CHAPTER 97: 97-TRADE MY BODY FOR THE MEDICINE

Iris:

"He is sleeping now," Kash informed me as he stepped out of the room.

After seeing my son have another fit because my mother’s ego was hurt, I broke down.

I felt so awful that all I could do was cry while my mother pretended to be worried.

But every few seconds she passed me a stare, reminding me it was my fault.

I hated it.

I hated every second of it.

Kash had been the one looking after Colin, and now after fifteen minutes, he returned to tell me Colin was fine and resting.

"Do you think the cure is not working?" my mother wondered, pretending she was only asking for clarity.

She already knew that was not true, or maybe it was.

She had just shown me that as long as her son did not take the medicine, it would not work.

"Maybe it is just a side effect. We will take the other doses, so it will be fine," Kash replied.

"Yeah, where is the box? I will make sure the doses are taken on time," my mother remarked, trying to ask for the medicine while I glared at her.

Anger moved through my veins. Her presence disgusted me. How could a mother be so heartless? I did not know.

"I don’t think that would be needed," Kash responded.

I snapped my head toward him and then toward my mother, who now looked confused.

"You saw what happened. What if he takes the medicine and it happens again? I want to be there for my son whenever he takes a dose. Anyway, don’t worry. He is fine now. But if anything happens, come to me. Wake me up," Kash told me.

The way he spoke felt like a reminder that I was not supposed to hide anything from him if something happened.

The little cunningness on my mother’s face disappeared when Kash stepped out of the house, and now it was just the two of us glaring at each other.

"Why didn’t you ask him to leave the box behind?" my mother complained, pointing toward the area where Kash had been, even though he was long gone.

"You did. You heard him. This is all because of you, because you think you are so clever."

I paused, trying to calm my breathing.

It reminded her that just because she could control me, she thought she could control Kash’s mind too.

Her stunt with hurting Colin had convinced Kash that the fit was only a side effect and that he needed to be with his son whenever he took a dose.

And with Kash, neither she nor I could change his mind.

"I did it because you disobeyed me. I wanted to show you your mother is right," my mother declared, almost screaming before lowering her voice.

She was shaking badly from anger.

"You will never be right for me."

As soon as I said it, I did not expect her to look so shocked, but she did. She even had the nerve to look hurt.

"It does not matter what you say now. I know how this story ends. We will have our children saved, and you and I will be on good terms. You are my daughter after all," she insisted, smiling even through her unstable state.

"That will never happen," I confessed. "Hear me out today. Even after everything is over, I will never forgive you. Never."

She took a deep breath, as if trying to adjust to hearing that from me.

"Take that back," she demanded.

"No, I won’t. I hate you," I continued, and she pushed her fingers into her ears.

"Take that back, Iris, you ungrateful child." She lowered her hands and struck me across the face.

Silence filled the space between us.

"Go and take the cure from him. Right now," my mother ordered.

I placed my hand on my cheek and stared at her in disbelief.

Nothing affected her. She only became cruel when I reminded her of the kind of mother she was.

"Why drag it when you can take the cure, and I can give it to my son and wake him up? It will be a simple case. No dosage ritual needed," my mother hissed, and I frowned at her.

"What if a dosage is needed?" I asked, my fists clenched.

"You don’t understand. His illness is not affected by dosage. Even one sip of the cure and he will be fine," she shouted, probably remembering whatever that seer had told her about her son being healed by something magical.

"Go, or my son wakes up right now."

As she gave her demand and put me under pressure, fear crept in.

If I did not go to Kash immediately and take the cure, she truly would wake her son.

"It is the middle of the night. How do you expect me to walk into his mansion and ask him for the medicine?" I asked in a slow, heavy, frightened voice.

I did not want to provoke her. She seemed like she was losing her mind.

"I don’t care. Go ahead. Do it, even if you have to–" My mother paused, and I narrowed my eyes at her, waiting.

"Even if you have to trade your body for the night," she finished.

At that moment, I felt completely alone, as if no one had ever cared for me, not even my own mother.

"You want me to sell my body for the night for a cure?" I asked her, making sure she understood what she was asking from me.

"Well, it is your ex, and you two have still not rejected each other," my mother replied stubbornly.

The tone she used came from the anger of being disobeyed.

"You do realize that after I sleep with him, it will be harder for me to stay away from him, because he will demand that we get back together," I told her and she shrugged. "I don’t care. You have to follow my rules. You said you hate me, so I don’t have to try to make you like me. So why not go all out? Go ahead. Sleep with him. Come back and tell him it was just in the heat of the moment. Now go before I give the signal."

She finished, making me gasp.

"Go!" she screamed.

I closed my eyes and, feeling defeated, I stepped toward the door.

I did not know how the night would end, but I knew I was willing to do anything to get that cure and make sure my son was not in pain tonight.