The Pride Game

Chapter 4

"What happened to him! Why did he overturn the plate and spill its contents on the bed!" The voice of a woman whispering not far from his bed sounded annoyed. "I don't know, but Nurse Ana said she's been acting strange ever since she'd been wondering about the accident this morning that killed one person." "Oh, yes, I heard about that too. Did the deceased's family come to visit him?" "The victim who died was going to visit his family who is being treated here." 

"Huh! Seriously! Now the situation is reversed. Even though it was that old man who wanted to visit, he was the one who visited. Indeed, no one will ever know human life. It's a pity for that poor old man." 

Samuel opened his eyes just a little. He overheard the unpleasant conversation of the two women talking about the poor old man ever since. Samuel's mind and heart were disturbed. He would have escaped from this room if the damn cast hadn't been on his legs and arms. The smell of medicine made him sick, and he hated all the weaknesses he had now. The only thing he had right now was helplessness and weakness. She must be crying alone by now, Samuel thought in his mind; he was worried and unsettled. His head still hurts; the stinging blow that Frans, Caroline's husband, gave yesterday still hurts Samuel's whole body. That bastard made himself a loser who couldn't even see his uncle one last time. All the blood in Samuel's body seemed to boil over when his uncle was put in a coffin. Samuel's heart was broken. He groaned. Damn it! He growled in his heart. His head hurt so bad that Frans' kicked on his head and mouth, making all his nerves twitch when he wanted to move. 

The man was a monster and not a human at all! Samuel growled again in his heart. 

"Is he awake?" one of the nurses asked. 

"Not yet."

"Make sure he takes his medicine now. The food he spilled should be taken out immediately." 

"Okay," said another nurse, "I'd better bring this food first." 

"Hey! What's that!" The nurse holding the medicine rolled her eyes at the floor. 

"Envelopes, I guess." 

Samuel was reminded of the strange invitation letter he got today when the nurse said about the envelope, then he tried to wake up.

"Hi. Are you okay?" asked the nurse standing closest to Samuel. 

"Yes," replied Samuel lying. The pain doubled as he sat down. "Could you please help me get the white envelope?" asked Samuel. Samuel decided to read the invitation letter one more time. One of the nurses handed him an envelope. "Here is," she said.

"Thank you very much." Samuel took the envelope and opened it again. He was still lying on the bed. As he paused for a moment, this scent felt familiar. He seemed to have inhaled this scent before, but where? He thought hard, trying to remember something. However, there was something more that caught his attention. The invitation felt strange. He observed. Every word in the invitation was made up of scraps of newsprint; it looked like someone was joking with him, informal and mocking. No address, no invite time, and no sender's name. Everything is confusing. Who went to the trouble of cutting out all this paper? Samuel thought to himself, and what was the use of this man cutting it out word by word and giving it to him. "Letter of Invitation to Former CDA Employees." printed on the front of the envelope, typed from a laptop, but the writing on the thick paper inside the envelope was made of newsprint. The envelope is small. "The Pride Game", Samuel reread the text carefully, every word of which came from a piece of newsprint. What does the invitation in this envelope mean? he asked himself again. "Has my aunt returned to this room yet?" asked Samuel. 

"Your aunt?" One of the nurse's eyebrows, standing next to Samuel, rose. "You've been asleep for about thirty minutes, and we haven't seen a single one come into this room yet." The nurse's explanation made Samuel's heart torn, and he was afraid of the news he would hear today about Uncle Benjamin. 

"When can I get out of this place?" asked Samuel desperately. 

"The painkillers can make you move; maybe the doctor will let you go home today," said one of the nurses. "My advice is to finish your food and start taking medicine. Then your body will recover quickly," repeated the nurse with an unpleasant face. 

"Alright." Samuel nodded. His eyes returned to the envelope still in hand. 

"Bring the newspaper, and it's an old edition. Besides, the patient should get plenty of rest to get out of here quickly." Then the nurse immediately rushed out of the room, but before she looked at Samuel and spoke, "Don't forget to take your medicine. If you can't get your medicine, just press the bell near you," and left the room.

Samuel replied, "Fine." 

"I put your food here." 

