday.

"What would I have done without you, Kayla? You're the world's bestest friend."

"And you, my dear, are lucky to have me, right?" She snorted.

I spent a few minutes celebrating my birthday, but the sadness in my heart still lingered. I might be happy right now, but I knew it couldn't last long. My happiness was cut short by the doctor in charge of my dad's ward.

"Your dad's condition isn't getting any better. I'm afraid he might need another surgery. The tumor has spread further."

"A surgery?" My voice trailed off.

"Yes, Lana. We don't have much time. You need to deposit the amount of $10,000 so we can begin treatment."

"What? Where am I supposed to get such an amount of money from? Please, doctor, help me. I don't want my dad to die. Please, do something, anything, please."

"I'm sorry, Lana. There's nothing more I can do. I've tried my best. " With that, he walked away, leaving me to my misery.

I stumbled to my director's office. He was the last person I knew would help me, but still, I needed to try. At least he owed me.

"$3,000, that's a small amount of money. I can help you with that."

"Really? Thank you so much, Mr. Lance... I'm truly..."

"No, no, no, don't thank me yet. You know what to do to bring out that money and even more."

With that, he came close to me, almost brushing against my bust. He brushed my hair, caressing my face.

"What are you doing?"

He smirked. "Don't act like a kid, Lana. You know by now that I want you."

"But sir," I said, pushing his hand off lightly. "We've been through this. I don't want such. I've never done this before."

He burst into uncontrollable laughter. "You make me so hard, Lana, and that's why I want you. I want to be the one who feels that juicy kitten of yours first."

His hands trailed down to my thighs, and just when he was about to shift my dress, I pushed him away.

"See, you like it. Why do you hold back? Trust me, it's not going to hurt. I'm going to take it easy. Come on, don't be such a good girl, we both know you're not."

Good girl. That's what I've been known as all my life. And my mom hated it, calling me a pretender. And now Mr. Lance? What was it on my face that made people treat me so badly?

He pushed me hard against the wall, parting my legs forcefully. I don't know when I pushed him off and landed a hot slap on his cheek.

"How dare you?!"

He growled. "You slut. Come here."

He came angrily at me with full force. My eyes landed on a vase, and I reached for it, smashing it hard on his head. He let out a loud scream, and I knew damn well my job here at the hospital was officially over.

Fuck!

****Lana's POV****

I stood there in the middle of it all, as the world spinned around me in circles. Mr Lance's short fingers pointing at me accusingly in the boardroom while he clutched his bandaged head with one hand.

"This girl, she's a psycho, she broke my head with a vase and even slapped me!"

I smirked, wishing I could have done more. Mr Lance caught the smirk and ran wild.

"You see. You see that smirk? She did this on purpose, she's crazy!"

"Calm down, Mr Lance, we need to hear from Lana also, she deserves the right to speak." Ms Molly, the assistant director said, then turned to me. "Lana, what happened?"

"Thanks ms molly, thing is Mr Lance here has been making advances at me for the past few weeks since i joined the hospital"

"What? How dare you, I knew you'd say this, I need this girl fired, she is not who she pretends to be, i would not sit here and be embarrassed this way, she has to go." Mr Lance rumbled.

"Mr lance, can you calm down, you brought this case to the management, let us handle it in a reasonable manner, Lana, please continue"

"Thanks ma'am," I nodded with a smile. "I have refused his advances several times and made it clear to him that i'm not that type of woman and for a while things were fine, but i noticed my pay were cut off each time for the strangest reasons, sometimes even delayed, i've made several complaints but they were ignored, fast forward to today i went to mr lance to request for my payment and salary advance but he sexually assaulted me."

By this time Mr Lance was already vibrating on his seat glaring at me whilst gripping his well injured head.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Mr Lance?"

"I can say boldly i never assaulted, Lana, you can check the CCTV yourself"

The CCTV, that would reveal everything but why would Mr Lance suggest that when he's in the wrong, except... he had someone manipulate it and as expected the part where he tried to assault me was professionally scrapped off just showing the part where i hit him.

