CHAPTER 3
1116 Words
Elora got into the General hospital in a hurry and ran into the emergency section of the hospital.
She wandered around the hospital in search of her father, but all routes led to a dead end.
Exhausted and feeling hopeless because her phone had no signal, she calmed herself down and found her way to the reception and asked the receptionist, “Is there a Mr Logan West here, please”
“Who is asking?”, the receptionist questioned.
“I'm his daughter and I just found out that he was involved in a ghastly accident” she replied, almost sobbing.
“Oh, your mom and sister have been waiting for you. Mr West is in the ICU department”.
“Alright, where can I find them?" Elora asked, almost running in a direction she did not know.
“Down the hall, the third door to the left, you'll see them in the waiting room”, the receptionist directed.
“Thank you” Elora echoed as she stormed off towards the direction of the waiting room to see her mother and sister.
She dashed through the waiting room doors and she immediately spotted her sister, Cora accompanying her mother, Harper, as she paced from the left wall to the right.
“Cora! Mom!” Elora called out and ran towards them.
“How's he doing?”
“Is he stable now?”
“What did the doctors say? Is he going to be alright?” Elora queried, not giving them any chance to speak.
Elora's questions were met with silence and she noticed a swelling around their eyes, probably from crying she thought.
“I'm sure he'll be fine, right?” She asked rhetorically, trying to remain strong for her mother, Harper, and Cora, as she held their shoulders comforting them.
Elora pulled her sister aside and asked, “What happened?”
“He was on his way to the construction site when one of the trucks blindsided him and it led to the accident. Mom got a call about the accident and informed me before we rushed down to the hospital to see how he was doing. The doctor said we would've lost him if he was left at the accident scene for an extra 10 minutes.” Cora explained.
“Thank goodness. I hope Mom's blood pressure doesn't shoot through the roof, I can't imagine how she's feeling about everything”
“Mrs. West?” A voice echoed in the hallway.
“Yes?” All three of them chorused
Elora rushed towards the doctor and said, ‘Doctor, please how's he? Is he awake yet? Can we go and see him?”
“He's stable now but no, he's not awake yet. We've managed to stabilize his vitals, but I'll have to speak to you in private, miss?” he gestured towards me.
“Elora is the name”. She replied suggestively.
“Alright, Miss Elora, please follow me to my office so we can have a brief discussion about your father's well-being”. He insisted and began leading the way to his office.
“Everything will be alright, Mom, I'll be back soon”. Elora said reassuring Harper, before following the doctor.
“Miss Elora, please have a seat." The doctor offered.
“I hope you didn't call me here to deliver bad news?” Elora suggested with a trembling voice.
“Not at all,” he said with a chuckle and proceeded, “Your father suffered herniated discs and spinal fractures which if not operated on with immediate effect, can lead to permanent paralysis leaving him bedridden for the rest of his life”.
“That sounds severe, I thought you said you didn't call me here to deliver bad news doctor?”
“Well, the good news is that it can be avoided with a spinal fusion surgery, which I can assure you, will go perfectly. We have the best surgeons at your disposal”.
“That's great news! So when can you start the surgery?” Elora asked, feeling optimistic like a flame of hope was lit in her heart.
“Well, the surgery can be done as early as tomorrow evening but before then, you'll need to make a down payment of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) with the billing unit and the surgical procedure would be scheduled immediately “. He responded assuringly.
“Down payment? how much is the hospital bill in total?”
“Miss Elora, the full amount for the surgical procedure, discharge, and physiotherapy that will guarantee his full recovery is one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)”.
“Whoa, I can't afford that amount on such short notice. Is there any way I can pay installmentally that will guarantee that the surgery is done as soon as possible?”
“I understand your plight, but my hands are tied. I'm only following the hospital's policy here. I won't be able to proceed with the surgery without the down payment being made”. He replied firmly.
“Alright, thank you, sir, I'll get back to you before the end of tomorrow”, Elora said, sounding confident as she stood up to take her to leave.
Elora walked slowly and absentmindedly out of the doctor's office and into the hallway to Cora and Harper, as they approached her with solemn expressions on their faces.
“What did the doctor say?”
“Why do you look so worried?”. They asked frantically
“Dad needs surgery or he's going to be paralyzed. The hospital bills cost a hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), that is for the surgical procedure, discharge from the hospital, and physiotherapy that'll guarantee his full recovery”.
“A hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)? Where are we going to get that amount of money from?” Cora exclaimed.
“If I withdraw the money in all my accounts, it'll only amount to four thousand dollars($4000), how about you Cora?”
“I don't have up to two thousand dollars($2000), how about you mommy?”
“The money in all our accounts isn't up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000), so what do we do?”. Mom said as she started crying and fidgeting.
“Don't worry about it, I'll get the money by tomorrow “. Elora assured them.
“How will you get the money?” They asked surprised.
“I hope you're not planning to do something you'll regret,” Harper West, Elora's mom asked,
“Just tell them to get him prepped for the surgery by tomorrow evening, I'll bring the money,” Elora said walking out of the hospital.
- Writer
