"Dear Ms. Vale,
Due to the worsening condition of Ms. Selene Vale, immediate payment is required for continued treatment..."
Mia stared at the message glowing on her cracked phone screen. Below it sat the number that had haunted her for months.
2,000,000 Ras.
For a moment, the world around her disappeared. The noise from the roadside bar, the passing cars, the late-night laughter spilling from the restaurant behind her, everything faded.
Her bicycle stood beside her, its back tire still slowly spinning from the delivery she had just completed. Her fingers cramped around the bicycle handles as she flexed them one by one. Sweat had soaked through the back of her shirt hours ago, leaving the fabric stuck to her skin. Every push of her feet against the pedals sent a dull ache shooting up her legs.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Not when the pack hospital had just reminded her that she was five days away from losing her mother.
Mia lowered the phone and looked up.
West Argen was still awake. Neon lights spilled across the streets. Music floated down from rooftop bars. Expensive cars rolled past buildings so tall they blocked half the sky.
The city is beautiful, just not to people like her.
A few seconds ago, she had actually been happy.
Her last delivery had gone smoothly. One customer had even tipped her two hundred Ras. She had been thinking about going home, taking a shower, and sleeping for more than four hours for the first time this week.
Then the message came.
She inhaled slowly, slid the phone back into her pocket, and gripped the bicycle handle. The smile she forced onto her face felt painful, like she was trying to hold together something that had already started breaking.
"Five days," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I still have five days..."
As she sped through the streets, her phone buzzed again. She ignored it at first, but the notification kept bothering her until she skidded to a halt under a streetlamp, fumbling with her phone. It was an email this time. She opened it, her eyes scanning the words in disbelief.
"West Argen University?" Her breath hitched.
Her fingers tightened around the phone before reading the remaining message.
"Congratulations! Norvayne-High University has accepted you through a late admissions process."
Mia's eyes grew wider as she read the words. She had applied months ago, never expecting to be accepted. She felt a glimmer of hope for a brief moment, but it was quickly dashed as she continued to read.
"Please keep in mind that you must pay your acceptance fee (9,000 Ras) within 72 hours or this offer will be withdrawn."
Her fingers went slack, and the phone slipped slightly in her hand. The hope inside her died so quickly it almost made her laugh.
"Money, again?" she yelled as she pressed her palms against her face, swallowing hard to keep the tears from coming. No matter where she turned, it all came back to that.
The words hit her harder than the hospital bill had. She had wanted to attend university for years, but it now felt like a cruel joke. The acceptance fee was more money than she could make in three months with her delivery work, and there was no way she could afford a plane ticket on top of that.
She could already see it happening. The hospital bed gone. The university offer withdrawn. Her mother slipping away while she stood there with nothing to give.
The road to the pack's hospital cut across the richer part of West Argen. Luxury apartment towers rose into the sky like silver.
She passed a woman in heels who smiled at her, along with men in suits stepping out of an eatery where one meal probably cost more than Mia could make in a week.
By the time she arrived at the hospital, she was exhausted, not only from the ride but also from the weight of everything pressing down on her. She locked her bike outside and rushed inside, the fluorescent lights making the sterile white walls seem too bright, too harsh, just like the world to her.
Mia didn't stop at the front desk. She knew the way by heart. Room 204. As she pushed open the door and entered, the smell of antiseptic permeated the space.
Her mother, Selene, lay on the bed, frail and motionless. The heart monitor beeped steadily, but the rise and fall of her chest was barely there. Mia swallowed hard and sat down next to the bed, taking her mother's cold hand in hers.
"Hey, Mom," she said softly, her voice cracking. "I am here."
She didn't stir. Didn't open her eyes. A sharp ache twisted in Mia's chest.
She gripped her hand tighter, swallowing the lump in her throat. "You can't leave me, okay? You're all I have left."
There was no response. Just the steady beep of the heart monitor and the sound of her own breathing.
"I can't do this all by myself," she added as tears slid down her cheeks.
The room felt too quiet. The steady beeping of the monitor was the only sound in the room, and Mia found herself gripping her mother's hand tighter, as if that alone could keep her tethered to this world.
A soft knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts. The pack's doctor entered with a somber expression.
"Mia?" he said softly. "I wish I had better news."
Mia didn't say anything. She couldn't. She just nodded.
"The treatment..." The doctor paused, obviously searching for the right words. "It is expensive, and even with it, her chances are slim. We're looking at a 20% survival rate."
"Please," Mia pleaded, her voice breaking. "All that matters is that she lives. I am going to find the money. I promise."
The doctor sighed, his expression softening. "We can only give you a little more time, but after that..."
"I will get it," she promised. "Just don't give up on her."
He nodded slowly, though there was a sadness in his eyes that told her he didn't believe she could do it. "I'll give you as much time as I can, but I hope you're aware that there won't be any further treatment until you pay the hospital bills," he mumbled as he turned and left.
"A goddamn miracle is what I really need right now. Who's going to help me?" she sobbed.
She lingered with her mother for a few more minutes before finally forcing herself to leave. The walk back to her bike felt heavier, each step burdened by the crushing reality of what she had to face.
By the time she left the hospital, it was almost 10pm.
The lower district of West Argen was totally different from the rest of the city. The roads were cracked, old apartment buildings leaned too close together. Neon signs buzzed above corner stores, and laundry hung from rusted balconies.
People here survived one day at a time.
Mia rode slowly down her street, past the old laundromat and beside the convenience store where she sometimes bought instant noodles when she had extra money.
Her apartment building sat near the end of the block, probably the most well-built on the whole street. The only real property her mom had left.
Mia got off the bicycle.
Then she froze.
A bright red notice had been pasted across the front door.
MORTGAGE DUE, FINAL WARNING!
All the loans were overdue, and her home, the house her parents had left in her care, was about to be taken.
Mia's legs gave out, and she slumped against the door, her face buried in her hands. First the hospital bill. Then the university fee. Now even the house was slipping out of her hands.
"Why am I always unlucky? What have I done to deserve all this? Life never gets better, not even once."
Tears finally spilled over, hot and bitter. She wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling herself into the smallest ball she could manage. Maybe if she made herself small enough, the universe would stop kicking her.