Chapter 42 - Chapter 41

@International_Pen

((( CLAIRE )))

She stayed long in the comfort room and as minutes passed by, I heard her sobbing.  

"Are you alright?" I asked worriedly when I pried the door open.

She immediately snatched something and held it tight in her hands to keep me from seeing whatever it was.

"Amy…"

I held my hands up my mouth when she retched again,

"Don't tell me you're…"

"Yes, I am. Alright," abundant tears fell off her cheeks as she wiped her mouth messily with her clenched palm.

"I'm pregnant! Happy now?"

I was speechless.  

She ran off again and isolated herself back to the room. Her confession deafened me for a bit until some more noise erupted outside our house. Some yelling forced me to go out.

"Clarita," somebody panted as he ran to me.

"Your brother…Dexter was taken to the hospital! He was mugged."

My knees suddenly felt weak. When tragedy comes to me, it usually happens one after another. The sickening image of Dexter as he was being stabbed entered my mind. Something twirled inside my stomach and cold sweat fell like raindrops on my back.  

Some concerned neighbor took me to the hospital where Dexter was admitted. Out of all the victims of the mugging, he has the most critical condition. Knowing we don't have any money for the expense of a possible surgery, I expected the worse to happen.

"Anybody here a relative of Mr. Dexter Masadra?" a nurse calmly asked as she craned her neck at the crowd gathered near the emergency room.  

"I am," I raised my hand to catch her attention. "I am his sister."

"Miss, your brother needs to undergo an operation for the penetrating injuries he acquired from the stabbing," she stated as she handed me a prescription of medicines my brother would need.  

My mind cleared all the things she had said and left out the word operation which, for me, sounded lavishly expensive.

"O…operation?" I stuttered.

"How much will it possibly cost?"

"The doctor will explain to you what you needed to know," she replied then left me standing completely surprised.

My feet carried me senselessly to the doctor who looked indifferent to the tears that were starting to fall down the corners of my eyes.  

"Right now the patient is up for surgery. The knife hit an organ and caused bleeding in his peritoneal cavity. We have to control the hemorrhage and after, blood transfusion is necessary. "

"H-how much will it cost?" I stammered at his words.  

"With several procedures that have to be done, it will take you at least two hundred thousand or more."

I felt weaker than I already am.  

@International_Pen