MY ART IS LOVING YOU

MELITHES KERLS HOSPITAL

GABRIEL

The sun was shining brightly, its rays directly hitting my face. Today is going to be a long day. After my conversation with Sebastian last night, where we discussed the details of the structure at Melithes Kerls Hospital, we decided to go today to oversee some areas. I am not very enthused about it, but I had promised my sister that I would go. Since Sebastian knows more about the project than I do and has met the doctors, their directors, etc. I asked him to accompany me and guide me.

“You don’t have to leave now, do you?” asked the redhead laying down beside me. I can’t remember her name. I met her last night at a business meeting with some Spaniards. We sealed the deal, and let’s just say we decided to celebrate all night long.

“I have to go to work,” I replied. “I don’t like being late and you have a plane to catch.”

“It will be worth it, don’t you think?” she insisted.

“Well, we still have a couple of more minutes. Plus, what kind of host would I be if I let you go without a goodbye gift?” I answered.

An hour later, I found myself leaving the hotel, ready to face a long day. There is no better way to start the day with some good morning s*x. Suddenly, my phone rings.

“Good morning, Sebastian.” I greet.

“It’s not Sebastian, it is Sabrina. Where are you?” An unexpected voice on the other end.

“Well, isn’t this a pleasant surprise?” I reply sarcastically. “What every man likes to hear. His little sister calling first thing in the morning, nagging him.”

“I am just making sure you are going to the hospital today” Sabrina says, concerned.

“You keep telling me what to do,” I remark, slightly annoyed.

“Of course not, drama queen,” she retorts. “Besides, every man needs a woman to guide his way, including you. Your species is pretty basic.”

“A woman guiding my way is not something I see in my future. You complicate everything,” I shoot back.

She laughed and said, “Someday you’ll find yourself a woman and I’ll see you precisely doing that, and you’ll think of me.

“Changing the subject,” she continues. “Sebas is heading to the hospital. Gabriel?”

“I’m still here,” I reply.

“You need to go with an open mind,” she advises. “And remember that we are doing all this for the kids and helping the people who most need it. Don’t be too quick to judge.”

“Oh my. If you are saying that it is because you know I’m not going to like the place or some of the staff,” I stated firmly. “Heads up, if I don’t like something, I’ll let them know. My time and money are not to be spent on just anyone, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, grumpy,” she chuckles.” And it’s not the staff, sometimes the Directors or bosses, whatever you want to call them, are not precisely the nicest people. And you are not the most tolerant person either.”

Due to some previous engagements, the meeting was postponed until the afternoon. I am not sure if that was a good idea because as soon as we entered the Wedding neighborhood, everything suddenly turned gray. We are now in a dreadful area. There are kids that should be in school learning, but instead they were on the streets. Women selling stuff in all corners and old men sitting in small chairs in the middle of the plaza. I saw young women that were practically kids nursing babies with men that could easily be their dads. Most of the houses have deteriorated. I don’t know how they still stand. It was depressing.

I am aware that there are certain areas in the country where the less privileged people live, but I have never witnessed such a precarious place. The hunger and need these people have is devastating. I now understand why Sabrina wants to help here.

Wherever I look, I see groups of youngsters that seem somewhat dangerous. I feel they are going to rob me, kill me or kidnap me at any time. Luckily, I brought my bodyguards. Otherwise, I’d be lying in a dumpster face up with my mouth full of flies. Getting to the hospital “brightened up” the darkness that surrounded us.

“Lighten up dude, looks like you're walking into a twilight zone or heading towards hell,” Sebastian teases me.

“Stop teasing me, Sebastian,” I reply.” This place is horrible. How can they live like this? Did you see the girl around the corner?

She must have been fourteen years old, breastfeeding a baby instead of being in school. And their homes, God! They look like they are made of paper and poorly constructed. They could collapse while they are sleeping.”

Sebastian nods in understanding and says, “There are worse things than that. It's completely different to watch it on the news or hear it from someone than to see it with your own eyes. One starts to wonder, how can there be two completely different worlds in one place? Behind these streets, these houses, and each person, there is a story that makes you appreciate life and what you have. And every little bit of help can make a difference.”

“I’ve been through shady places before and even talked to a few people there, but never like this. How can they accept living like this?” I express my shock.

Sebastian questions, “Accept? They are used to living with whatever they can get. They have to fight for everything they have. Their needs are completely different than ours, Gabriel. They don’t accept to live like this, they simply have no other choice.”

“These are the moments where I wonder, where are the politicians who promise to make everything better for everyone? They make you believe everything is improving and then you have this.” I complain.

“Well, the next meeting you have with them, why don’t you bring this up?” he suggests. “You’ll go from being Gabriel Zigermann the GREAT, to someone they hate. Now, calm down and keep an open mind. It's time to walk into the castle,” he mockingly teases me.

