Chapter 3

• “What happened Nora, please calm down and talk to me,”
• Nathan said as he increased his pace his heart beating so fast fearing for the worse, the last time he had gotten a call like this was five years ago, and he had to go pick up the remains of his dear mother. he still beat himself up every day for not knowing just how much his mom had been going through and he couldn’t let anything like that happen to his sisters.
• “Nora,” He urged when she didn’t say anything and just kept crying.
• “It’s Nell, she fainted in school and was brought to the hospital and we have been trying to reach you, why didn’t you pick up Nat?”
• She cried and Nathan felt guilt eating at him, while his little sister had been fighting for her life, he had been humiliating himself because of a woman, he felt so ashamed.
• “I am so sorry Nora, I had my phone in my pocket and didn’t know you called, where are you? Where is Nelly?’
• Nathan asked as he started walking faster, he had to take a bus or a cab now if he was going to get there as soon as possible, he looked around for a cab or something but the only vehicles passing were private ones and there was no bus coming at all.
• “I am at home, Mrs. Wails dropped me off at home because I had to change, I got my period, Nelly is still at the hospital and she is not waking up,”
• His sister informed him, and he felt his heart sink in pain, Nora always has the worst cramps, and the fact that she had to deal with Nell being sick with that while not being able to reach him made him sick, he should have checked his phone but he had been too absolved in the pains that Annie caused him to think of anything else, he just made his sisters panic because of that and he didn’t think he would ever forgive himself or Annie if anything happens to his sisters.
• “What hospital did they take her to? You stay home and I will go see her, make sure to take some painkillers and get a hot bath,”
• Nathan said as he finally saw a cab heading his way, he waved it down and ran in even before Nora told him the hospital Nelly was in.
• “She is at the hospital close to the city mall, she was taken there when the school nurse couldn’t handle her,”
• She revealed, great even with a cab, it would take him fifteen minutes or more to get there, he told the driver to step on it.
• “Nora, please get some rest, okay, I am sorry I didn’t pick up earlier, I am going to Nell now, please stop crying,’
• He pleaded with his sister who was still crying so hard over the phone, he couldn’t blame her though, he knew just how terrible her cramps get and with everything that happened and him not answering the call, it must have made things even harder for her.
• ‘’I can’t rest Nat, I am so scared, I don’t want Nell to die,”
• She cried,”
• “Nora, she is not going to die okay, please, stop crying I beg you,”
• He said and she finally stopped sobbing so hard.
• “Good girl, now go lay on your bed and I will come home when I have seen Nelly,”
• He said and ended the call, now he had to face another sad reality of what Nelly being at the hospital can mean, they didn’t have health insurance which means he had to pay for her treatment, he hoped to god that it wasn’t anything serious because he didn’t have any money to pay, the only money with him won’t even cover anything.
• “God, why,”
• He let out as frustrated tears gather in his eyes, he actually thought his life couldn’t get any worse and the universe decided to prove him wrong in the most cruel way, lost a woman he thought was his forever, lost his job and now his sister was in the hospital, how worse can it get from here though? How much low can the universe sink to make his life hell?
• Nelly wasn’t an unhealthy child, heck she never fall sick and this morning before she left for school, she told him she had a headache and pain in her abdomen, he had given her painkillers and told her she could skip school for today but she had insisted on going because her team had a basketball game, what could have happened that she had ended up in the hospital? He just hoped it isn’t something serious.
• Nathan got out of the cab as soon as he arrived at the hospital, paid the driver, and ran all the way to the hospital reception.
• “Hello, please where can I find a twelve years old girl who was brought in this afternoon by her teacher? Her name is Nelly Montgomery,”
• He asked the nurse at the reception who looked at him weirdly.
• “Visiting time is over sir, you have to come back tomorrow,”
• She said.
• “Wait, what? I need to see my sister, she was brought here this afternoon, and I haven’t even seen her yet to know if she is admitted as an inpatient, what visiting are you talking about? I need to see my sister,”
• Nathan yelled at the nurse. She finally looked up at him properly.
• “What did you say her name is again?”
• She asked and Nathan nearly lost his cool, she hadn’t been listening the first time, the kind of people that they employ at the hospital.
• “I said her name is Nelly, Montgomery, she was brought here this afternoon after she collapsed in school,”
• He informed impatiently while looking around.
• “Oh, she is in the ICU, just walk straight and then turn left, you will see a doctor at the entrance, speak to him, he takes care of patients in there.”
