A Deal With The Billionaire

EPISODE FIFTEEN

Theme: Pilocytic Astrocyma

CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATE OF AMERICA

THE GOLDEN RESTAURANT

Raven could only read Jordan’s lips and every other noise in the room sounded like an echo. It was as if she was in an entirely different world; so dark and she was the only human in it.

Tiana shook her head when she noticed that Raven already zoned out completely. “Raven! Get a grip of yourself! Rowan needs you!” She snapped.

And only then did Raven finally got a hold of herself. Without thinking straight, Raven held onto Jordan’s shirt.

“Where did… you say my son is right… now?” Raven’s voice came out as a shaky rasp.

“At… at… at… the…”

“Speak up, Jordan!” Raven snarled at the young man who was confused by her action.

Tiana rubbed her temples in frustration. Raven’s sudden outburst and reaction had gotten the attention of the other workers in the kitchen. And they all began to mumble amongst themselves.

“At Hartford Memorial Hospital.” Jordan said finally and Raven let go of him immediately.

Tiana clapped her hands together to get the workers attention. She cleared her throat.

“Listen guys, I want to believe we are more interested in satisfying our customers than being up for some gossips.” She raised an eyebrow at them daring anyone to counter her. “I thought so. Now everyone get back to work!” Her tone was stern.

And while she was talking, Raven already got a hold of herself and she pulled off the apron she had on her body.

“You need me to drive you?” Tiana offered with a face creased with worry.

Raven sighed. “No Tiana, I will be fine. I need to rush over now, I will let you know how it goes.” She said before rushing out of the kitchen.

She changed her attire and rushed out of the restaurant barely taking too much breaths.

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HARTFORD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Raven drove down the highway like someone who already has a death wish. And it was a saving grace that she didn’t crash or for her to get pulled over by the police van.

Finally she reached her destination. She found a place to park to avoid waiting time to get a parking ticket. She sprinted down to the hospital entrance and through the long hallway. She didn’t have to stop at the reception desk for confirmation of the ward that her son might be in because she had put a call across to her mother and was told that Rowan was in the children emergency ward.

Raven saw her mother sitting with a forlorn look, the woman was definitely lost in thought.

“Mom.” Raven’s heart dropped below her belly, she could feel whatever she was going to hear wouldn’t be any form of good news.

Her mother glanced her way. “What happened to my son?” Raven sat next to her mother and rested her head on her shoulder. It seems like the best position to receive comfort.

“Raven.” Eva sighed. “I received a call from the school that Rowan passed out during a football game. According to the coach, he had gotten a ball hit to his head from an opponent player and it was not intentional. The boy in question had no thought of hurting Rowan so it was a mere game injury.” She explained with a croaked voice. She had been crying since she arrived at the hospital.

“So what’s going on with my baby?” Raven asked with a far off tune. She leaned her head up.

Eva sat upright and repositioned her body to face her daughter. “I have no idea, Raven. The doctor is yet to say anything. We just got in about forty minutes ago. I had called you the moment I left the house but you were not picking up.” She pointed at one of the wards. “He is in there.”

Raven let out a sigh. “I wasn’t with my phone. And it is a good thing that you called the restaurant.”

“I think they are running some test on Rowan.” Eva said.

As if on cue, the doctor came out of the ward Eva had specified to her daughter. Raven stood up in a hurry and rushed towards the doctor.

The man looked like he was in his early thirties with an oblong face that could have been more attractive if t wasn’t looking so stressed.

“And you are?” The doctor asked.

Raven coughed lightly. “Sorry. I am Raven McKenna. Rowan McKenna’s mom. I mean the little boy they rushed in a while ago. And this is my mom, Eva McKenna.” She rushed out her words.

“Nice to meet you, Raven. I am doctor Benson…”

Raven didn’t wait for the man to introduce himself further before interrupting him. “Please how is my son?”

“I am sorry to say this to you. He is in coma.” Doctor Benson stated as a matter of fact.

“What?!” Raven and her mother gasped out in shock.

“The hit on his head must have been very lethal. We couldn’t do much as the effect of the hit on his head had gotten to his consciousness before he got here. And from the test we carried out and the diagnosis shows that the little boy has Pilocytic Astrocyma Brain Tumor.”

“Po… po… ly… poly what?” Raven queried in confusion.

“Doctor, what does that even mean?” Eva’s palms were sweaty and she could feel her knee growing weak each second.

“It simply means that a tumor is growing in his head. Pilocytic Astrocyma is a grade one tumor that originates from star shaped cells called astrocytes. It is like a kind of glial cell that support and nourish neurons in the brain. One of the major symptoms is severe headache. I don’t know if he complains about that often.”

Eva and Raven exchanged glances. “Yes he complains of headache every time but I always administer pain relief medication for his age. This sounds like a serious ailment.”