Samuel nodded his head. "Thank you," he answered slowly. The food was cold, and he had to eat this food, then take medicine. Not long after he finished his food and painstakingly placed it on the nightstand, there was a knock on the door, and Samuel could see his aunt come in tears. Samuel's whole body shuddered at the tears on his aunt's face. "Auntie, you promised to tell Uncle how. How is his condition?" Samuel hated to ask this, but he still needed to know about his uncle. Who had hit him, and where will he be buried. 

Aunt Judith immediately hugged Samuel. She wept bitterly. Samuel didn't say anything other than gently rubbing his aunt's back. Tears welled up in Samuel's eyes. His feelings were mixed, and his emotions were unstoppable. 

"Your uncle is in a coma," sobbed Aunt Judith, her voice barely audible between her sobs. "The car hit him but managed to escape." 

Samuel was shaken. "Where is uncle now?" he asked, his voice deep. 

"He's unconscious, and he's been moved to the ICU."

Samuel's palms were shaking and wet. 

"Don't burden yourself, and I can still pay for your uncle's medical expenses." Aunt Judith let go of her arms, she wiped her wet face. Instantly Samuel remembered that he still had a client he hadn't billed for. 

"No, Aunt. I still have money for my client. He has not yet paid me. I'll call him today." Samuel looked around for where his cell phone was. "Wait a minute, wait a minute," he said again, his eyes searching for his cell phone. "Well, here it is." 

His aunt watched with hopeful eyes, but she tried to hide it from Samuel; Samuel still had to support himself while she would still work selling vegetables at the market. "I have money in the bank. I'll take it and collect it. You can keep your money for yourself, don't bother spending money on your uncle." 

Samuel's face was smiling brightly, and he blinked his eyes many times to keep the tears from falling from his eyelids. "Wait, Auntie. He will pay right away, and we can start to raise money for Uncle. Haha." Samuel laughed in a stiff voice. 

"Hello," said Samuel in a friendly, cheerful voice. He did his best to encourage his aunt. "How are you?" Unfortunately, someone who took Samuel's call answered Samuel not in the same cheerful tone as Samuel. Samuel had to put his phone away when the customer shouted, "Hey! Are you that stupid! Are you playing guessing games with my case! Where did you put your little brain! If you don't have a brain bigger than a monkey, you better not open a detective service! Trash like you should close your detective service! Damn it! I won't even pay you a penny!" 

Aunt Judith closed her eyes when she heard the screams of her nephew's client reach her place. Samuel was surprised to find that his client did not want to pay for his services. "Hey! Hey! Don't hang up just yet! Hey!" The phone has been hung up. "Jerk!" Samuel's shoulders moved up and down. He squeezes his cellphone. He accidentally saw his aunt, who seemed to hold shame on her face. Samuel's chest felt tight, as if he had just received a slap. He picked up his phone again and tried to call his client again. "Pick up, you bastard! You can't escape me! Don't speak nonsense! I'm not a child! I helped you find that kid! He's the kid you're talking about! The phone kept calling, but no one picked up the phone. "Damn it!" he cried again, wanting to slam the phone down, but he was too poor. "Argh!"

His eyes were still looking at her aunt's shoulder, who looked like she was breathing while holding something in her chest. His aunt nodded in understanding. "You'd better rest now. It would help if you were tired by now. Get some rest." His aunt took the blanket thrown to the end of the bed. "Get some rest. You must be exhausted." 

"Don't. Don't go, Auntie. He's a lousy client. He asked me to find a child. I've found the child he's referring to. I've spent months looking for that child. Look for it. I will call him again, Auntie. Don't go yet. I will get a lot of money, Auntie. Please wait, Auntie."

Samuel picked up the phone again, then he called the client again, but the phone had been switched off. "Argh!" His cell phone slams in every direction. Tears flowed from his eyes. He had endured the pain for a long time, his chest felt tight, and anger seemed to gush from him. His shoulders heaved up and down as he caught his breath. 

"I'm going to see your uncle first. You rest first. Don't forget to eat your lunch." His aunt picked up Samuel's cell phone lying on the floor, gave it to him, and left the room immediately. 

"Argh!" Samuel's howl was still heard when Aunt Judith had left the room.