SWNOVELS Chapter 37
37. Why people are so judgmental?
I’ve never wanted to strangle someone so badly.
By now the other nurses in the reception are also paying their attention to us, and most of them had varying expressions on their
faces. Some looked pissed off while others looked sympathetic. But none of them came forward to rectify the nurse who was
talking to me.
Her name tag reads Clara.
“Fine, then,” I grow!, “I will pay for everything. Add all the charges to my account. I’ll give you all the information.”
The nurse’s mouth quirks downwards, and she gives me a distasteful look. For a split second, I wonder. what I must look like.
Somehow, I’d lost my jacket, and the light blue shirt that I wore underneath was covered with blood and grime. My hands are
covered with blood as well, drying in the temperature of the room. My hair is disheveled from the wind and running my fingers
through it. My expression must be close to insane. I don’t even want to think about the state of my pants and shoes.
I really need to take a shower to even gain a semblance of normalcy and sanity.
But that is no reason for her to judge me the way she is clearly doing. Clara seems to be awfully judgmental.
“Forgive me, sir,” she says in a tone that does not feel forgivable, “but I have some reservations. Perhaps. it would be better if we
wait for the patient’s parents to arrive before going on further. You do not seem to be the soundest person to make decisions on
behalf of the patient, given your situation.”
“What?”
“You’re clearly shocked. Perhaps you should sit down?”
“No!” I reply, trying my hardest to keep my cool, “I will not be sitting down anytime soon, nurse Clara. Please put my name down
to be charged for Coraline’s hospital bills. It should not be so damn hard.”
“Sir, if you insist on making a scene, I might need to call security. You are not the patient’s family or legal guardian to make
decisions on her behalf.”
“I’m her boss!”
Clara’s eyebrows rise to her scalp, “somehow, I doubt that.”
I see red at that and take a step towards her. I do not mean to attack her, more so to discuss this issue with her more thoroughly.
I will never let myself stoop low enough to beat a woman. But I see a warning sign go off in her eyes, and she purses her lips
before pressing a red colored button on her desk. Then she talks to the microphone in front of her.
“Security, there is a threatening man at the reception table. Please come and escort him out!”
“What? I was not threatening you! What the hell, I just want to save my friend, let go of me!”
The security guards appear almost out of thin air and clutch me by the arms. They drag me out of the hospital, even when I try to
comply with them. As we near the main entrance, they push me out, disregarding my previously stated ‘shock”.
What kind of a hospital is this? Was it specifically built to cater douchebags? And to think that I once thought this was a good,
humane organization.
“Well, I’ll fucking show you,” I growl to myself and fish out my phone from my pocket and angrily punch at number in my contacts,
which added about twelve days ago at the insistent of one of my father’s dinner
guests who struck a conversation with throughout the boringly formal affair. After a few rings, the contact
takes the call.
“Hello, Jace! I was expecting to hear from you!” the man on the other end exclaims, “are you finally going to take me up on the
offer to go golfing?”
“Hello, Pat. I’m afraid that will have to wait. See, I have a problem here, and I believe you’re the only person here capable of
solving this.”
“What do you mean, my newest friend?”
“One of my employees wounded up-no pun intended- in your hospital after a goddamned shootout, and she got a little dispute
with her insurance policy, so I asked your lovely reception nurses to put her charges to my account,” I explain, “but they refused.”
“What? That is absurd, why would they refuse? That’s the normal protocol! Granted we don’t really work with disputed insurance
policies, but as long as there is a payment method, the staff is obliged to have it.”
“Well, I guess this specific nurse didn’t get the memo then. Look, I’m sorry to disturb you at this time of the day. But if you can
give them a call or something, that’ll be appreciated. When I tried to talk with them, the nurse asked the security officers to throw
me out.” I do feel bad for telling on the nurse Pat, but she left me no choice.
“This is totally out of line, especially for a nurse in my hospital. I am actually in the building, Jace, and I will be down there in a
moment’s time! We’ll sort this out with my staff and call the to give you an extensive apology.” Pat sounds downright pissed, and
he ends the call immediately.
I take a seat in front of the hospital on a bench and wait. The security guards outside give me threatening looks, but I ignore
them. Then finally one of them makes his toward me.
“Sir,” he tells me. “We do not want any trouble here. You were clearly escorted outside the hospital for a
reason-”
“My friend who is also my employee got shot right in front of me and is in the hospital for surgery. She got an insurance policy
dispute,” I reply without letting the man finish, “and your hospital refuses to let me pay for her. So, no, I am waiting here until this
is solved. I won’t leave my friend like that.”
The security guard tries to say something, but he is cut off by the arrival of Pat.
“Jace, there you are,” Pat makes his way toward me, and the security guard’s jaw hits the floor.
“Director Wright! What are you doing here, sir?”