Chapter Four
1301 Words
Claire sat in the back seat and placed her mother's head on her leg.
"Mom.. mom please don't do this to me.." Claire was saying.
Eric regularly turned his head to look at her with a look of sympathy in his eyes but Claire never noticed.
They got to the hospital and Issa was rushed to the emergency room. Eric stayed with Claire outside the emergency room. Neither of them spoke to each other.
After about thirty minutes, the doctor came out of the ward. Claire and Eric quickly went forward to meet him.
"Doctor, how's my mother?" Claire asked fearfully.
"She's stable now" said the Doctor.
"Thank God" said Claire.
"But.." the doctor continued "she has kidney failure. One has already failed and the second one is not strong enough to sustain her"
"So.. there is no hope for my mother?" Asked Claire.
"We can do a kidney transplant, and that will cost ten million" said the doctor.
"Ten million?" Claire said.
"And she has to keep coming for a dialysis twice a week. In the meantime, you can go and settle her current bill with the cashier"
"Okay. Can I see her?" Claire asked
"Of course" the doctor said and left.
"Go ahead and see your mother, I'll wait here for you" said Eric.
Claire went inside the room and hugged her mother.
"You scared me earlier" Claire said.
"I'm sorry darling. But I'm fine now" said Issa.
"Fine? Your new kidney costs ten million" said Claire.
Issa sighed and said "I'll think about that later. My credit card is in my purse, use it to pay my bills so we can go home".
"Okay"
Claire took the credit card and went outside but she didn't see Eric there. She thought that he must have gone home.
Claire went to the cashier's counter to pay her mother's bills. The cashier was a lady.
" Good evening Miss " said Claire.
" Good evening, how may I help you?" Said the cashier.
" I'm here to pay for my mother's bills. Issa Jamison"
The cashier logged on to her computer to check for the bill.
" Issa Jamison's bills have already been paid"
" Really? Are you sure?" Claire asked.
" Yes. I remember now, it was a guy" said the cashier.
"Do you know his name? What does he look like?"
"He was tall, handsome and even wore the same uniform as yours"
Claire thought to herself "could it be.."
"And I remember seeing the name Santiago on his credit card".
"Okay, thank you" said Claire.
Claire went back to her mother's room. She saw Eric standing there with a brown paper bag.
"What's that?" Asked Claire
"Food for you and your mom" replied Eric.
"You didn't have to.."
"I know you'd both be hungry" said Eric.
"I'm talking about paying my mother's hospital bills. You didn't have to, I'm going to pay you back".
"What? You don't have to"
"No. We're not as poor as you think"
"Claire please, don't think I'm doing this to insult you. I just want to help cause you're my friend. And, I also know what it feels like to be afraid of losing a mother. I just want to help" said Eric.
"Thank you. For everything" said Claire.
Issa liked Eric from the moment she saw him. She was really grateful to him for helping her and she was even more delighted to hear that he was Claire's friend.
Claire was going to process her mother's discharge papers and Eric offered to go with her.
"What did you mean when you said that you know the fear of loosing a mother?" Claire asked.
"My mom has chronic asthma and her attacks can get very terrible. I always feel scared that she might have difficulty breathing and I might not be there to help her".
"I'm sorry, I didn't know"
"We all have things we go through but we act tough and hide them from people".
"So.. that's one thing we have in common. Our mothers are our weaknesses" said Claire.
" Yeah, my mom's currently on vacation. She says she needs to enjoy nature's fresh air".
Claire smiled.
Eric had already told his driver to go so he was the one who took Claire and Issa home. After that, he drove back home.
Eric arrived at his house. His house was a beautiful mansion with expensive decor both inside and outside.
He parked his car in the garage and went inside the house through the back door. The back door led to the kitchen. The familiar aroma of roast chicken wafted into his nostrils.
"Mom?"
His mother came into the kitchen from the dining with an apron.
"You're back?"
"Yes son"
Eric went and hugged her. He may dislike all the females in the universe but he loved his mother very much.
"Mom, why didn't you tell me your coming back?" Said Eric.
"I wanted to surprise you. Tadaah" she said with a smile.
"Where's Hilary?" Asked Eric.
"She's upstairs. She should join us for dinner soon" his mom replied.
Hilary is Eric's elder sister and also a beautiful young lady, she just recently finished college and she already has her own boutique. Says she wants to be an independent woman and not depend on their family's money.
Hilary and Eric rarely get along because Hilary is bossy and Eric is a spoilt brat.
Laine is Eric's mom, in her early fifties yet she still looks as young and pretty as ever. Eric and Hilary got most of their good looks from her.
Hilary came downstairs in a romper looking tired. They didn't say anything when she came, both kids helped their mother set the food on the table before they started eating.
"Son, why did you come back this late? Did something happen?" Asked Laine.
"Or maybe he just went to another one of his nonsense parties" said Hilary.
"Why would I go to a party in my uniform?" Answered Eric.
After few seconds of quiet,
"I helped a friend of mine to the hospital" said Eric.
"Oh my God, what happened?" Asked Laine.
"Her mother fainted so I took them to the hospital" said Eric.
" Ohhh, well I hope everything's fine now.. " said Laine
" Yes mom".
" So is she your friend or girlfriend?" Asked Hilary.
"She's my friend"
" Then I'll like to meet her, I know all your friends. One more won't hurt" said Laine.
"Maybe not so soon. She may feel uncomfortable" said Eric.
"Why?" Asked Hilary.
"Well, Claire is different from the rest of my friends, she's different from everyone else" he said absentmindedly.
"So her name's Claire, can't wait to meet her. I bet she's as pretty as her name sounds" said Laine.
Eric smiled and said "She is".
The next day, Eric went to school hoping to meet Claire but he didn't see her at all. He even went to her class and asked Jennifer about her but he was told that Claire didn't come to school.
Eric was worried that Claire's mother might have been taken to the hospital again. He then started to wonder who would help them. Eric was unable to concentrate in the class all day, immediately the bell rang for closing he took off to the parking lot without even chatting with his friends as he usually did.
When he got to the car, he told his driver to take him to Claire's house. When he arrived at the neighborhood, he saw Claire so he came down from his car. The odd thing was that she was wearing her uniform yet she didn't go to school.
"Eric, what are you doing here?" Claire asked.
"You didn't come to school. Where are you coming from?" Asked Eric.
- Writer