"This crazy girl here, launched at me when I refused to approve of the outrageous amount she wanted for salary advances. As you all can see, she's the psychopath here and I demand her immediate removal."

I collapsed on my knees running to Ms Molly.

"No, please that's not the entire truth, please don't sack me, I really need this job to take care of my sick father, please."

"I'm sorry Lana, but the evidence here goes against you, you know what that means."

"No, it's being manipulated, please, confirm this again."

"Lying, aggression, and now accusation? You keep adding to your list, Lana why don't you accept the fall instead of making things worse for yourself?"

"Mr Lance you know damn well i didn't do what you're accusing me of, how heartless can you be, i have a sick father!"

"You. are. Fired, Lana. Bye bye." he said storming out of the room. And just like that, I was down to Ground Zero.

*****

"I cant let him get away with this, Lana, he cant just have you fired like this, i dont care that he's the director, I'm storming into his office and-"

"Kayla, no... please don't, you can't do that you might lose your job too." I cut in, grabbing the already vibrating Kayla.

"I don't care!"

"Okay, fine but remember my dad is still in this hospital?'

"Yeah so? They aren't going to kick him out just because we're fighting for our right"

"Anything is possible with Mr Lance, he just rigged the CCTV in the space of a few hours remember? I don't want him to have my dad thrown out of this hospital."

"I sincerely hope karma catches up with him soon or I might."

"It sure will, it sure will, I gotta go now." I sighed gribbing onto my bag.

"I'd really miss you..." kayla said already shedding tears, i already made up my mind to be strong in this time, i couldnt let her see me break down else shed be worried sick so all i could do was hug her tight for few minutes and then i was gone from the hospital.

I couldn't afford to break down.

*****

A few hours later I was in my apartment stuffing my face with cereal like I hadn't just fallen down the drain in one day.

My dad was dying and needed immediate surgery, I got sacked and I had no money left. Wasn't that just amazing.

I could feel the tears start to stream down my face, one I'd held in all morning and my heart broke to a thousand pieces.

But a notification popped up on my screen, jilting my phone to life, for a second i thought I may have been imagining things when the subject of the email notification read ; JOB APPLICATION OFFER

I remember applying for a job about a month ago before the hospital noticed my skills and hired me. But back then i didnt think my application would be accepted, i didnt have any experience aside from taking care of my dad for years and the job in question was either high stakes or a scam. $20,000 every month as a private nurse, and they considered me? With my incredibly low CV?

This had to be a scam.

I tapped on the details and right there my name stood out.

"Dear Ms Lana , congratulations you have been selected as one of the outstanding candidates who applied for the position of a private nurse and you are expected to come for the interview which is scheduled to hold in two days-"

"What!"

I sprang up in excitement, I don't know how this happened and didn't care if this was just an interview but it meant a whole lot.

I'd been considered for such a big offer. This had better not be a scam or a mistake.

Okay, Lana, don't get too excited I exhaled and inhaled twirling and dancing to non audible music. This was the best news I'd ever received in a really long while.

I needed a suit, I needed to get a good suit asap.

****Lana's POV****

I had no suit-I had no freaking suit!

I stared down at the mess I had made of my tiny apartment in my aimless attempt to find a suitable suit I could wear for my interview.

But I found nothing appropriate, most of my old suits were worn out and begging me for mercy already.

The interview was in two days, I couldn't afford to miss it for anything in the world.

I thought hard about pacing the circumference of my room ... .Kayla always had nice corporate wear but going to her right now...when I wasn't sure if the job would end in her discouraging me not to go, it looked like a scam.

$20,000 monthly? That's basically the entire money needed for my dad's surgery, what organization would pay that high for a private nurse if it wasn't a scam?

I could already hear Kayla snapping at me for wanting to fall prey to this, but the thing is...the site I applied from, it seemed legit...I wouldn't know if I didn't try.

I slumped on my bed, counting the ceiling.

What to do, how to sneak into Kayla's place without her notice, or what lie could I tell her...she'd figure me out anyway.

Just then an idea popped into my head. Stephen, yes Stephen, he was Kayla's brother and he lived with her, surely he'd help me get Kayla's stuff.

