Chapter 115: I Need To See My Mother

“Cancer?” The word echoed like a stone dropped into a deep well. My chest squeezed, my ears rang. This couldn’t be real. It didn’t sound real. It didn’t even sound like English. It was like Dean had spoken in another language, one my brain refused to translate despite being fluent in it. I felt as if I’d been dunked underwater. Everything slowed, muffled, blurred. His lips were moving, but all I could hear was that one word bouncing around my skull. Cancer. No. Not her. Not my mother. “She can’t—” My throat closed. I shook my head violently, as though shaking could undo his words. “No. You’re wrong. That’s not—” Dean’s eyes dropped. The heaviness in his face was worse than his words. “Unfortunately, yes.” His voice cracked with something I didn’t want to name. “When the news about Chloe’s abandoned car came out, she collapsed. They rushed her to the hospital. That’s when they found out. Leukaemia.” Leukaemia. The sound of it made me nauseous. My stomach knotted until I thought I’d be s