4: 4
4
I didn't care that my mother had been having stomach trouble all day; I rushed straight to the hospital.
But by the time I got back.
The doctors were already coming out of the resuscitation room.
When she saw me, Muriel said coldly:
"We're sorry, ma'am. We did everything we could."
"What did you say!"
The whole world caved in.
Muriel looked at me and said, without a shred of feeling:
"You should start preparing for the funeral."
She dropped that and walked off.
There was no way I was letting her go.
I ran after her and grabbed her wrist:
"Dr. Pruitt, my mother wasn't this bad when she came in. It's only been a month. How is she gone?"
"Answer me. Answer me!"
I couldn't stop myself. My hand cracked across Muriel's face.
Nurses came running and pulled me back.
Everything went black in front of me, and I fainted.
Right before my eyes closed, I dimly heard Muriel's cold, mocking voice:
"This is absurd. If every patient's family blamed the doctor for everything like this, how are any of us supposed to do our jobs?"
When I came to again.
Leigh was sitting beside me:
"Life and death can't be fought. Let your mother rest in peace. Bury her soon."
"Get out!"
I shoved Leigh away.
His brow furrowed:
"Augusta, I know you're hurting, but this is something no one can stop. You have to learn to face reality!"
I couldn't hold it in anymore and screamed at him:
"Reality is, you recommended this hospital to me, and on top of the outrageous bills, they killed my mother!"
Leigh's eyes went cold:
"You've lost your mind. I'll come back when you've calmed down."
He turned and left.
I noticed the bracelet he'd given me on my wrist, took it off, meaning to give it back.
I chased him out of the room.
I was about to turn the corner in the hallway when I heard Muriel and Leigh's voices:
"How's she doing?"
"Very unstable."
"She's a lunatic. Her mother dying has nothing to do with me, and she still slapped me."
"Don't be upset, Muriel. When you're off work, let me take you to dinner."
I listened to how tender Leigh's voice got with Muriel.
My heart skipped a beat.
I couldn't take another second. I burst out, yanked off the bracelet, and hurled it hard into Leigh's face, then turned and walked away.
Three days later.
I was still at home handling my mother's funeral.
My relatives came up one by one to comfort me, telling me not to grieve too much.
That was when the call came from the hospital billing department:
"Hello, is this Ms. Henson?"
I asked:
"What is it?"
The voice on the other end said:
"Your mother's treatment fees are due. To avoid affecting her ongoing treatment, would it be convenient for you to come to the hospital and pay now?"
I froze:
"You—what did you say? My mother's treatment fees? Didn't I already pay?"
The other side said:
"You paid three days ago. Over the three days since, the outstanding balance comes to a hundred sixty-three thousand four hundred fifty-two dollars. Would it be convenient for you to come pay now?"
"What!"
I couldn't hold back anymore.
Every humiliation before this, I'd swallowed for my mother's sake.
But my mother had been dead for three days!
Were they still treating a dead woman?
Nobody bullies people like this!
This was too far.
I slammed my fist hard against the floor.
The people around me asked what was wrong.
I looked up at my mother's photo on the funeral altar, and inside I went calm instead.
Fine.
So they prey on honest people.
So they run drug treatments on a corpse.
Everything before, maybe the hospital and Muriel could fool me by saying I didn't understand. Am I not going to understand this time either?
In that case, I'll pay.
I was still in my mourning clothes, and I didn't bother taking them off.
I went straight to the hospital to pay just like that.
The moment I finished paying, Leigh showed up at the hospital and called out in irritation:
"Augusta, are you here to give Muriel trouble again?"
"Didn't I tell you? Muriel did everything she could. There's no point coming after her!"
I watched him, then held up the receipt I'd just paid, showing it to Leigh and to everyone lined up to pay around us.
I said in a loud voice:
"Of course I believe Dr. Pruitt did everything she could."
"After all, my mother has been dead for three days, and she's still running tens of thousands of dollars in drug treatments on her every single day!"
"Now, I'm going to take this proof to the hospital director, and I'm going to take it to the law, and to everyone in this whole society, and ask them exactly how a doctor treats a dead woman!"