• She informed and he ran in the direction the nurse had pointed out, he saw the doctor who just came out of a room he suspected to be the ICU, and he ran towards him.
• “Doctor, I, 'm sorry, my sister was brought here,”
• Nathan said breathing heavenly.
• “Nelly?”
• The doctor asked and he nodded.
• “We have been waiting for you all afternoon ever since her teacher brought her I, she s over there,”
• The doctor pointed and he looked up to see his sister, she was laying down in the hospital bed, an oxygen mask over her little face, she looked so pale and helpless, it broke his heart.
• “I was at work and my phone didn’t ring out, what is wrong with her doc?”
• Nathan asked looking from Nelly to the doctor who checked the note he had in his hand.
• “Well, her appendix is swollen and infected, she must have been bearing the pain for quick some time because, it looks really swollen and might rupture at any moment, which is what is causing her pain and the excessiveness of the pain is what caused her to collapse.
• The doctor explained, it all became so clear to Nathan, those times he had seen her hold her tummy, she must have been in pain but each time he asked her, she would tell him she was okay and that it was just a habit, his sister has been dying in silence, he should have known but he never thought about the possibility of her being sick because she never showed it until this morning.
• “What needs to be done for her to be okay?’
• He asked the doctor.
• “She needs to get it out as soon as possible, in essence, I am saying she needs surgery, we would have done it seeing they brought her in if you have showed up when they called,”
• The doctor explained and Nathan wondered why his not showing up would make them not treat her, if it required a signature, surely Mrs. Wails could have signed in his stead, she was considered a caregiver and guardian too seeing that she is Nelly’s teacher.
• “Why didn’t you treat her though,”
• He asked and the doctor chuckled which annoyed him, he didn’t ask any funny questions.
• “Mr. Montgomery, you have no health insurance which is the first thing we checked after the scan, the surgery requires about fifty thousand dollars and we weren’t certain you would have the money ready if we operate on her so we had to wait until you come, now that you are here, if you can go pay, we can operate on her,”
• The doctor explained. Nathan stood there in silence, he didn’t know what to say, fifty thousand dollars was money he has never seen in his whole life at once, where would he get that kind of money from? All he had on him both here and in his bank didn’t even add up to ten thousand.
• “Doc, I don’t have that kind of money right now but if you wi***”
• “We can’t do anything until you have the money, I am sorry Mr. Montgomery but we aren’t covered enough to carry out a surgery without a deposit,”
• The doctor responded cutting him off. There had to be a way the doctor can help him while he go around looking for the money.
• “You have to help me doc, there has to be a way you can help me, I will pay for sure,”
• He let out.
• “We have already done the basis but going from here, you have to pay first and I will advise you to find the money first, she is in a lot of pain even though we have given her painkillers, it won't her case because her pains are above what the painkillers can handle,”
• The doctor said.
• “That’s why you have to help me
• He cried.
• “Doctor, please don’t let my sister die, I promise, I will find the money and bring it to you before the end of the week
• Nathan pleaded with the doctor who seemed to not want to hear his sobering story, it was like he was talking to a brick wall as the doctor remained unmoved by his pleas.
• “We can only keep her here for tonight and that’s because the person that brought her here already deposited enough to cover the bills for tonight, if you don’t get the complete money in twenty-four hours, we will have no choice but to let her go and that’s not good for her, the appendix is already swollen as I already mentioned and it might burst at any time, and that might lead to her passing, you neither have insurance or the means to pay for surgery right now so I would advise you go look for the money because there is nothing else we can do for you,”
• The doctor stated and walked away leaving him standing there, he turned to where his sister lay and watched his baby sister from outside there with tears in his eyes, Nelly was already struggling and she was still at the hospital, what would happen if they take her home? He didn’t want to lose her too, he wiped his tears and prayed for some kind of miracle, where could he go to get the money? It was already so late, nevertheless, he left the hospital and walked towards their house, the distance wasn’t so far anyway, he thought of calling Mrs. Wails and asking for a financial assistant but the woman has done enough for them already, she was just a teacher and she had three kids and a diabetic husband to fend for, he couldn’t keep asking her for money.
• Nathan also thought of calling Annie and asking her to help him with money since he knew she would definitely have but decided not to, she would not give him the money and he just knew it, he couldn’t embarrass himself in front of her anymore. No one else came to mind and all Nathan could wish for was some kind of miracle to happen.
• “Hey, debtor,”
• Nathan heard a familiar voice call and his heart sank, right more trouble for him, this day just got even worse, of all the days Trent chose to show up today, the universe was definitely against him and they were showing no mercy…