Rosemary spoke up after a prolonged silence which seemed like a thousand edges to Doctor Sandy. Mwanza's brows furrowed, he didn't know where his wife was going with this. He was still stuck on the idea of how he was going to pay up that enormous sum.
'Okay, let's go ahead with the treatment.'
Rosemary blurted out involuntarily without consulting her husband.
As much as Mwanza Graziano wanted to inquire more about Rosemary's plan on how they were going to get the money, he could not do that in front of doctor Sandy because he cared so much about his self-worth and ego. He was the head of the family and his job was to fend for the family and provide ideas on how they would solve the problem at hand, so questioning his wife about how they would get the money in front of the doctor was really a pain to his narcissistic nature.
'Great, I will go right away to prepare the gaming device.' Doctor Sandy confirmed firmly, interrupting Mwanza Graziano's thoughts and left the ward.
'Honey?'
Mwanza Graziano whispered into Rosemary's ears with a questioning look, his voice sounding troubled, paused momentarily waiting for the doctor's footsteps to fade away, before inquiring, 'How will we pay up a quarter of fifty thousand dollars?'
'I have a plan. Let's go to the restaurant where I work, my boss will be able to help me. I am sure of it.'
Rosemary grabbed her husband's hand and dragged him out of the ward before he could process the news he had just received.
When Cynthia Graziano was left all alone in the ward she felt bad but could not understand why she felt that way. Mixed emotions walled up inside her, and she felt like crying because she did not know who she was, where she was or who those people that were concerned about her were. She sobbed, tears slowly dropped on her cute ears, she felt pity for those two people who walked out of the ward to go find money to pay for her hospital bills. Cynthia wanted to find answers, but she didn't know where to start from or what questions she could ask. She felt pathetic, miserable, for she could not remember or connect anything with her past. She was just existing at that moment.
Half an hour later, Doctor Sandy walked into the ward with a group of nurses holding the virtual reality gaming device and looked very optimistic and excited.
'Wow! Let's look at who we have here, Cynthia are you awake?'
Doctor Sandy phrased an enthusiastic question, just to create a connection with Cynthia Graziano and steal her into his prearranged program of the virtual reality game.
So my name is Cynthia? She just grasped her name for the first time.
'My name is Doctor Charles Sandy, I am here at your service, miss Cynthia Graziano.'
Doctor Sandy introduced himself, and also kept incorporating Cynthia's name in his dialog to help Cynthia register her name in her memory.
So he can see that I am awake? Cynthia thought sarcastically but did not respond by words, rather nodded her head, indicating yes.
'Great! How are you feeling my dear?'
Doctor Sandy probed while he moved closer to sit on Cynthia's bed, signaling one of the nurses to help Cynthia sit upright.
'My head aches a little, and I can't remember anything. What happened to me?'
Cynthia replied after the nurse helped her sit upright.
'Thank you.'
She said to the nurse after she was comfortable and safe.
'You had an accident, but don't worry, your memories will be back in time. Be a little patient and don't beat yourself up.' Doctor Sandy explained gently with a broad smile on his face.
Doctor Sandy held Cynthia's left hand and continued, 'Do you love playing games?'
For a child like Cynthia's age, playing games was the most exciting thing to do, but for Cynthia at that moment, she looked lost, and she gave the doctor a weird look because she had no idea what playing a game was. To her, everything was strange and new. She had no memory of such a thing as a game.
After seeing the confusion on Cynthia's face, Doctor Sandy realized his mistake. It was obvious that he was talking to the newborn baby, so he had to do some programming first and that needed actions rather than talking. He carried on with his next phase of his plan, 'Oh sorry, let me show you what I mean.'
The nurse holding the gaming device hands over the virtual reality game to Doctor Sandy.
'Thanks Viviana,' Doctor Sandy expressed his gratitude to the nurse who had just handed him the gaming device with a feinted smile covering his curved lips.
'You are welcome, Doctor Sandy.' Viviana giggled shyly, her cute dimples clearly flashing out, she was fond of Doctor Sandy.
'Here we go, look Cynthia, this thing I have in my hands is a virtual reality game. With it, you can live anywhere, you can wonder in your imaginative world where everything happens the way you want. It's fun, you can make friends, do missions, become anything you desire. Would you like to try it? I promise you it's cool, you can actually even make real money if that's what you want? My daughter Selena has one, and she manages to buy toys?' Doctor Sandy paused to see if Cynthia was following and listening. He carried on, 'Would you like to try it?'
Doctor Sandy dressed himself with a persuading facial expression. He was at the cross road unaware if his persuasion had worked or not. He waited patiently to see what was going to be Cynthia's reaction.
Cynthia thought about it carefully, she was bored, tired, and had nothing else to do. Maybe if she found something to interact with, life was going to be exciting, and she wouldn't have to push her mind into remembering what she did not know.
'I guess--- so,' Cynthia answered, doubtfully, not showing any interest or excitement. She had overheard the whole conversation earlier on between the doctor and those two people who portrayed great concern about her. So she thought if she played the game, it would please them because that is what they were going to pay for. She hoped it would make a difference if the people who were talking about her were her own family. Her whole life was unpredictable, but she was determined to know who she was and what had happened to her.
'I know you heard everything I discussed with your parents. I saw you wake up earlier on, but you pretended to be asleep. Don't worry, your parents will do their magic. So cheer up, actually you may find this game a little comforting.'
Doctor Sandys put in extra efforts to convince Cynthia and change her mood. Cynthia's energy level had already kick-started with the pep talk Doctor Sandy had thrown out to her and her vibrant self was almost restored.
Interesting, those two people are my parents? What are parents? Cynthia thought, but she could not force out a word. She was going to find a way of knowing.
Cynthia nodded her head, and the doctor instructed the nurse to help Cynthia put on the virtual reality game.