Chapter 13

 Two days had passed since I had submitted the online application. There was still no response from them and it kept me on my toes. Had I been rejected or accepted? My mother's deadline was slowly approaching. We had nowhere to go, and Mr Greg had blunty refused to pay me. I walked up to my mother's bed and gently caressed her hair. Hot tears welled up in my eyes again. I sniffed them back. I couldn't let Valerie see me this way, she stood at the opposite side of our mom's bed.   "The nurses refused to clean her, so I did." I heard the feeble cracking tone of her voice, she had tears hidden within her too. "They refused?" I turned to her. "Said they had better things to do. We don't pay them money. It's alright, I'll happily clean her for as long as I have to. We don't need them."Valerie's eyes sparkled as she spoke. She looked just like my mother, the excitement and optimism in her soul, it could brighten any room. It worked. She was able to make me smile. "Hey." I called out. She