“Very funny. I am not even inside yet and I’m already feeling sick,” I sarcastically respond.

“The place is not as bad as its surroundings, but it is not like the ones you are accustomed to. Please, when we go in to talk to the directors, control your bad temper and be patient, “ Sebastian demands.

Taking a deep breath, I step out of the car, while my bodyguards ensure it is safe for me to proceed. The hospital doesn’t seem too shabby. It is an eight- story building, painted in white and blue. It could use a little touch-up, but it is not so bad. There’s a gated entrance with two guards.

As we reach the reception, we go through all the entrance protocols, and I can see how intimidated they are by our bodyguards.

“Good morning,” Sebastian greets. “We have a meeting with Doctor Odell. He is expecting us.” Meanwhile I am observing everything around me.

“Who do I say is visiting?” the guard asks. “Let me check if he is here, because I haven’t seen him today,” he informs us.

“Tell him Mr. Duarte and Mr. Ziegermann are here,” replies Sebastian.

The guard makes a call on the radio and asks a few questions. We waited for about five minutes. Meanwhile, I saw different doctors, nurses and family members of patients coming in and out. Some of the doctors and nurses were quite attractive. Some of them arrived in very fancy cars while others use public transportation such as buses, subways, and trains. I wonder how someone can walk more than one block without worrying about the dangers in this neighborhood. Across the street, there are a couple of youngsters that give me a bad feeling. They could potentially harm, rob someone or God knows what. I overheard them say nasty things to those ladies. How could their husbands or boyfriends allow them to risk themselves like that?

“Gabriel? ……. Gabriel!” Sebastian yells, snapping out of my thoughts.

“What, what’s wrong?” I ask confused.

“I ask you the same thing. Your head is in the clouds. Come on, they are waiting for us,” Sebastian responds, urging me to go in.

“I can’t believe Sabrina has been here, and you allowed her. Did you see those guys out there? They could hurt her,” I scold him.

“Your sister doesn’t take orders from anyone, and the two times she’s been here, she always brings bodyguards. Now change that bitter face and give me your best smile because we are going in to talk to the Directors,” Sebastian reassures me.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am Darla, the Director’s assistant. Please excuse us. The Doctor just finished a meeting, and he is on his way. Please, take a seat. I’ll get you some coffee, or something else if you’d like.”

This lady is very nice and attractive, but there is no way I am drinking something from this place, I think to myself.

“No thanks. Do you happen to know at what time the Director, or Doctor will arrive? The meeting was supposed to be at this hour,” I mention in a serious tone, causing Darla to gulp nervously.

“Yes, sir. There was a problem with a patient at his other workplace, but he is on his way,” she informs us. Oh God.

“May we go ahead and look at the facilities or could you ask another one of your bosses to come?” Sebastian politely asks.

“Yes Sir. I’ll try and reach any of the other two directors that are here,” Darla responds.

“Thank you, that’s very nice of you,” Sebastian expresses his gratitude.

If there is anything I hate other than lying and betrayal is unpunctuality. After half an hour of constantly refusing coffee and watching the irresponsible Director’s assistant try to grab my attention, one of the other bosses, directors or whatever finally shows up.

“Good afternoon. I’m sorry we kept you waiting. I had an emergency to attend to. I am Dr. Jose Fermin. Hospital sub director and surgeon,” he introduces himself and then greets Sebastian. “Mr. Duarte, how are you?”

He stretches out his hand towards us, and in that moment, I am torn between shaking it or punching him, or insulting him. I went for the decent option and decided to greet him.

“It’s a pleasure. Ziegermann. Mr. Duarte and I are waiting for Dr. Odell. We agreed to meet half an hour ago to check out the progress we’ve made on the project, and he is still not here,” I express my frustration.

“He is on his way. He just had an inconvenience, but he said he is nearby. Would you like anything to drink? “ The doctor replies.

My temper is getting shorter, and I am about to explode.

“No, thanks. I am not here for friendly visits, Doctor. I came to see what you have done with the money we have invested, right now,” I respond with my tone less than friendly.

“Please Sir, don’t be angry but you must understand that we are doctors and sometimes emergencies occur that need immediate attention. However, I am here even though I have patients to attend to,” the doctor tries to explain.

” Are you telling me that you are wasting your time here to come and talk to me? And I should thank you for it?” I take a deep breath, trying to control my anger. “But somehow, I can waste my time because I am not a doctor? I am a very busy man. I made time to come to this place and the only thing I ask is for you to respect it.”

“Gabriel, calm down." Sebastian interjects, trying to diffuse the tension. “At least he is already here and now he can show us around so we can check out the areas under construction. Can you take us?” Sebastian asks the doctor.

