Return of the hidden heir

chapter 6: Hospital

In Harlan's school, Jason is the richest student. At age twenty two, he was already the owner of two Supermarkets, presented to him as a birthday gift by his father, that earns him nothing less than two million dollars yearly each. Although not the most handsome, he pulled a lot of crowd because anyone who got in his bad books would remember it forever, the only way not to annoy him was to be one of his fans.

The second richest student is Elizabeth, considered as the school beauty goddess. She rarely talks, and most of the students in the law department claimed not to have heard her voice before. The rest of the students in the class come after those two when it comes to wealth.

Harlan was too surprised to answer her question. He stared at her. As if by a command, there was silence in the class as every eye watched Harlan and Elizabeth.

Harlan cleared his throat, " yes, sure," He said and moved to the farther end of the seat.

Elizabeth sat down and pulled back her headphones.

Harlan glanced at her and took a deep breath. The only experience he had had with a female wasn't that good, and the last thing he wanted was to have anything to do with the daughter of the founder of the college.

Jason stood up angrily from his seat and walked over to Harlan.

"What are you still doing on this seat?" He bellowed.

Harlan frowned, "what do you mean?"

"If you had common sense you would have stood up from here before now," Jason snapped.

"Why will I stand up? I am a student in this class and I have every right to sit anywhere I want in this class," Harlan said.

"Well… I know you are senseless and there's nothing you can do about it. If you had common sense, you won't be sitting with someone as important as Liza and still think it's normal for people like you. Just remember that you are taking me for the checkup tomorrow," Jason said and went away.

Elizabeth glanced at Harlan and sighed. She stood up and went after Jason.

Noticing that Elizabeth had come to see him, Jason flashed her a handsome smile.

"You can sit with me instead of sitting with that idiot," he said.

Elizabeth took off her headphone and gave Jason a hard stare.

"More senseless than I thought," she muttered and left the class. Jason stared at her back in shock.

Harlan's phone beeped. He checked the message from Mr Smith, calling him his father still sounded a bit awkward to him.l

'Are you free? We have to go somewhere.'

Harlan read the message over and over again. He decided to ditch the class. He took his bag and hurried out of the hall.

'Where should I meet you, Dad?' He typed back.

'Jack is going to drive you.'

Harlan went out of the school and sighted Jack strolling around.

"Hello, Jack," Harlan greeted.

Jack turned to Harlan and gave a slight bow. He walked up to the car and opened the door for him. Harlan got inside while Jack got behind the wheel.

"I thought you said you would always be near me, what happened this morning? I needed your help but I couldn't find you," Harlan said.

"I am sorry, Sir. I thought since you would be going to see your father, you wouldn't really need my help. I made sure those punks gave the money to their Mistress. I am really sorry, Sir," Jack said ruefully.

"I almost forgot about that, but I don't have time for those any longer. From now on, don't go anywhere without informing me."

Harlan shuddered when he thought about what would have happened if Mr Smith had not come to his rescue.

"Okay, Sir," Jack said.

At the front of a big hospital, the car stopped. Harlan looked at Jack in amazement.

"What are we doing here?"

"Mr Smith instructed me to drive you here, Sir" Jack answered, getting out of the car and opening the door for Harlan to get out.

Harlan wondered what could be wrong, but still, he got down from the car and went inside the hospital, Jack waited for him outside.

He looked around the waiting room for Mr Smith. When he couldn't find him, Harlan took his phone and called him. Mr Smith didn't pick the call.

Harlan sighed and sat on the seat nearest to him. His phone rang. He smiled as he picked the call.

"Hi, man,"

"Man, you are becoming scarce these days. It's been three days already and I haven't heard your voice," Kelvin said at the other end.

"You could have called me, what if something bad had happened to me? You know, no one cares about me as much as you do," Harlan said.

"I am sorry. I have been quite busy with school work. Some lecturers are no more than a pain in the ass, giving out meaningless assignments here and there," Kelvin said.

"Man, I've got a lot of gist for you."

"About that Jason again? Or… I almost forgot, how did it go with your crush?" Kelvin inquired.

"Man, she is an old story. Trust me when I say I'll never have anything to do with girls again. She not only turned me down, she tore the notes I made for her. Look, let's not talk about her anymore," Harlan said in disgust.

"Sad, too sad, man. What did you want to tell me?"

Harlan looked around. Sure, no one was taking any notice of him, but he couldn't reveal his identity to Kelvin here.

"I will tell you when I get home," Harlan said, changing his mind.

"How about the rent? How are you paying for it? It would be due at the end of this month," Kelvin asked, concerned.

