I am That Son-in-law

The noise caused by the loud voices of the nurses and the murmurs of both family members of patients and some hospital workers standing around got the attention of the head doctor of the hospital. 

A woman who seemed to be in her mid-fifties and was dressed in a white doctor's coat with a stethoscope around her neck approached the nurses. 

“What is the cause of this commotion?” she asked gently, looking around with a confused expression. 

It is because of this beggar standing in front of us, he came to plead that we help his mother with surgery and he is yet to pay his hospital bills, not to even talk about the surgery f*e,” the nurse blurted in disgust, throwing an irritated look at Reynaldo.

The doctor turned to Reynaldo, but before she could speak, one of the family members of a patient spoke up. 

“You should kick people like this out of your hospital” 

“Yeah, they should know that this is not a charity organization. People like this disgust me” another one pointed out. 

"Yes, if this hospital conducts free surgeries then my money should be returned to me for my wife's surgery."

Annoyed and irritated words kept pouring out of their mouths. 

The doctor only nodded her head and flashed a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes at them. 

“Good day, Mr.?” 

“Reynaldo,” Reynaldo answered. 

“Is it true that you are here to plead with us to carry out your mother's surgery?” She asked with a flat tone and blank expression on her face. 

“No, that's not true. I came to ask for the combined amount of the surgery and the hospital bill I already owe, so I can settle it for my mother's surgery to commence immediately,” Reynaldo answered. 

“Ma, that's what he keeps doing every single time he comes to the hospital, he asks for the amount he's owing, and only pays a meager amount of it” the nurse cut in. 

The doctor turned to face the nurse, “Wait, the case might be different today,” she said calmly and returned her attention to Reynaldo. 

“If we tell you the amount you owe, are you ready to pay it this instant?” the doctor questioned him. 

Reynaldo was already getting tired of the questions he was being asked and he didn't fail to show it through his facial expression and body language. 

He had such a huge amount of money with him, but he didn't let it get to his head, he didn't let his behavior change. He still acted like he did when he didn't have anything with him. 

He knew a little about what having such huge amount of money could cause, after all, he had lived with his Dad before and he had seen it with his eyes. 

“Yes, I am ready to pay it and if I do, you will have to punish your nurses, for all the nonsense they have spewed out of their mouth,” Reynaldo answered, his voice sounded calm, but there was an underlying presence of anger and confidence in it. 

“Sure, we make sure our customers get the best treatment and if there's any of our workers that in any way possible made one of them uncomfortable, it's according to the hospital policy to punish them,” the doctor said with a faint smile. 

This was not her first time dealing with people like this who failed to meet up with the payment of their f*e and they kept bragging about being able to pay it, instead of pleading for a couple more days extension, so they would be able to gather the money to pay.

Words like this were always used to pat their ego, telling them what they wanted to hear, it always worked and she could sense the confidence in the tone he used to speak, which made her want to laugh but she held back and masked it with professionalism. She would never punish her staff even if he was able to pay the entire money on the spot.

Reynaldo exhaled loudly, he could tell that the doctor still doubted him, and it showed slightly in the tone of her voice. He was less bothered by it and he didn't blame the doctor, anyone would have doubted him too, judging by the amount of bills he already accumulated.

“Yes, I would love to make the payment now,” he said and brought out a black card. 

Gasps filled the lobby as they saw the card he brought out, the black card was very rare, it was only found among the wealthy. 

“I am sure he stole that card too or it's a fake card,” the nurse said quietly but loud enough for him to hear. 

“You will pay it to the nurse,” the doctor said, pointing to the rude nurse. 

Reynaldo turned to face the nurse, stretching his card to her. 

She snatched it off his hand, inserting it into the machine, she turned it to face him and he punched in the pin. 

Everyone standing around kept quiet, waiting to see what would happen if he actually had the money or if he was bluffing. 

They expected more of the latter scenario, he didn't look like someone who would have all that amount of money in his account. 

The nurse furrowed her brows, confusion written clearly on her face.

“Successful?” she muttered under her breath. 

“Is it successful or is there a network issue?” the doctor asked impatiently. 

“Um, I think there is something wrong with the machine, sir, it showed successful,” she said, pointing to the machine with a confused expression, still shocked to see the words written boldly on the screen. 

“How can there be such an error, has it ever occurred before?” the doctor asked with a frown on her face. 

The thoughts that brewed in her mind towards Reynaldo changed in that instant, she was also shocked to see that the transaction was a success but she did her best not to show it and her facial expression didn't betray her emotions. 

“No ma,” the nurse answered, shaking her head. 

She slightly bent her head, embarrassed by the whole scenario, everyone was already talking back at her. 

“Man, I didn't expect a staff to behave like this to the relative of a patient,” 

“The best course of action would be to sack that foul-mouthed lady,” another one of them pointed out. 

“I can't believe I actually didn't see this coming from one of the staff of a top-notch hospital like this” 

“I guess, the saying that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover is actually true” 

They all slowly returned to their business, while few of them stayed back to see the action that the head doctor would take. 

“I can't believe this behavior from you,” the doctor said to the nurse with a stern expression and a hardened tone. 

"But Ma'am he is a wretched---"

Slap! 

The head doctor stretched her hand over the counter and gave the nurse a tight slap across her face interrupting her sentence. 

The sound of her palm hitting the nurse's cheek filled the environment. 

“For this disgusting action and behavior from you, you are suspended for the rest of the day, you will face the disciplinary committee tomorrow,” the doctor said and turned to face Reynaldo. 

“We are very sorry sir, for the inconveniences caused by a staff of ours,” the doctor said with a sincere apologetic tone, bowing her head slightly.

“Which action would be taken towards your nurse for what she did today?” Reynaldo asked, ignoring the doctor's apology. 

“She would surely be suspended and fined for it,” the doctor said. 

Reynaldo nodded his head, acting like it was a fair punishment, but deep down, there was no way he would be satisfied with that punishment. 

He planned on purchasing the hospital before the nurse faced the disciplinary committee and dished out the punishment in his mind. 

“I'm sorry sir, I am very sorry, Mr. Reynaldo,” the nurse said through gritted teeth, because of the man in front of her, her job was at stake. 

“It's nothing,” Reynaldo said with a smile, waving it aside, he returned his attention to the doctor. 

"Both your nurse did say they will resign if I was able to pay the bill, I bet they said that because they didn't want to assist in the surgery by mistake and I have paid the bills, what will happen now?" Reynaldo said to the head doctor.

“When will my mum be operated on?”

“In a couple of minutes. She would be dressed now and prepared for the surgery, the surgeon would be informed about it immediately,” the doctor said. 

Reynaldo noticed that the tone of the doctor had already changed towards him after the transaction was successful, there was more respect to her tone. 

“No need,” he replied shaking his head, I demand a refund if these nurses still work here. I will not leave my mother at the mercy of such insolent people." Reynaldo deadpanned.