Chapter 2
When Julian showed up, I finally felt a glimmer of hope.
"Dad, Emily's mom was in a car accident and she's in the hospital. Please help her!" Jessica pleaded, tugging at Julian's arm, her face full of worry.
"Jessica, calm down! Emily, walk me through everything that happened," Julian said, looking at me with a serious expression.
I told Julian everything, including the accident and the driver fleeing, to the doctor insisting on immediate surgery. I even made sure to mention the estimated cost: twenty to thirty thousand dollars.
After I finished, Julian took out a cigarette, lit it, and started taking deep, anxious drags.
I've always hated the smell of smoke, but right then, my mind was consumed by worry for Susan. I couldn't even bring myself to care.
If even Julian couldn't help me, I was completely lost. Was I really just going to watch helplessly as Susan slipped away? The thought of being left all alone made tears stream down my face.
"Emily, don't worry. There's always a way," Julian tried to comfort me.
"Dad, please, you have to help! Emily's my only best friend, and her mom treats me like her own daughter. Are you really going to just stand there and let something happen to her?" Jessica urged, her voice full of anxiety.
"It's just the timing is really tight, and the amount is a bit much," Julian trailed off, but I got the message. He thought it was a lot of money, and he probably couldn't help.
Hearing that, I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I ran to the bathroom and broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Dad, you know so many people. It shouldn't be that hard to borrow tens of thousands of dollars, right?" Jessica wasn't ready to give up.
"It's not that easy. The surgery alone is thirty thousand dollars, and there'll be more costs after the surgery, too. What if something goes wrong with her mom?" Julian trailed off, unable to finish.
"We'll worry about the rest later. You're just afraid Emily won't be able to pay you back, isn't that what you're worried about?
She's already in college. Do you really think she won't be able to make money in the future? Honestly, you're just worried she'll pretend she doesn't owe you anything and never pay you back," Jessica argued, getting more worked up.
Julian let out a helpless sigh.
"I know you lent money to Uncle before, and he just acted like he never owed you anything. You and Mom had a huge fight over it and ended up splitting up. But Emily's not that kind of person, I promise," Jessica insisted.
"If you're worried, you can have her sign an IOU. And if that's still not enough, she can even hand over her ID and all her papers as collateral," Jessica kept persuading him.
"Dad, please, just help her, okay?" Jessica pleaded, shaking Julian's hand.
"Sweetheart, it's not that I don't want to help you, but the amount is just way too much. What if something happens?" Julian looked genuinely troubled.
"You remember what happened when I lent money to your uncle, right? He even signed an IOU, but I still couldn't get my money back in the end.
How am I supposed to trust anyone else? Besides, IDs and papers can just be reported lost and replaced. What would I even have as collateral then?" Julian said, sounding helpless.
From the bathroom, I could hear Jessica and her dad almost arguing over my situation, and it made me feel awful. I wanted so badly to burst out and tell them to stop worrying about me, that I'd handle it myself. Even if I had no idea how.
But honestly, besides Julian, there was just no one else I could turn to for money.
After what felt like forever, Jessica suddenly said, "Haven't you been looking for someone?
"Emily's exactly what you're after. Just do it for me. Lend her enough to cover her mom's deposit, and we'll deal with the rest later!"
I was desperate to know what Jessica meant by "exactly what you're after."
But when she got to the most important part, her voice dropped so low I couldn't catch a word.
"Emily's gorgeous, she definitely fits.
"This is life or death, so quit wasting time and go find someone to borrow the money from. I'll call you once I've convinced Emily."
After Jessica said that, their conversation stopped, and then I heard the door close.
I was dying to know if she'd agreed, but I couldn't hear a thing!
It's like, the less you know, the more desperate you get to find out.
Once it hit me what Jessica and her dad were really discussing, my face went as red as a cooked tomato.
"Emily, are you okay?" Jessica knocked on the door after a while.
I took a deep breath, forced myself to calm down, and then opened the door and walked out.
Jessica came over, leaned in close to my ear, and whispered what I'd missed earlier.
As soon as I heard it, heat rushed through my whole body!
If anyone had ever said something like that to me before, I would've cut them off for good.
But now, I was out of options. If someone told me selling my kidney could save Susan, I'd do it without a second thought.
That was when it finally hit me. No one in this world does you a favor for free.
I kept telling myself that I wasn't doing anything really wrong. I was just trying to save Susan.
"Emily, please don't be upset. It's not that my dad doesn't want to help you," Jessica said, her face full of guilt and hesitation.
"You know we just finished building our house, and we still owe the bank a ton of money. If my dad tries to borrow more, he'd really be sticking his neck out for you. So you have to see where he's coming from," Jessica went on, trying to make me understand.