Collateral

Rose is waiting in the school’s parking lot until the bell rings.

Mr Johnson walks past her to the school. When he spots Rose, he walks over to her with a smile. He tries to kiss her on the cheek, but she turns her head so that his lips graze her ear instead.

“You could have told me it was an explosive device,” Rose shouts out. Some people look strangely at them.

“Please, let’s not discuss this here. Meet me tomorrow at the diner. There we can talk about all of our grievances. And I can give you the remainder of the money.”

“Fine.”

The bell rings and kids poor out of the school. Mr Johnson walks off to pick up his own child. Ellie walks to Rose. “Hi, Mom,” she says. “Did you miss me?”

“Of course I missed you. I love you.”

Ellie smiles. “I love you too, Mom.”

Rose hugs Ellie. “Today, we are giving Stephany a ride.”

“I know, Mom. Her Mom called her and said her dad was in the hospital. She is really scared. I tried to cheer her up by sharing my chocolate bar. But it didn’t work.”

“Don’t worry, he will be fine,” Rose says. She isn’t sure if she wants to convince Ellie or herself. Probably both.

Stephany walks towards them. Rose sees she has a black eye. “What happened to you?” Rose asks. “Did another kid hurt you?”

“Oh, I got banged up when I fell down the stairs,” Stephany says. “The elevator has been out for a few days.”

Rose helps Ellie into the car, watches as Stephany does the same, and starts driving.

Rose looks at Stephany. “Did your dad hurt you? Are you afraid of him?”

Stephany lowers her eyes. “I am not allowed to say.”

“You can trust me.”

Stephany looks at Ellie, and back at Rose.

“My dad was very angry last night. My Mom was home very late, and my dad wanted to know where she was. And then he, he -”

She stops talking and just starts crying. Ellie puts her hand on Stephany’s shoulder.

“When we get there, we’ll go straight to the children’s ward. You need to get your eye checked out.” Rose says.

Rose arrives at the hospital and gets out with Ellie and Stephany. They walk inside the hospital and meet the receptionist. She has bright pink hair and a large cybernetic eye.

“I like your eye,” Ellie says.

The receptionist smiles. “Thank you. These cybernetics are very handy and practical. They truly make my work easier. I am telling you, they are the future.”

She looks over to Rose. “Why are you here?”

“I want this girl,” She points at Stephany. “To be treated for her black eye,”

“Are you her mother?”

“No, I am not. She is the daughter of my boss.”

“Then why do you want a doctor?”

Rose is perplexed. “Are you kidding me? This child is hurt. I want her to be checked out. Head injuries are no joke.”

The receptionist sighs. “Let me get you an administrator. Please take a seat in our waiting area.”

The waiting area is very full, but Rose manager to find two empty seats. She sits down in one and puts Ellie on her lap. Stephany goes to sit in the other one.

After a wait of ten minutes, a man in a suit walks over to them.

“Good afternoon. I hear you wanted to have a little girl checked out, that isn’t yours.”

“Yes.”

He looks over to Stephany, holding a strange device. “Can you look at me and hold your head still? I need to place this over your eye.”

“Okay.”

The man scans her eye with the device, and some light blinks on the screen.

“How bad is it?”

The man looks confused. “How bad is what?”

“Her eye!” Rose exclaims.

“Oh, this device is not for assessing the damage to her eye. I was scanning her iris to see if the is insured.”

“Insurance? are you kidding me?”

“Turns out she is insured on her father’s plan, but can only be threatened with his explicit permissions.”

“Her father is in a coma.”

“Well, in that case, I am afraid she is out of luck. You can go home.”

Rose puts Ellie on the ground and stands up.

“What if I pay out of pocket? She can still get treatment, right?”

“You have to pay the full price. But you will get a discount if you pay with cash. And we need twelve thousand eurodollars in collateral first.”

Rose picks the credstick from her pocket. “This should be enough, right?”

“Yes, this will be plenty.”

He walks over to the terminal and removes most of the money.

“A doctor will be with you shortly. You can wait in our private waiting room.”

“Thank you,” says Rose. But she doesn’t mean it.