SKIN DEEP
zero | prologue

The young girl in the hospital bed heard the conversation that her parents were having with the doctor. They were all congregating in her hospital room, but they believed that she was asleep for they had given her a weak tranquilizer fit for a girl of her size, so that she could finally sleep. However, her body seemed to have no trouble fighting it off.

The doctor whispered to her parents, "There's both good news and bad news." Her parents nodded, encouraging him to go on. "The good news is that she's going to be okay." Her parents let out a sigh of relief until the next words left the doctor's mouth. "But, she won't be okay for long."

That's when her mom whispered, "What do you mean?" 

The doctor sighed. He hated to give out bad news, especially about a child of Imogen's age. "She doesn't have long to live. She most likely won't reach the age of twenty." He had to be blunt with them, otherwise they'll ask about other possibilities, or if they've made a mistake, ones which won't help the child.

Her mother - Evelyn King - broke down. Tears pouring down her puffy red face, and her breathing ceasing, causing deep sounds to escape her nose which sounded as though it was blocked. Her husband held onto his wife tightly, preventing her from falling to the ground and questioned with a shaky voice, "There's nothing we can do?"

The doctor shook his head, "I am sorry, but at this stage, there is little we can do."

Evelyn breathed out through her heartbreaking tears, "What is the little you can do?"

The doctor sighed, knowing that if they were to do what they could offer, it would do little to help the girl with stage four thyroid cancer. "We can offer chemotherapy. But we believe that it will do little and just place more stress on her body."

Thomas looked to his heartbroken wife in his arms, and then to his alleged sleeping daughter. He had to make the decision. Either push his daughter through chemo that may kill her before it works, or let his daughter have a peaceful few more years of life. Of course he chose the option which would be better for his child, and not the option which selfish parents would choose to try and latch onto their children. "I - we - can't put her through chemotherapy. It's not what's best for her."

The doctor nodded and left the room, deciding on letting the parents spend time together and decide what to do with their daughter. 

After Evelyn calmed down - albeit it was only slightly - she turned to her husband who had silent tears rushing down his face. "There is another option."

He husband looked at her in confusion, then towards his child on the bed before it dawned on him what his wife was saying. He shook his head and looked into the blood-shot honey brown eyes of his wife, "Evie, no."

"Why not, Tom?" She sounded angry but tired, her emotions mounting on her, killing her inside. Imogen was their miracle child, and she was not giving up on her easily.

He ran a hand down his face. He knew that his wife could have reckless thoughts at times, but this one was too much, "She's too young."

Evelyn looked over to her child laying peacefully on the bed, tubes plugged into her. "How about when she's a little older?"

Thomas sighed, not wanting to go along with his wife. But, if he agreed, it would give him a few years to work out how to convince his wife out of her mind-set and let their daughter have the most peaceful and painless death they could offer her. 

What Thomas didn't expect was for, in those few years, his wife to convince him instead.