I was still in my nighties the next morning when I showed up at Stephen's door, all smiles knocking aimlessly for almost 20 minutes.

He opened the door, rubbing his eyes as sleep was yet to clear off from his eyes.

It was 5am in the morning.

"Oh. It's you." He said slamming the door shut in my face before I could even say anything.

Yeah, typical Stephen, he was a dickhead, always trying to annoy me relentlessly.

I stood in front of the door still reeling from the shock of the door he slammed in my face when he opened the door again.

"What do you want, Lana, it's 5am in the freaking morning."

I pushed past him into the apartment.

"I don't care about your beauty sleep Stephen, is Kayla at home?"

"Kayla? Aren't you two like, working the late night shift? She'll be here soon."

I scratched my head. "Uhm... Stephen, I know we aren't like the best of friends but I desperately need your help."

"No." He said slumping on his bed.

"You haven't even heard what I have to say... come on Stephen, please..."

He raised his head slightly, confusion washing over his face. "Are you cloned? What's with this begging."

I rubbed my hands in pleasure, he groaned into his pillow then bolted up.

"Fine, what do you want?"

I grinned. "A suit."

*****

Stephen had the weirdest suits ever, in his defense he was into fashion and they were fashion statements that made him stand out when he walked into the room.

"This is just too big." I said standing in front of the mirror, I had on one of his big ass red suit whose hands were credibly short. The suit almost felt like a gown on me.

Stephen shook his head. "You have no style, Lana, this would make you stand out from other applicants, big organizations like that take people with style seriously."

I bit my lip. "Are you sure...? This is just too big and what do I wear in this, I look like SpongeBob really."

"Just trust me on this, I've been in this fashion business for almost a decade and I tell you, this would get you the job."

I contemplated for a moment. "Fine... I'll trust you on this, I'll have this dry-cleaned and ready for D-Day, thanks Stephen."

"You're welcome, Lana, you'll thank me better after your interview I promise."

I hope... I weighed the suit, staring at myself one last time before I took it off and left Stephen's place.

I didn't have enough time on my side. I needed to get the suit dry cleaned and also prepare a sample Q&A for the interview.

I needed everything to be in check, so for the entire day and next, I was busy preparing for the grand interview.

******

The day passed by slowly, but eventually the D-Day had come, the interview was scheduled for 11 am and by 8am I was already leaving for the address in question.

It took me roughly 1hr 30 minutes by train. I had on the red suit, thigh high red boots and clung to my bag which had my files in it.

I noticed a lot of stares on me, they were giggling about something, definitely not me.

The direction to the address on my phone's map showed I was 10 minutes close to the venue, it was about 10:30 by now.

I was just about to cross the crosswalk when the car that stood by the traffic started blowing the horn loudly.

So impatient.

I was just about to curse at them quietly when I noticed some unsteadiness in the car, the driver seemed to be panicking while the older man in the backseat seemed to be convulsing.

The traffic wasn't clearing up, things were escalating in the car and a round of passersby surrounded the vehicle.

"Hurry up, doctor John, we need you here immediately." The driver had gotten off now making urgent calls in a loud voice.

It wasn't like me to meddle, but I felt I could do something about the situation.

I rushed in, pushing past the crowd.

"What are you doing?" The driver panicked.

"I'm a licensed nurse, I can help him."

So help me God.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, please clear the crowd, he needs air."

I dropped to my knees beside the open rear door, yanking open my bag to grab the small first-aid kit I'd packed-just in case the interview included some kind of practical test.

I pulled out my stethoscope, pressed it to his chest. His heartbeat was erratic, breathing shallow-almost nonexistent.

I interlaced my hands, placed them on the center of his chest, and began compressions-hard, fast, counting under my breath.

One, two, three...

He wasn't responding.

Sweat dripped into my eyes. I leaned down, tilted his head back, pinched his nose, and sealed my mouth over his.

Breathe. Once. Twice.

I kept going-compressions, breaths, compressions, breaths-ignoring the crowd, ignoring the red suit now smeared with sweat and street dust, ignoring everything except the man fighting for air beneath my hands.

And then-his eyes flew open.

Wide. Shocked and alive.