8
It's a new day trying to cope with the situation that I still try to endure. My day was based on work. As soon as I saw my boss, I didn't know where he was, although it's not a factor of major interest to me either. The days go by with incredulous speed and that only makes me more desperate because I am very aware that I have not yet obtained the necessary money for the operation, which manages to mortify me quite a bit. I've had enough of this situation and I just want it to end.
I gather up my things, walk out of my office, and close the door behind me. I make a move to start walking, but stop when I see the dim light coming from the half-open door of Mr. Hills's office in the hallway. I ignore him and take a step forward, but strangely stop when I hear his raspy voice echoing inside the office.
"What do you want?” he sounds tired. “I don't have time for this, just tell me what you want...”
Suddenly, I react and start walking towards the center of the top floor. I don't know why I just stood there. I tried to hear something that doesn't even concern me. I let out a weary sigh and press the button next to the elevator. The doors open and as I exit the building, I get into my car. I visited Louis this morning at the hospital, Harmony is staying with him.
Once I get to my apartment, I'm glad Carol is gone; I don't want her to see me in such low spirits. I trudge across the living room to the living room sofa, throwing my bag to the floor and plopping down on the sofa, closing my eyes. The next day, I wince and cover my face with one hand as I wake up to the morning sun rays on my face. I quickly get back up from the couch and grab my phone having two missed calls from Harmony.
Before I can be the one to call her, an incoming call from her appears on the touch screen and I take it instantly.
“Harmony, hello” I rub my eyes. “All in order?”
"Eva... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you too much, you just didn't answer and...”
"Yes, I understand. She was asleep. Are you okay?”
"Not really...”
I shudder when I hear her answer. Is something wrong?
"What's going on?”
“Everything was completely fine last night, but this morning Louis woke up a little down... The doctor gave him some treatments; however, it seems to me that your presence is necessary. I didn't quite understand what happened...”
I run a hand through my hair. How could I fall asleep? How could I fail?
"I'm on my way. Bye bye.”
I hang up the call and immediately run to refresh my face a little in the kitchen sink. Then I leave the building, get into my car, and start driving in the direction of the hospital. My hands tremble from impotence, imagining him like this, so weak and down. I just want it to be okay. I want everything okay. Once I arrive at the hospital, I park in a hurry and run inside the place. When I get to the bedroom, I feel tears well up in my eyes at the sight of Louis lying on the bed and I run to him.
"It's better? “I ask, looking at Harmony.
"I'm not sure. Do you want me to call the doctor?”
"Please.”
She nods and leaves the room. I take my son's hand, tears running down my cheeks and my pulse racing.
"I'm sorry" I mutter, “I'm so sorry...”
I put my hands to my head. Then the door to the room is flung open and I walk towards the doctor.
"Miss Miller" he greets me.
"Doctor... I... Is everything alright with Louis? They told me he was bad, down and...”
"Miss Miller, calm down." He gives me a kind smile. “Would you like to take a seat so we can talk more easily?”
I nod and we take seats on the small black sofas that adorn the room.
“You see, Louis was a bit down this morning. He was not feeling very well and showed signs of paleness, irritability, weakness and a lot of tiredness. But if he looks at it now, he can see that his face has taken on a lot more color.”
His comment manages to calm me down a bit when I see for myself what he just said.
"And what was that for? "I ask him..
“Louis is a leukemia patient and in some specific cases, some patients often develop anemia. He shouldn't be alarmed. It is common, I can assure you that this is not the first time I have seen this in a leukemia patient. Basically, Louis's red blood cell count is very low, and this is because the leukemia cells saturate the bone marrow and prevent the bone marrow from being able to make a normal number of red blood cells, which are responsible for carrying oxygen.”
“And will it be difficult for him to recover?” My voice shakes.
“Not at all. We will provide treatment with an iron supplement, medical check-ups more often than normal, we will give you iron-rich foods of animal origin and we will prevent you from consuming foods that hinder the absorption of iron. Normal in any anemic patient.”
"Understand. How long would it take to recover?”
"Not much time. In most cases, anemia is easy to treat and I can assure you 100 percent that Louis will be fully recovered in a matter of weeks.”
“Okay, thank you very much doctor.”