Suddenly, a tall and arrogant man in a fine suit walked in talking on his phone very calmly. He sees us, hangs up and throws a fake smile at us.

“Please excuse me. The meeting was delayed. I am Doctor Odell. You must be Mr. Ziegermann. How are you, Mr. Duarte?” Dr. Odelle greets us.

Finally, the guy decides to show up without a care, as if my time wasn’t important. Wasn’t he supposed to be at an emergency with a patient? Thankfully, Sebastian interrupted us before I went off like The Hulk.

“Mr. Odell, this is my brother-in-law, Mr. Gabriel Ziegermann. We are here to see the progress made on the areas that are being renovated and check out all the equipment we sent you,” Sebastian introduces me.

“Pleased to meet you. Of course, we can go. Where would you like to start?” asks Dr. Odell, stretching out his hand to me and I shake it out of politeness.

“I was told you had an emergency with a patient and now you tell me you were at a meeting. Which one was it?” I interrupt them, and Sebastian widens his eyes as a warning. “I don’t like to be lied to, Dr. Odell. Especially by people who I am helping out by improving their workplace.”

My comment catches Dr. Odell by surprise. The man stood there stiff, unsure of what to say, but I believe it’s best to address things directly. God, I’ve only been here a few hours and already I have a bad opinion of this place.

“I am truly sorry about that, Mr. Gabriel. I was at a meeting, and it got delayed. I don’t know who told you about the patient. I totally agree with you, honesty is the most important thing,” he excuses himself.

“I don’t like to waste my time, Mr. Odell, and I think I’ve already lost plenty. So, let's get started. I’d like to see the Premature Babies Area first and then we can check out the rest,” I assert.

I choose to start there first since it is the biggest area. Sabrina wants to rebuild the area where the babies are born because she thought it was too small. She also wanted to donate incubators and other equipment like chairs and beds for the babies’ mothers. She wanted to remodel the Intensive Care Unit, but we received a report indicating a problem with the pipelines of that area which are connected to the Operating Room. So, I decided to check that out first.

“The latest report indicated there were some problems with the pipelines connecting the Operating Room and the air conditioning,” I state, and they affirm. “Let’s start there.”

“Of course, Mr. Gabriel. We can begin there. Follow me.”

As we were walking, I observed everything carefully. The floors are dirty, there are cracks on the walls and the hallway has poor lighting. We passed people taking out the trash by the stairs. The smell is disgusting. Only one out of four elevators is working and it’s exclusively for carrying out patients. It looks like it would break at any moment.

You can spot all kinds of people walking around. Some are well-managed, while others are rude and have a rough appearance. Good thing I brought my bodyguards. When we reach the second floor, we enter a waiting room divided into two sections: The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit on the right and The Operating Room on the left.

We decided to explore the pediatric area first, and it feels like entering a completely different world. The hallway is wide, and on the right the Neonatal Care Unit. It has fifteen well-lit and nicely organized incubators, but there are cracks on the walls and the air conditioning needs repairing.

To the left is the Children’s Therapy Unit, which is very similar to the neonatal unit, but it is currently closed due to some pipeline damage connecting to the Operating Room. Fortunately, my construction workers are taking care of that.

Next to the Children’s Therapy Unit, is a room filled with tables and lockers containing personal belongings in them. Dr. Odell explained that it is the nurses’ locker room, while the room next to it was for the surgeons on call.

“Is this where the pediatricians change?” I ask curiously.”

“Of course not, sir. This room is specifically for surgeons and obstetricians,” Dr. Fermin responds.

Surprised, I express, “I thought this area was exclusively for pediatricians.”

“It will be. This is temporary until the remodeling is completed,” Dr. Odell interrupts us.

I definitely can’t stand these two.

“If this is a children’s area, shouldn’t it be exclusively for pediatricians? How come there are other non-related specialists here?" They glance at each other and then at me.

“Well, at the moment they are located next to the Operating Room. But once you are done remodeling, they will be transferred in here,” the Director answers. Nice way to try and get away with it. Dr. Fermin was not too happy with my comment but there is no one more stubborn than me and I don’t like people taking advantage of what isn’t rightfully theirs.

“Of course, Doctor Odelle. We will make sure that happens,” I reply assertively.

We continue walking until we reach the next floor, where some of the areas have already been remodeled. There is a nurses’ room for pediatric procedures and treatment and then there is another area, the Delivery Room, which is a spacious maternal observation area equipped with everything necessary to new mothers and obstetricians. In front of it there are two different doctors’ rooms. One is an Obstetrics Room, a large room close to the neonatal shock room and the other, a very small one, where one can barely fit, which is the Pediatrics Room. I refuse to believe that this cramped space might be the pediatrician’s room. I need to figure that out immediately.

