The Art Of The UnderDog

Chapter 5

"Mama!" Tyler screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing through the corridors. his body froze, and a numbness washed over him, rendering his legs useless. Tears welled up in his eyes as he bore witness to the cruel treatment inflicted upon his ailing mother.

With a surge of adrenaline, Tyler raced towards her, reaching the hospital entrance where two nurses callously expelled her from the premises despite her fragile condition.

"How dare you?" Tyler growled, his anger boiling over, and he forcefully wrested his mother from their grasp. The nurses stared back at him, devoid of any remorse or empathy.

"Do not create a scene here. The hospital management has extended their generosity towards you and your mother for far too long. Today, they have unanimously decided to put an end to it. This hospital is not a charity organization that can provide free treatment!" A black-bearded, bald doctor emerged from behind, revealing himself as the same junior doctor who had been attending to his mother.

"Can you even listen to yourself? Just because we haven't been able to pay the hospital bills, does it justify mistreating a sick person like this? Isn't this a violation of medical ethics?" Tyler shouted at him, his voice resonating with frustration. He shook his head vehemently, clutching his partially conscious mother tightly in his arms. Though seething with rage, he managed to contain his anger.

"You have no right to lecture me on medical professionalism or ethics," the doctor retorted, his voice dripping with disdain.

Gritting his teeth, Tyler moved closer to him, locking eyes with an intensity that pierced through his arrogance. "Take my mother back to the ward immediately!" Tyler commanded, his narrowed eyes fixed on him.

In response, the doctor burst into a cynical laughter, while the nurses beside him remained oblivious to his plea, their indifference casting a shadow over the situation.

“If you do not want further embarrassment, you better take your mother and leave this premises right now! The management is generous enough to allow you to go without paying for other bills that you are owing. Leave right now before I call the police to take you and your flirty sick mother and get you locked up!” He spewed. his eyes reddened. Tyler balled his fist tightly and ground his teeth together. His breathing became ragged and his body trembled. He was on the verge of tearing someone into shreds.

“How dare you!?” Tyler yelped and contracted his eyes.

His hold around his mother became stronger. He carried her in his arms and placed her on the bench that was beside the wall. He ignored the prying eyes of other patients. his fists were still folded as he moved back, the doctor very irate.

“I want to pay for my mother's bills now. I want to pay every dime.”his breathing was quite unstable as he pinned his eyes at the son of a bitch who called himself a doctor.

“Are you a comedian? What’s wrong with you? Do you not have any ounce of shame left in you?” The doctor giggled and placed his hand on Tyler’s right shoulder while shaking his head in laughter. “At least if you have no shame for yourself, you should have some for your sick mother. Why are you so intent on embarrassing yourself more than you have already done?” He gripped Tyler’s shoulder more tightly.

“I said I want to pay my mothers bill now!” his voice echoed like the roars of an angry lion.

“Shut up and leave here right now! You are creating a scene here and I do not appreciate you doing that here. Before you claim to want to pay for the bill, could you at least first of all look at what you are wearing? You basically look like a street beggar. Leave here now before I change my mind and get you and your mother arrested on the charge of being a nuisance in the hospital environment!” The doctor, after speaking, turned to leave but Tyler held him by his wrist.

“I said I want to pay for my mothers bills now!” Tyler thundered once more.

The doctor gave him a deadly look and then traced his held wrist with his eyes.

“Security!” He yelled. In less than a minute, three security personnel were behind him. They held him tight and tried dragging him away from the doctor.

“What’s going on here!?” A feminine voice pitched from behind.

Tyler spun backwards and saw that it was Lady Guila, his supposed grandmother. She stood aloof and with her guards behind her. She seemed very pissed. Everyone’s attention was channeled to her. She took short strides towards him while he still struggled with the hospital security personnels.

“Ma’am, this wretched and ungrateful fellow with his sick mother have been in this facility for a while but he hasn’t been unable to pay for her bills. The management has been generous enough to harbor them for a while without concrete payment. Now the management is fed up and has once more out of their benevolence allowed him to take his sick mother from the facility without paying a dime and here he is with his ungrateful self trying to play tough” the doctors tone itself depicted hostility.

Lady Guila stood in silence as Tyler continued to struggle against the firm grip of the security personnel. Despite his best efforts, their hold remained unyielding, rendering his attempts to break free futile.

"Why haven't you paid the bills?" Lady Guila's voice resonated with polished inquiry, cutting through the tension in the air.

"I've tried, but he hasn't given me the opportunity. This man shouldn't even be a doctor! Not at all!" Tyler growled, directing a fierce glare at the doctor while writhing within the grasp of the security personnel. Lady Guila's guards seemed ready to intervene, but she raised her hand in a commanding gesture, halting their response.

"You are truly an ingrate!" The doctor snarled, his words dripping with disdain.

Lady Guila remained silent, her gaze fixed upon his nearly unconscious mother, seated on the bench where Tyler had placed her. For what felt like an eternity, she stared intently at his mother, her expression inscrutable. Finally, she shifted her focus back to him, her voice laced with a mixture of familiarity and authority.

"Ciccio," she spoke, taking a purposeful step forward. "In the realm of business, there exists a strategy known as 'the hostile takeover.' It revolves around the idea of 'if you can't beat them, buy them.' Since you are dissatisfied with the way this hospital is managed and how the staff treat patients, rather than struggling to pay the bills amidst difficulty, why not consider acquiring the hospital itself?"

Lady Guila's words hung in the air, leaving Tyler dumbfounded and filled with a mix of disbelief and intrigue. his eyes narrowed, struggling to comprehend the audacity of her proposal, as a wave of astonishment washed over Tyler.