Please save her life !!!!
1240 Words
Valerie ran past her height of endurance, skewering through the crowd of nurses and patients.
She made a beeline for the reception with tears in her eyes. “P - please, Beatrice Prince.”
One of the nurses looked the name up in the system. Each time the results pop up, a frown furrows her brows.
Valerie lost her patience and slammed her fist on the counter. “Come on, where's my mom!”
The nurse flinched before replying. “I'm sorry but there's no one admitted under that name.”
Valerie asked. “W - what do you mean? This is North Shore Hospital, right?”
“Yes, it is.” The nurse replied.
“So why is my mom's name not showing up!”
“We have a Beatrice Martinez. She got admitted here a few minutes ago.”
“What?”
The nurse tilted her computer for Valerie to see. “There's no Beatrice Prince. There's only Beatrice Martinez.”
Valerie doubled back as if the very air had been knocked out of her lungs.
“Are you okay?” The nurse asked in a worried voice.
“Where is she?” Valerie asked instead.
“What's your relationship with the patient!”
“She's my mother! Now, where is she!”
“The ER. First, draw the curtains to the left.”
Valerie turned on her heels and raced towards the roll of blue drawn curtains.
With each step, tears filled her eyes.
“Mom…” her voice came out in a croak as she crept near.
“Her blood pressure’s dropping! We need to get her back STAT!” A tanned woman in blue scrubs announced to the other doctors around her.
Valerie's eyes fell on a woman lying limply on the bed and her knees weakened. “Mom!”
The doctor gave her a sharp look and frowned. “Who let her in here? Someone should get her out of here!”
“No, that's my mom!” Valerie screamed as two doctors came to her aid.
“Mom!” Valerie screamed as the doctors drew the curtains together and pulled her away from there.
Her feet tapped the sterile floor uncontrollably as she nuzzled a cup of coffee in her hand
Each time she tried to get up, a hand would stop her from doing so.
The blonde doctor, probably an intern, told her with a smile. “You need to calm down, dear. The doctors are on it. Your mom will be fine.”
“B - but why did that happen to her?”
The doctor exchanged glances with her colleagues as if waiting for permission to speak.
Valerie lost her patience and slammed her fist on the table. “What is it!”
The blonde intern heaved a sigh. “Okay. Okay. It… was a construction accident.”
Valerie sat up. “What?”
The intern gulped nervously before she went on. “Beatrice fell stories down an unfinished elevator shaft.”
“Unfinished elevator shaft? How is that even possible? There's a freaking grand opening going on in the freaking hotel!”
The intern panicked. “I don't know, okay?”
Valerie rose to her feet. “No. Something's wrong.”
Suddenly, she recalled her mother walking with Luca Martinez and the nurse behind the counter calling her Beatrice Martinez.
“Oh no.” She felt queasy all of a sudden.
“Are you okay?”
“Where's Valerie Prince?” A loud voice called out.
Valerie whipped around to find the tanned doctor from earlier. “I … I'm here.”
She slapped a file on Valerie's hands. “Your mother doesn't have insurance.”
Valerie felt her blood freeze. “What?”
“Your mother doesn't have insurance. How are we supposed to move on with treatment when she doesn't have insurance?”
“B - but… Please, just save her life, doctor. I'll figure something out.” Valerie pleaded with tears in her eyes.
The doctor walked past her, and the other doctors followed behind her, including Valerie.
“I'm so sorry but our hospital policy requires all patients to have active insurance coverage to receive treatment. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you.”
“Please, I'll pay the money back. Just please, take a look at my mother. She's dying!”
“Look, I understand that this is a difficult situation but our hospital’s policy is crystal clear: we do not administer treatment to patients without insurance. I recommend you teach out to a local clinic or community health center for assistance.”
A dark-haired nurse rushed to meet the doctor. “Ma'am, the mayor's son is at the operating table. We're ready for you.”
“Excellent. Shall we?” The doctor said with a nod.
Valerie stared in utter disbelief at the prejudice. The mayor's son will cut the line because he's privileged and her mother's not.
She heard a familiar voice above and looked up at the flat-screen TV. Staring at the TV was a pale-skinned gentleman dressed in an immaculate white suit with eyes as blue as the Aegean sea and hair as golden as the morning sun —Luca Martinez.
She recalled seeing him with her mom. If they had been together, then that meant he knew what happened to her.
“He must know something,” Valerie whispered as she navigated her way to the ER.
When she arrived, she found her mother lying immobile on the blood-stained sheets.
Her heart clenched in her chest and she fisted her hands. “How could the doctors be so cruel and leave Mom like this?”
“Valerie?” A weak voice called out.
“Mom?” Valerie gasped in shock. “Mom!” She went to her mother and took her hand.
“Hey, don't cry. I'll be fine.” Beatrice smiled weakly; her eyes were beginning to close on their own.
“No! No, don't you dare leave me!” Valerie cried out.
Beatrice sat up weakly. “I … I should've told you who your father is.”
“Mom!” Valerie shook her head. “Don't tell me.”
“Your father…” Beatrice began weakly.
“No.”
“Is Luca Martinez.”
The whole world spun.
“What?”
The EKG machine began to beep loudly and Beatrice fell silent.
“Mom?” Valerie called out but got no response. “Mom!”
A few nurses rushed over to help and they helped Valerie out of the place.
“Is there anyone you can contact?” One of the nurses asked her. “Any family?”
“Yes. My father.”
Valerie arrived at the Gallagher Hotel and was still denied an audience.
“Luca Martinez, I know you're in there!” She screamed.
“Get out of here! This is private property!” One of the security men said.
Valerie scoffed. “Wow. This is private property, huh? The same private property that almost had her killed?”
“Shut the f**k up!” came a roar from the security guard, and the next thing Valerie knew, his fist connected with her jaw, and she flew a few paces backward, crashing to the floor.
Her breathing came out in a wheeze, each one a struggle.
She had barely moved away from the bodyguard before his boot came down on her face.
- Writer