"It's nothing" he stands up. “Have a nice day.”
"Likewise.”
As soon as he leaves the room, I approach Louis, taking a seat next to him on the bed. I caress his cheeks carefully. I trust that he will improve. He is very strong.
Suddenly, Harmony walks into the room.
"All in order?” she questions “Did you talk to the doctor?”
“Yeah, he managed to calm me down a bit. It's leukemia. He informed me a little about the matter, in a few weeks he will recover.”
"Glad to hear it.”
We fall silent and I focus on Louis again, but Harmony's voice distracts me.
"What time do you go to work? I think you're a little late…” she comments.
"Shit," I mumble, standing up. The job! I completely forgot. “What time is it?”
“Eight o'clock... are you after hours?”
"Shit, yes" I give him a kiss on the cheek by way of greeting. “See you. Thanks for everything.”
"Do not thank me. Luck.”
Luck is the word I'm going to need when Mr. Hills wants to hang me for being late. Shit. What if he gets really angry? What if he considers me professional and fires me? Nerves start to get the better of me as I start the car and start driving in the direction of the company. Traffic doesn't help. The city is very congested and that only makes my nerves worse. Once I park the car, I hurry out and take the elevator that takes me to the top floor.
I've barely crossed the middle of the top floor when the doors open when Julia cuts me off.
"Eve!” Her words from her are wrapped in a slight nervousness. “You're a little late...”
"Yeah, it's just... I was busy, I forgot and... Damn," I curse softly.
“Don't worry,” she says, smiling at me. “I just... I must warn you that Mr. Hills has a terrible mood. It's one of those days when he comes giving orders left and right.”
I spit.
“And…by the way…I guess you were aware of the meeting they had in the room today, right?”
Shit! The meeting!
"Uh...yes" I say. “is it over yet?”
"No.”
Damn.
“You should go…would you like me to guide you?”
“That would be great” I swallow.
She waves for me to follow, and I do the same until we come to a stop in front of a door labeled Meeting Room in gold block letters.
"I leave you. Then you tell me how it was.”
"Sure" I outline a smile loaded with nervousness and Julia withdraws.
I take a deep breath before pushing the door that is ajar with one hand. I'm short of breath and feel a little small in the face of all the eyes that fix on me when I cross the threshold of the room. My heart flutters when Mr. Hills stops, that simple action manages to get on my nerves and makes me want to disappear.
“Miss Miller“ he pronounces, without breaking eye contact “I see she missed the hour a bit." As if the humiliation weren't enough, he looks at the watch on his wrist before turning his gaze back to me “It would have been ten minutes late, or twenty, but an hour late... don't you find it humiliating and unprofessional to arrive at whatever time my company pleases?”
“At least I came knowing that I was going to humiliate myself.”
"No. Not at all. I had a problem and...”
"I'm not interested" he interrupts me. “His problems do not concern me and I care less. The only job he had was to take care of arriving on time and in good shape.”
I open my mouth to excuse myself, but he cuts me off again.
"Sit down. Your excuses are the least of it.”
It is an order, direct and dry. I move among those present in the room and sit in what is supposed to be my place. The situation is so embarrassing that I feel my cheeks burn and my eyes fill with tears. The meeting is going on and I have no idea what they are talking about. I am very lost. I can barely write down, Mr. Hills talks so fast, it looks like he did it on purpose.
When the meeting ends, I leave the room with a terrible lump in my throat and quickly lock myself in my office. I drop my bag on the desk and slump down in my seat. The looks in the room, the reprimand from Mr. Hills... It was horrible, I know I shouldn't have been late and I should have been professional, but it was Louis. He could not absent me, I could not fail him. I know that this is irrelevant when it comes to work and more so for a man like Nicholas Hills who seems to be a frozen temple that barely shows emotion. I turn on my computer and stroke my temple in mild frustration at all the recent work I have to do. I can't concentrate on anything. I can't stop thinking about the humiliation, about the $150,000 for Louis' transplant... I only have one week left. What am I going to do now? The mistake I made today could have led me to dismissal, but it didn't, however, I have a feeling that one more mistake will lead me to nothing.
Suddenly, an idea crosses my mind. It seems crazy, but...
Don't do it, it will be in vain.