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"You want me to apologize to her?"
I almost thought I'd misheard, staring at Leigh in disbelief.
Leigh nodded, dead serious.
"Of course you apologize. She's dosing your mom that way for a reason. You're not a doctor, you don't understand any of this. Stop making trouble for her, all right?"
"And Muriel's already worn out from work all day. You've got the nerve to march in and question her? Why are you being so difficult?"
I looked at him and asked.
"I'm making trouble for her? I'm the one being difficult?"
"Leigh, whose side are you actually on here?"
"Do you even hear yourself right now!"
His eyes flicked away from mine.
He stepped closer, lowered his voice, and softened it.
"Vivi, I got ahead of myself. That was wrong of me."
"Let's not argue about who's right and who's wrong."
"What matters right now is your mother's condition. Even if you won't think of yourself, you have to think of your mom, don't you?"
"You've already spent this much money,"
"and if you give up now, or worse, transfer hospitals, what happens if something goes wrong in the middle of it?"
It struck me as absurd.
"So what you're saying is, Muriel is the best doctor in the whole city, and without her no one else can treat my mother?"
Leigh frowned.
"You're just being contrary now, aren't you?"
"Of course Muriel doesn't stand for every doctor in the city."
"But there's nothing to fault about her skill. Otherwise I never would have referred you to this hospital and to her."
"And even if you don't understand medicine, don't you have any common sense?"
"A doctor needs to know the patient's condition at every moment to prescribe the right treatment and treat them properly."
"That has very little to do with how good the doctor is."
I fell silent.
I had to admit it. What he'd just said wasn't wrong.
Seeing me go quiet, Leigh pressed on.
"You've already spent this much. If you transfer now, not only is all that money wasted, but another doctor won't know your mother's condition either."
"You don't want your mom to end up in danger because of your outburst, do you?"
That line hit the fear buried deepest in me.
I lowered my head and asked.
"Then what do you think I should do?"
A smile touched the corner of Leigh's mouth.
"Good girl. Go apologize to Dr. Pruitt right now, then go pay the bill."
I looked at him.
"You really want me to go apologize?"
Leigh took my hand, gentle again.
"What matters most right now is whether your mom gets better, not the money. And what's your personal pride worth next to that?"
Looking at him, the man in front of me felt like a stranger.
Was he really my boyfriend?
Or did he look more like Muriel's?
Before I could hesitate, he was already pulling me to Muriel's office and pushing me inside.
"Muriel, don't take it to heart. I've brought Augusta to apologize to you."
He didn't give me a second to think, just shoved me a step forward.
"Well? Apologize."
It sat wrong with me.
But I thought of my mother, and lowered my head.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Pruitt. I was too anxious."
Muriel swept a contemptuous glance over me.
"Since you know you were wrong, go pay the bill."
Her attitude left me sick to my stomach.
But Leigh urged me on.
"Did you hear her? Go pay, and no more of this nonsense."
I nodded, and as I turned to leave, I saw Leigh was still standing in the office.
Muriel looked at me coldly.
Leigh turned back and said,
"You go pay. I need to talk to Muriel about something. Close the door on your way out."
I gave the two of them a long look, then left.
I paid at the billing department, and the tightness in my chest only grew worse.
I went to the ward.
When Mom saw me, she said,
"Vivi, take me home."
I took her hand.
"Mom, this is the critical stage of your treatment. How can we go home now?"
She shook her head.
"I know my own illness, sweetheart. Stop treating it. No amount of money is going to help."
"You're still young. You have so many things you'll need money for. Don't waste any more of it on me."
The tears came before I could stop them, and I held her.
"Mom, don't talk like that. You have to work with the doctors. You'll get better. You will."
I held her like that until she fell asleep.
And I made up my mind. No matter how much it cost me, no matter how much I had to swallow, I would endure it.
That night, I stepped out to get something to eat, and it was right then that the hospital called to say my mother had suddenly taken a turn for the worse and been rushed into the ICU.