“What will go in these two rooms?” I ask.

“This room will be designated for specialists,“ replies Dr. Fermin.

“Don’t you think the area for obstetricians is excessively large compared to the small area for the pediatricians?” I express my concern. “This is supposed to be an area for healthy newborns and those requiring immediate care after being born, which is a pediatrician’s specialty. Why is their area significantly smaller than the obstetrician’s area? I mean, they only have to monitor the expecting mothers which doesn’t require as much space for writing charts and similar tasks unlike the responsibilities of pediatricians. Sebastian, please make sure these rooms belong to the corresponding doctors, along with the other rooms we’ve seen. We definitely need to work on a lot more details.”

They give me an angry look, but they haven’t seen the worst of me yet.

As we continue supervising and the remodeling, the areas are shaping out quite nicely. However, we still need to work on some details. I think Sabrina will be very pleased to see her dream come true. When we arrived at another floor, I excused myself to answer the phone. I desperately needed a break from those men to calm my anger.

Unexpectedly, I came across an area which is not found on the blueprints: PEDIATRIC TRAUMATIC SHOCK UNIT.

Curious, I approach the doctors and ask, “Excuse me doctors, what is in that area?”

“This is an area for critically ill children over one year old,” one of them answers.

“May we go in?” I ask.

“Yes. of course. However, this area is not being remodeled so we need authorization from the doctor in charge. One moment, please, “ Odell replies.

As the door opens, I see three doctors and three occupied beds by three kids in critical condition. A few minutes later, the on- call doctor approaches us, speaks a few words with the Director and grants us permission to enter, but our security guards are asked to remain outside the room.”

While Sebastian was talking to the directors, I couldn’t help but look at those children, one, who was about two or three years old. He was pale, fragile, unconscious, and connected to a bunch of machines. How could someone so young be struggling for his life already?

I asked them, “What happened to this boy?”

“He fell off a bunk bed last night, hit his head really hard and suffered a hemorrhage. He underwent multiple surgeries and is now under observation,“ a very attractive doctor answers, openly flirting and smiling at me.

“Will he be all right?” I ask concerned.

“We don’t know yet,” she replies. “He has been unstable, unresponsive, and hasn’t opened his eyes.”

Why is this boy suddenly making me feel so many emotions I didn’t know I had? I feel a strong urge to protect him. I thought about my niece and nephew, and I couldn’t handle seeing them like this. I approached this little boy’s bed carefully, thinking about all the people who have absolutely nothing and are suffering. This boy should be outside playing and not connected to a bunch of machines hanging on to life. For some unknown reason, I gave him a tender kiss on his forehead and caressed his head.

I heard a woman enter the room greeting all the other doctors. I could tell she was someone important by the way the others reacted to her. When I turned around, I noticed she was a very beautiful woman, in her thirties, long hair, and very arrogant.

“Pleasure to meet you. Dr. Selia Geller, Head of the Observation Area,” she introduces herself with a huge smile on her face. Is it just me or is she really being this oblivious towards the patients? I would have never imagined it.

“Pleasure is all mine. Gabriel Ziegermann. This is such a sad and precarious neighborhood. You must have a very big heart to be taking care of these children in such critical conditions,” I praise her.

“Yeah right,” I heard a sarcastic feminine voice coming from somewhere at the end of the room, but before I could turn around to see who the voice belonged to, Dr. Geller was already talking.

“Not really. One gets used to it. Believe me, sometimes it’s better to just let them go rather than watch them suffer with the families they have. I mean, have you seen the kind of people that come in here? “ She says, while rubbing my arms. I now understand what that rude girl’s voice meant. I mean she has a young boy in a coma, other two in critical conditions and would rather watch them die than live happily with their families, just because they are poor. Wow, people like her are the worst kind of people which made me wonder if maybe we appear the same way to everyone— greedy, heartless, and despicable.

I smile at this lady out of politeness, while searching for the one who spoke earlier. Suddenly, I see an illusion before me.

It is her. The woman who has been haunting my dreams. Those lips, that body—although she lost some weight—her angelical face. This must be a dream.

She is only a few steps away from me talking to the doctor that allowed us in. They seemed to be very close, and he even kisses her on the cheek, igniting a surge of anger within me. I don't know how I can control the urge to go over there and punch him for kissing such perfect skin and bringing that perfect smile upon her face. I suddenly realize, she is heading towards the door. No, not again. I can’t let her slip away from me this time.

What should I do? Come on, think Ziegermann. I continue gazing at her and when she turns around, I find myself face to face with the most breathtaking sight. Her light brown eyes, pale and luscious lips, that silky long brown hair. She is perfect, and this time, she is staring right back at me.