Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Sins of the Mother ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )
FAKE and its characters are the property of Sanami Matoh and Tokyopop. This is written for entertainment purposes only and no profit is made.
Sins of the Mother
Prologue
By: Alaskan Blue
"Oh God!" the young woman dressed in the Chanel suit and clutching the Prada handbag to her chest leaned forward and tried to hold the tears back.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Stephenson, I truly am, but it's not time to give up hope yet, we've got a good six months of time left, I'm confident we'll find a match." Dr. Klein rested a reassuring hand on the young woman's shoulder.
"Please," said the elegant matron, who sat on the other side of the younger woman and was dressed in similar designer apparel, "let me have a moment with my daughter."
"Of course, Mrs. Enwright, take all the time you need. I'll be just outside." the elderly man with a neatly trimmed beard and garbed in a sterile white lab coat stood and left the two women alone in his well appointed office at Johns Hopkins, closing the door softly behind him.
The moment she heard the click of the latch sliding into place the younger woman broke down, tears streaming down her face and she sobbed, "My baby! Oh Mom, my baby!"
"Shhh.. Shhh… Don't worry, Ellie, everything will be alright." her mother cooed the pet name she hadn't called her daughter in years, put her arms around her and stroked her back as she had done so many times during Eleanor's childhood.
"No it's not! My baby's going to die! Oh, Mom, what am I going to do without her?" she was caught up in a great round of hiccupping sobs that rendered her incapable of speech.
Mrs. Enwright just held her tighter and murmured to her softly until her daughter had nearly exhausted herself, "Let it out here, Eleanor. Just get it all out now so you don't have to later."
It took Eleanor fifteen minutes to get her tears and her breathing back under control and she continued to sniffle as her mother dabbed at her eyes with a tissue from the gilded box that set on Dr. Klein's desk.
"Six months." Eleanor murmured helplessly looking at the golfing calendar that hung on the wall opposite the desk, "that's not enough time and we both know it."
"Stop worrying." Her mother said firmly and smoothed some of her daughters sandy blonde hair back into the french twist that had been so graceful just a couple of hours ago when they had left Elizabeth Arden.
"Why do you keep saying that?" Eleanor looked at her mother as though the older woman had gone crazy, "I can't stop worrying! We've only got six months to find a person who's a match!"
Seeing that her daughter was on the verge of another breakdown the older woman grabbed Eleanor by the shoulders and shook her roughly, "Stop it!"
"That's just it Mom! I can't stop it! Jesus, she's already building a resistance to the transfusions and the chances of finding someone are virtually nil!"
Eleanor took several deep breaths and blinked multiple times, trying hard to find a way to stave off the hysterics, as it so happened, her mother had just the answer.
"Eleanor." the elder lady said gravely.
Something in her mother's voice struck something deep in her and she looked up warily, "What?"
Mrs. Enwright clenched and unclenched her expertly manicured hands and crossed her arms over her chest as though hugging herself and walked over to the large window with its beautiful view of the hospital grounds and Baltimore.
Eleanor frowned and tried another approach, "Is something wrong?"
Her mother sighed again and said quietly, "We've found a match."
Eleanor looked at her mother dumbstruck, "But- But none of the family is, and we haven't searched the national banks yet!"
"I know."
"What? Did a lab technician mislabel a test tube or something?" Eleanor puzzled.
"No."
"If you've found one, then why didn't Dr. Klein say something?"
"Because Dr. Klein doesn't know about him." said Eleanor's mother in that same deadly quiet voice.
"Mom," Eleanor whispered fear creeping into her heart, not liking the mysterious attitude her mother was exhibiting, "what's going on? How did you find a match without the doctor?"
Her mother turned from the window and walked to where her daughter stood, "Sit down."
Eleanor did as she was told and nervously clutched her hands together in her lap. Her mother leaned against the heavy mahogany desk and curled her hands around the protruding edge as though clinging to a lifeline, staring at the floor.
"I'm going to tell you a secret I've carried for almost thirty years. There isn't a day in my life I haven't thought about it and hated myself for it and after I've told you, I wouldn't fault you if you hated me too-"
"Mom what are you-" Eleanor began but quieted when, without looking up, her mother held up her hand in a silent request for her daughter to be silent.
"As I said, you might feel differently about me when you know this, but I need you to put it aside and concentrate on saving your daughters life." she raised her head and fixed her icy blue eyes on her daughters, "are you ready?"
"I don't know." Eleanor nodded biting her lip, sure she didn't want to hear what her mother was about to say, but at the look the older woman gave her, she nodded her head slowly.
Her mother looked at her critically and asked, "Do you remember that holiday season when you were seven and you and your brother got lost in the galleria?"
Eleanor frowned for a moment trying to recall memories that had been buried for twenty years and nodded perplexed when she finally did. Ms. Enwright took a deep shuddering breath and began to tell her story.
Thirty five minutes later Eleanor's face was completely drained of blood and she stared at her mother in abject horror.