"Although I just lost my job and my parents just disowned me…"

The receptionist heard Harlan saying he just lost his job and his parents just disowned him. She stood up and swiftly closed the distance between her and Harlan. People like Harlan should be taught that a hospital as big as this isn't where they should be.

She concluded that Harlan would be here for a job.

"I will call you later," Harlan said into the phone and hung up when he noticed the receptionist walking toward him.

He stood up and smiled, thinking that she was there to inform him that Mr… his father was waiting for him.

"There are no vacancies left," the receptionist said rudely.

"Vacancies? As in?" Harlan asked, puzzled.

"I know you are here to get a job, that is why I am telling you that there isn't any vacancy here," she spat.

"I am not here for a job, you jump into conclusions rather quickly."

The receptionist folded her arms around her chest and narrowed her eyes on Harlan.

"You must be here to sell your kidney then. But, the fact is, you don't look anything healthy, and if you are to remove your kidney for someone who is going to pay you heavily, shouldn't you at least be well fed?" She asked rudely.

Harlan couldn't believe what he was hearing, he looked around to see if anyone had heard the receptionist, thankfully, no one did.

"I am waiting for someone and I will appreciate it if you leave," Harlan said and sat back, disappointed that Mr Smith hadn't arrived.

"I must let you know that if you don't have a membership card, you are not allowed to sit here," the receptionist snapped.

"I think I just made it clear to you that —"

"Yes, you just made it clear to me that you want to sell your kidney because you are broke. One would know how unfortunate you are when they get to know that your parents disowned you and you have even lost your job. We don't want unfortunate beings like you in this hospital, you'd do yourself a favour by going out."

"Why do you judge people based on looks?" Harlan asked in frustration.

"Don't you know a doctor when you see him dressed? Don't you know a penniless man by just his appearance? Let's not drag this matter, just get out!"

Harlan looked around, embarrassed. In a city where even if two chickens are having an argument, there would be a crowd, the crowd was starting to pull on them.

"I didn't want to do anything to you before, but since you asked for it, I am going to take action," Harlan said and called Jack's number.

"I want you to come here," Harlan said into the phone.

Some seconds later, Jack came in. He walked briskly to Harlan and bowed slightly. Some people in the crowd let out a gasp. Just the sight of Jack should have made the receptionist realize Harlan isn't someone she should be messing up with, but hell, she won't be easily convinced.

"Welcome to our hospital, Mr Jack," she smiled at Jack.

Harlan smirked, "how much is your monthly salary?" He directed the question at the receptionist.

"I don't lend people money, so you don't need to know," she turned her attention to Jack and flashed him a smile, "how can we help you, Sir? Don't mind this dumbhead here."

Jack looked at the receptionist in shock.

"Did you just call young master a dumbhead?"

"Young… young what?" It was the receptionist's turn to be confused.

She stared blankly at Harlan.

The chief consultant in the hospital, after hearing that Jack was in the hospital, came running to the waiting room. He noticed the crowd and went towards it.

"What is happening here?" He asked, looking at the receptionist who looked pale as she stared at Harlan.

When he didn't hear any reply from her, he turned his attention to Jack.

"You can come in, Sir. We are going to make sure you are satisfied with —" he started to say when Jack cut in rudely.

"Your hospital leaves more to be desired. I am really disappointed," Jack said.

The chief consultant turned to the receptionist, and it became clear to him.

"You! What have you done this time around?" He yelled at her.

"Sir… I didn't know he was an important person… Sir, if I knew...," the receptionist stuttered and ran her hands through her hair.

"I am very sorry you had to —" the chief consultant started to say when Harlan interrupted him.

"I don't want to hear you tell me you are sorry. You have the worst of all workers here, I will never step foot here again," Harlan said and started walking toward the door.

"Sir, I am sorry. I didn't know you were rich. I am really sorry," the receptionist cried after Harlan.

"Just shut up, idiot!" The chief consultant shouted angrily.

At the entrance, Harlan met Mr Smith who had just arrived and was going inside.

"Son, I am late again. Did something happen?" Smith asked, seeing how annoyed Harlan looked.

"Father, this is the worst hospital ever. You shouldn't be in a place like this," Harlan said.

Seeing Mr Smith, silence fell on the hospital. The receptionist fainted. She couldn't believe she had just insulted Harlan Smith.

"Even from your unconscious state, just know you are fired from this organization," the chief consultant yelled at the receptionist and ran after Mr Smith and Harlan to apologize and persuade them to come back.

"If you don't get lost, I am going to file a suit against you on the basis of being biased to your patients," Harlan warned.