Lucy hastily stepped out of the cab after paying the fare and rushed inside the hospital.
With her face filled with panic, she ran to the reception and asked, "T-THere..must be a patient...he..he had an accident..."
The receptionist lifted her eyes and asked, "Are you Mr. Adam Warner's family member?"
"Y-yes! That's me! Y-You called me from here. Where is he right now!? Where can I see him?" Lucy's voice broke in the end and her eyes were filled with horror.
The receptionist guided her to take the route, "Go straight and take a left from the corridor. There will be doctors checking the patient."
Nodding her head, Lucy ran in the direction described. With the constant fear hanging around her neck, she didn't know how to react.
Her urge to see her brother at this point doubled and making her way seemed to take thousands of time.
When she reached the room, she saw the doctor coming out from the room after inspection, "D-Doctor..please wait! T-that..patient.." She was already out of breath and the doctor motioned her to be composed, "Patient had a serious accident. His car turned into ashes and since his legs were stuck, there are chances that he might not be able to walk for some time. But there is a head injury and we will need to remove that blood clot that had suddenly developed."
"Blood clotting?" Lucy's mind ran in a different direction.
Subconsciously, she took the support of the nearby wall to not faint from shock. "Surgery....will he be fine afterward? H-His life.."
"Miss there is no guarantee but the blood clotting is still at a very sensitive area. I will advise you to please complete all the procedures and payments so that we can go for it within the next twenty-four hours." Saying this, the doctor took his leave, leaving Lucy to her end.
For a few minutes, she had to take a deep breath to find herself absorbing all the words. Then her eyes traced to look inside the small room where her brother lay.
His head was covered with bandages and there were tubes coming in and out from his body. 'What has suddenly happened, Adam..why...'
Her memory drifted to morning. They were laughing, having their breakfast together before both of them left for work.
Why did their lives take such a drastic change?
Wiping the tears from her cheeks, Lucy held her handbag tightly and walked to the reception again for the fulfillment of the procedures required.
However, while filling up the forms and making payments, Lucy realized that the amount was huge. "Umm...is there any possibility for any concession, Miss?"
Lucy's eyes hoped for some scope of negotiation but the receptionist gave her a shake. "This is one of the best hospitals, Miss. I'm sorry we can't help you with this." Accepting the truth, she calculated the amount and it was shrinking her bank account entirely.
But everything was acceptable to her. She was done with the procedures and now was sitting on the benches, holding both of her hands together in the near mouth.
It was hard to grasp the situation right now to know that there will be big surgery for her brother tomorrow...
But if life wasn't fair on her part, she heard the siren coming from her brother's room. Immediately, Lucy snapped her head to look for doctors and saw that the nurses had rushed inside the room while she wasn't allowed to enter.
As much panic drowned in her bloodstream, Lucy continued to pray for Adam's well-being. Yet to her dismay, nothing came out as positive after one more consultation with the doctor.
"Miss....your brother's condition isn't getting any better. That clot has caused some more changes and I think...this will be a bigger operation than we thought."
"H-How....you checked him before!" Lucy questioned in surprise but doctors gave her a vague answer, "We are trying our best, Lady. But the condition of the human body isn't upon us. Please make payments accordingly and we will start it as soon as deposits are made."
Yet Lucy didn't lose hope. She walked to reception again and then she saw the changed staff.
As if realizing, her eyes traced to look at the watch to know the time and it was already evening now with darkness slowly covering the sky.
"Um...I want to know about the cost...that operation for a patient in room number 0610." Lucy asked softly with her exhaustive tone and the lady went through her computers before pointing out, "Lady, the amount you have paid only covers twenty percent. It will cost you around five hundred dollars. You have made a deposit of ninety thousand dollars. So please..."
Hearing this, Lucy gasped. Her eyes widened, not accepting that such a huge amount can be given to such an operation. "B-but...this...is too much!'' The receptionist gave Lucy an apologetic look and Lucy knew she was done for today.
There was no way her pocket continued this amount! She had started working for a year but...paying rent and everything never allowed her to save much.
Even the payment earlier was done through the joint account where Adam used to save....how is she supposed to bring this amount?
Lucy walked out from the hospital entrance. Her heart was pounding in her chest when she took a deep breath and brought her phone out to dial the number of friends.
"Lisa! Lisa...I need your help. C-can you please lend me four thousand dollars? Please...Adam.."
"Wait..Lucy, what happened?" Lisa asks again and Lucy narrated the tale to her friend, who only sighed. "I'm sorry..Lucy. I can give you twenty thousand but...that's a huge amount...."
"I'm sorry Lucy...I don't have this amount. I can lend you around fifty thousand dollars if that's possible...?"
"That's huge, Lucy. Um... I can give you thirty thousand..."
Various calls and Lucy was on the edge of giving up. Despite dialing everyone, she knew that she won't be able to count up to the amount needed to her.
Lost in her world of thoughts, Lucy was talking on the streets with a free mind. As much as she wanted to forget this situation, the need to arrange the money for the operation was never leaving her spine.
At last, she had to take shelter under a tree. She was exhausted from the events of the day, and her brain was acting purely without mental peace.
A sigh escaped her lips when she lifted her head to stare at the sky. It was already dark and the stars rested in that dark web.
But there were still sounds covering those shiny parts...
"H-How...am I supposed to know now...." She was unsure about her next plan of action.
Lucy closed her eyes and brought her legs near her chest. Keeping her head in the middle of the folds, she couldn't help but remember all the memories of the past.
The pain of losing her loved ones was dwelling in her head now. Was she going to lose her brother as well...who is her only family left in this world?
While Lucy was undergoing a variety of sentiments, unknown to her someone was seeing her from the far corner in the black car.
The man dialed a number on his phone to report to the person and told him. "Sir...she's alone. What shall we do now?"