Gianna’s POV

“Please, just give me some more time”I was almost on my knees. Tears rolled down my cheeks like no man’s business as I begged with all that I had. “Gianna, you need to understand that this is not a charity home. This is a business”What kind of doctor told a patient that a hospital was just a business to them? How was a patient supposed to get better when they were being told that they were going to be thrown out? I sniffled and clasped my hands together, my sight blurred by tears that were overflowing. “I promise that I’ll have your money by the end of the week. I promise”The doctor shoved his hands in to the pockets of his coat and looked around. The interaction was as uncomfortable for him as it was for me. I didn’t care about pride. I would roll on the floor if it was necessary as long as we remained in the hospital and weren’t thrown out. I was ready to pick up as many shifts as I needed to at the diner if it meant scrapping a few more dollars together. Who cared about time to sleep or eat? Besides, personal hygiene was overrated anyway. “Listen, Gianna. I’ve done all I can to help you. The board is on my neck about the fees”I looked at my mother who was still in bed, sleeping completely and blissfully unaware of what was about to happen to both of us. Tears flowed down my cheeks unchecked. After my mothers sudden diagnosis with stroke and eventually, some extent of brain damage, my life had taken a 360 degrees turn and I didn’t see any end in sight. “How long can you give me to come up with the money?”I brought my hands up to my cheeks and scrubbed them of tears. He brought out his phone and typed on it for a while. I assumed that he was communicating with someone so I kept quiet and prayed to whatever higher powers could hear me that what I was going to be told was going to end up being good news. Whatever he read didn’t seem to be very favorable because the crease between his eyebrows deepened. When he raised his head to set his gaze on me, I just knew that I wasn’t going to like what he was going to say to me. “I can only give you the next two hours. If the payment isn’t effected, I’ll have to get security to escort you out”Was he serious? No, were they serious? It wasn’t like I hadn’t paid anything. It wasn’t like i was some freeloader taking advantage of their kindness and hopsital. When my mother was rushed in and I was called to provide a deposit before surgery could be carried out on her to at least live, I withdrew all our life savings including the little that I was able to put away to see me through the period after school before I got a job. I gave all of that to them and the surgery was carried out but they were acting like none of that happened and they didn’t remember any of it. “Two hours?”How was I meant to come up with more than half of a 100, 000 dollars in two hours? Was I expected to go rob a bank? The doctor didn’t respond to me and if it were not for the fear that more bills were going to end up being stacked, I would have passed out just to have a moment to rest and take in breaths. “That’s too little time for me to raise the money”“Then, I’m sorry but you’d have to leave”Only a while ago, I was few months away from finally getting my degree in marketing and communications with a minor in business administration. Because of how focused I was in school, I was the only one who could boast of a 4.0 GPA and I had the position of valedictorian in my grasp but one phone call from the emergency room had changed everything. In less than 3 months, I had gone from being a stellar student with a bright future in the corporate world ahead of me to being saddled with numerous debts because of my mothers medical expenses that seemed to tower more and more as the days went by. “What if I do this…”My mind was reeling trying to think of a solution to give my mother so that the doctor could allow us stay a while longer while I picked up more shifts at the diner which was the only place I was able to get a job as a college drop out. “What if I brought my social security number and my other documents to you?”The doctor frowned at me. “And what would those be for?”“You can hold them as collateral till when I bring the rest of the money”He shook his head and walked towards the door. His pager at his waist was blinking and I knew that he was being summoned to another room possibly by another patient. Time was running out and I wasn’t sure what I was going to be able to do for my mother. “You have two hours. For the sake of your mother, I would give you the grace to leave without being thrown out. Please, don’t exceed the time that you’ve been given”With those words, he gave me his back and he was out of the room. I slid to the floor and crumpled into tears, the only sound in the room the beeping of the machines that my mother was hooked up to. “I’ve failed you, mum. I’m so sorry”It hurt that after everything my mother went through to see me through college, with her even going without meals on some days just so I was well fed to attend my classes, I could not pay her back by covering the expense of her medical bills. “Gianna”I heard a voice call out to me softly. I raised my head up and saw that my mother was blinking at me. I stood up and walked over to where she was laying. I got rid of the fear and the sad expression that I was sporting earlier and smiled up at her. She raised her hand and tried to touch my face but she was too far away so I had to move closer to her. “Yes, mum?”I smiled up at her and she smiled back weakly. “What did the doctor say?”Wasn’t she sleeping? How did she know that the doctor was in the room with us earlier?“Nothing to worry about mum. I’ll handle it”Her face crumpled and she started to cry. I raised my hands up to her face. “Please don’t cry. I’ll handle it, I promise “I was making a lot of promises that I didn’t know how I was going to end up fulfilling but I was going to try my best. “I’m sorry, Gia”It had been a while since I heard my nickname from my mothers lips and it reminded me of a time where things weren’t perfect, but they were rosy. We were both happy. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, mum”I was holding onto my emotions so tightly so I didn’t end up crying in front of her but seeing her the way she was, laying in bed and apologizing to me for a reason that I still didn’t understand, made my eyes water again. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry”She kept on apologizing and despite how much I tried to calm her down, she refused to stop. Before long, the machines started beeping rapidly and I was pushed to the side and eventually out of the room as doctors and nurses rushed in to check in on her as she had suddenly started shaking on the bed.