Doctor Benson shook his head. “Yes.” He implied.

“So what’s the solution?” Raven asked.

“He needs an immediate surgery to enable the removal before the tumor grows bigger and ruptures. And if that happens, I am afraid that we would lose him.”

Raven’s heart broke at the doctor’s words. “How soon does he needs to get the surgery?” She questioned.

“As soon as possible. It implies that he needs to do the surgery within the next forty eight hours which starts now.” Doctor Benson glanced down at his wrist watch. “He would be moved to the intensive care unit till all the necessary procedures are done. You can get the medical bill from the front desk.” And without waiting for their response, the doctor walked away.

A nurse stepped out of the ward and went the same way.

Raven sniffed as she held onto her bag. “Mom stay here and watch them move him while I go and get the medical bill.”

Just then, the emergency room door opened and Rowan was moved out on a stretcher. They rushed to him. Rowan looked lifeless with the oxygen tube strapped to his face. Raven had to control the urge to breakdown next to her son.

Eva have her daughter a side glance. Raven was already looking five years older than her normal age. And it made Eva’s heart ache at how miserable she looked.

“Go and get the bill, Raven. I will look after him.” Eva reassured her with a pat on the shoulder.

Raven nodded slowly before walking away. She went to the front desk to meet the nurse who was also the cashier. A petite pretty looking nurse smiled at her but it didn’t make Raven feel at ease.

“Hello ma’am, how may I help you?”

“I would like to get the medical bill for Rowan McKenna.” Raven answered after letting out a huge sigh.

“Ok. Just a minute please.” The nurse said as she typed on the computer keyboard. The look on her face didn’t sit well with Raven because the smile faded too quickly and was replaced with a sad look.

She printed out the bill and handed it over to Raven. “Ma’am, here you go.”

Raven’s leg almost gave out at the numbers that was boldly written on the leaflet. She couldn’t believe her eyes. “Is this really mine?” She asked in a tight whisper.

The young nurse shook her head positively with a sorry look on her expression. “I am sorry it is ma’am.”

Raven moved away from the desk and found a nearest seat to calm her nerves. It was stated in the printed paper that the whole procedure would cost fifty thousand dollars and a down payment of forty thousand dollars has to be made before surgery could be done on her son.

Raven’s heart raced. Her thoughts ran wild like a marathon even as she tried to keep up with reality. Where was she going to find such huge amount of money? She thought.

Remembering the doctor’s warning; the surgery has to be carried out within the next forty eight hours. Was she supposed to rob a bank? Even if the idea seem viable she would still need money to purchase necessary tools to fight off the security at the bank. But she couldn’t even pull a trigger. Raven almost laughed at her silly thought.

Looking at the bill again and her eyes watered. She only has five thousand dollars in her savings. To make matter worse, Rowan didn’t have his own health insurance yet, which means there was little to nothing her own insurance could do.

Tears trickled down her face as she wondered how it all went wrong within few hours. Her little boy was doing perfectly fine few hours ago.

Raven held the bill to her chest as she let the tears drop uncontrollably. Several minutes later, she stood up, tried to find the restroom and tidied up her face.

Raven hated to be seen as she shattered by her mother whom was obviously trying so hard to keep up with the faith. She left the restroom and asked for direction to the intensive care unit. When Raven got it, she increased her pace to reach her son.

On getting to the intensive care unit, Raven couldn’t hold back the tears again. Her son was hooked on so many tubes that were obviously serving as his life saver.

“Raven.” Eva called out to her daughter on sighting her face through the transparent glass on the door. She stepped out of the ward and went to her.

“Mom.” Raven sobbed as she embraced her mother.

“How much is it?” Eva asked in a shaky tone.

Without saying anything, Raven pulled out of the embrace and gave her mother the bill. Eva gasped out as she held on to her chest. Seeing that her mother might suffer from mild heart attack, she snatched the bill away from her hands.

“Mom, you don’t have to worry.” Raven assured as she dabbed her hand over her face. “I already made some calls. I will get the money soon.”

“Please do, Raven. I don’t know what I would do to myself if we lose Rowan.” Eva’s eyes were red and it was obvious that she had been crying really hard.

Raven took her mother’s hand and gave it a small squeeze. “I will do my very best mom. Nothing will happen to my son… your grandchild.”

Eva sighed as they both stared at the boy for some seconds. Once again, Raven remembered that she didn’t have much time on hand.

“I have to go ahead now. I will get you some clothes to change in as soon as I am free.”

Raven waved goodbye to her mom with a promise that she would return with good news.

She walked out of the hospital. She dialed a number on her phone and the receiver picked on the second ring.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

‘I need to see you urgently.’ Raven said to the receiver.