CHAPTER 8

Atlas got dropped off at the hospital by a taxi. He ran into the building like a mad man, he got to his mum’s ward and she wasn’t there, he grabbed a hold of one of the nurses passing by.

“Where's my mum? Is she ok? please where is she?” Atlas rushed out his words as worry took off his whole being. He was doing his best to stay calm but the more he tried, the more he fidgeted with worry.

“she was rushed into the surgical room a few minutes ago”

“Where is the room?” he asked, panic still evident in his voice

“just down that hall but…”

Atlas rushed towards the direction she’d pointed at without waiting for her to finish her sentence. When he got there he was stopped by some nurses.

“sorry sir, you can’t be inside the surgical room while surgery is going on”

One of the nurses recognized him and spoke,

“Oh Mr Atlas, it’s you”

Atlas looked at the blonde haired male nurse that stood infront of him, he recognized him, he’d often come to take his mum’s vitals.

“Don’t worry, she’s under the best care, just wait till it’s over ok” the nurse said as he gently patted  his shoulder.

Atlas took a seat in the waiting room, his head filled with worry but he calmed himself and decided to put his faith in the surgeons. He rested his head on the wall and drifted into sleep.

“sir….Mr Atlas?”

Atlas' eyes slowly opened up as he felt soft tugs on his body, his eyes were greeted by Doctor Martins who was in charge of taking care of his mum.

He suddenly jolted up remembering his mums ordeal

“Oh Doctor please tell me she’s ok” he asked with pleading eyes

“the surgery was a tough one, but safe to say she pulled through, she’ll be ok” the doctor smiled

Atlas let out a huge sigh, he felt a huge weight taken off his shoulders

“Can I go see her?”

“not yet, she’s resting right now, but once she wakes up, definitely, meanwhile please follow me to my office” the doctor said and almost immediately turned and began to walk towards his office.

He followed the doctor to his office while repeatedly thanking him for saving his mum’s life

“I’m glad we were able to help your mom, now we have to talk about payment. I understand you’re going through a rough patch  right now but you still have to pay before we can proceed with treatment. We can't afford to leave her halfway. there's something we could help her with though, we can proceed with treatment if you can start paying in installments, how about two thousand dollars a month, can you manage that?”

Atlas was touched by the doctors suggestion, he also laughed a bit0 pop because he had almost forgotten he now had the complete money to pay for his mum’s bills

“Thank you so much Doctor, not a lot of doctors would offer that suggestion, goes to show that you care. That won’t be necessary, I’ll pay the full amount, point me to the direction where I can pay.

The doctor looked at him skeptical but pointed him to reception.

Atlas ran to the reception, paid in full and then came back to the doctor in his office.

"You are back." The doctor said in surprise, glancing up from his computer.

"I am." Atlas said as he took a seat across from the doctor.

"Here's the receipt for payment," Atlas handed the long slip of paper to the doctor.

The doctor inspected the piece of paper and nodded.

“How’d you do it?” the doctor blurted out.

“Excuse me?” Atlas asked, confused by his question.

“I mean, just yesterday you were worried about how you were going to pay for your mother's treatment  and couldn’t afford bed space for your mum and now all of a sudden you pay upfront, full payment ... .how'd you do it?”

Atlas recalled all that had happened the previous night, meeting Esmeralda, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Lady luck finally smiled my way” he said with a grateful smile

“Excuse me sir” a nurse barged into the office

“Your mother is awake now.”

Atlas got up and thanked the doctor once again and made his way to his mom’s ward.

On reaching there, he saw his mum lying down with her eyes open, she looked frail but her eyes were brighter and her skin looked better

He hugged her gently, nuzzled his head in the crook of her neck

“Don't leave me okay, please don’t leave me” he cried.

His mum rubbed his hair gently

“My darling I’m sorry, I’m ok now, and it’s thanks to you” she kissed his forehead softly

“You’ve got to take your rest seriously ok ma? Don’t worry I’ve got you, I’ll take care of you”

They both talked on for a few more minutes, his mum began to feel tired

“I need some sleep now darling”

“it’s alright ma, I’ll be back to check up on you later today, I’ve got somethings to deal with” he kissed her forehead and left her ward

He reached for his right pocket and brought out the card Esmeralda had given him, it had her name, number and his dad’s company name on it

He typed the number into his phone and dialed it, he ready to face the will and the company

“hello?” a soft voice called out which he recognized as Esmeralda’s

“Hey, it’s Atlas”

“Oh, I’ll save your number now, I hope you’re good considering the way you left yesterday”

“Yeah everything is fine now, I’m ready to sign the will”

“That’s good to hear, meet me at mine in two hours”

Atlas hung up and quickly rushed home to change and eat. For the first time in years, he ate out in one of the restaurants he'd always wanted to eat at.

He watched as people trooped into the restaurant. He'd always wanted to bring Jessica here but he could never quite afford it.