Only Office Hours

Chapter 4: Out of Options Sofia

The taxi halted right in front of the hospital. I rushed in, my eyes flying around to find the doctor.

I found him, at the far corner talking to someone. I marched up to him.

"What happened?" I grabbed his shirt and turned him to face me.

"Oh, Miss Reyes. I have been waiting for you," he tried to remain calm and threw me off with that trained smile of his. They were trained to be so good at faking a smile that they do it so effortlessly and it looks good and comforting. Not to me, I was far from being comforted.

"What happened to my mother!" I shouted, shaking him.

"Miss Reyes, please. Calm down. I called you on such short notice because I wanted you to be here."

I frowned, "What?" I loosened my grip on his shirt.

"Yes, your mother had a kind of panic attack or so, but we destabilized her. Your sister is keeping her company now. But I'm still wondering, how long do you want to do this?"

"Do what?"

"Come," he led me to his office. He sat down and gestured at the chair in front of this table.

I sat down slowly, trying to think out what was about to say or ask me.

"Your mother is dying, Reyes. You are putting her through pain. And you are putting yourself through stress."

"Do I look like I'm complaining, doctor?" I leaned forward with raised brows.

"And why the hell are you even trying to care?"

"Because your hospital bills are increasing, woman."

He reached for a file and tossed it to my front. I glared at him and then looked down at the file. I slowly reached for it, like what was in it could hurt me — which could be true.

I flipped the file open. I saw figures outlined in tables and beneath the table of figures, the total sum I saw almost made me scream.

"Three thousand dollars!" I still screamed at him, my wide open eyes shot up to him in disbelief. "How?"

"Sofia, we used equipment and medicine from this hospital just to manage your mother's situation. You think the five hundred dollars you deposited could handle all that for two months?"

He took off his lens and wiped his smugly eyes.

"If you don't settle this bill, we will have to discharge your mother in the next twenty four hours," he said, staring into my eyes. There was no warmth in that eye, not even as tiny as a sand crystal, and that voice was as cold as a viper's.

I looked away at the floor. Mother used to tell me that the devil lived there when I was young. This was definitely the devil's doing. Or was God silently punishing me for what I did? There was definitely nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that it was annoying.

I clenched my jaws and sniffed.

"Three thousand," I nodded, looking back at him, "And the surgery? How much did you say it was again?"

"Sofia, I think you could just pay for the medicine to manage it. The surgery is expensive, you know."

Was he trying to be considerate? That pissed me off.

"Tell me how much it is," I said, gritting my teeth.

"Twenty thousand."

I scoffed, smiled, frowned and forced another smile again.

Of course, this was the devil playing me and God was definitely there laughing at me. I wondered if my mother still prayed these days. She believed so much in all that.

"I'll deposit two thousand for the surgery. Isn't that enough to get the surgery started?"

"I'm sorry that is too little. At least fifty percent would be decent enough to allow."

"Fifty percent," I repeated his words and then went silent.

"That was why I suggested that you continue with the management with medicine. It is cheaper."

"I'll get the money for the surgery as soon as I can."

I unzipped my purse, I cut off the bond wrapped over the cash and began to count each dollar note until I was sure that it was three thousand. I pulled it out, stretching it to the doctor who was shocked to see it. Literally everyone knew how broke I was, so when I pulled out the money, I could understand his questioning look.

He counted, faster than I did, and nodded. "It's complete, Miss Reyes," he said with a smile.

"If she's here till next month, you'll have to pay another one thousand."

Was he mocking me? I felt he was.

"Can I see her?"

"Of course," he smiled. I could tell this one wasn't fake, it was from the depth of that greedy heart.

He led me out of his office and I stormed off towards the ICU.

I stopped in front of the glass doors. My sister jerked when I pushed it open and walked in.

"Sofia," she stood up and ran to me. We hugged, mostly her, and parted again.

"I'm so glad to see you."

"Me too, Maria." I was less excited than her, not that I wasn't happy to see her there, but because I didn't know how to process such emotion at that point.

My eyes shifted to my mother. She was fast asleep, she slept a lot like a koala since she was admitted.

"Where were you last night? Mom said you left earlier and didn't come back," she said with a voice as light as a whisper.

"Work," I blinked, "I went to work."

"Your hair's a bit messy, workaholic. Don't go crazy. You know I still need you too."

I simply nodded.

"And the doctor, he..."

"I've paid the bill. We have to worry about the surgery for now."

She sighed and stepped away. I walked to my mother, sat down on the chair where Maria sat before, and reached out for her palm. I closed my eyes feeling the tears burn behind it. The hot tears squeezed out through the sides of my eyes and trailed down my cheeks.

She squeezed my palm.

"Sofia," she wheezed.

I slowly opened my eyes to my mother's beautiful eyes staring at me with a worrisome smile on her face.

"Why are you crying? Are you hurt?"

I shook my head.

She stretched her other hand and wiped the tears off my face. Her palm rested on my cheek and I leaned into it.

"It's okay. You know how much I hate to see you cry."

I sniffed, "I know. I will make sure you get treated, mom. I promise you that," I nodded and kissed her hand. I felt a flame of determination burning within me.

I had a month or two to raise twenty thousand dollars. It was a crazy target to be given, but I had to do it for the one person that really meant a lot in my life. I couldn't possibly sit and watch her die, not after everything she had to go through for us.

"I'll be back, mother." I kissed her hand again.

She smiled at me. She had such a beautiful smile that was as pure as an angel's.

I stood up, "Take this," I said, slipping out two notes from my purse. I handed it to her.

"Get some food, good food. Then water or any other thing you need or she needs."

"What about you?"

"I'll be back later on. It's a Saturday. I'm not going to work."

She giggled, "Take care, sis."

I patted her shoulder and stepped out.

There was no way on earth I could raise such an amount of money, I was out of options, but I couldn't tell anyone that. Not my mother, not my sister, not Kayla, not even myself. I wished I knew anyone like that stranger... Memories of the night flashed in my head and I couldn't stop myself from thinking about it now.

My heartbeat became faster than normal, like it was beating for him; beating for a stranger who only just wanted to use me for the night. I felt so ashamed of myself, but at least I could take something good from it.

I knew someone like the stranger anyway. Luther Grant. And that was the only option that I hadn't added to the list.