Chapter 7: How Is Your Father?

To release Kate's anxiety, the man smiled and poured a cup of tea for her and started chatting as if they were friends, "How is your father?" Kate felt her heart being stabbed by a needle. She answered awkwardly, "Just like that." The man put the cup of tea in front of her. Kate was startled by this ordinary behavior. He poured a cup for himself and took a sip. "Nice. Have the hot tea. It can help you warm up." Kate wondered what he was playing at. She was on the verge of saying, "Stop beating around the bush." But instead, she took up the cup and had a drink. She was nervous and drank too fast. The tea was too hot, and she almost wanted to spit it out. The man waited until she put down her cup and put his cup down too. He said, "Miss White, how about we make a deal." As he just said these words, the middle-aged man moved forward and put a bank card in front of Kate on the table. "There are two hundred thousand dollars on this card. It is for your father's surgery. Don't delay this anymore." Kate's eyes fell on the card about a foot away from her. She heard the sound of her saliva moving in her throat, and the next second she heard the man, with power in his voice, "You know what I want." She blurted out, "No." Realizing her reaction was negative, she added hastily, "I don't know what you want. I have things to attend to. I need to go." When she stood up, she made some noise pushing the chair back. Curly-hair was about to stop her, but his boss said calmly, "Let her go." Curly-hair turned to his partner and pursed his lips in the direction of their boss. Curly hair's partner looked back at the boss, taking up his cup of tea with ease. It was as if he knew it was in the bag. As Kate hurried back to the hospital, she ordered herself to wave away the idea, not allowing herself a chance for hesitation. She walked faster and faster, and when she got back to the ward, her back felt moist. It was noisy in the room. A few hospital staff members were there, and her mother and sister were arguing with them about something. Her mother pleaded with them, insisting that they could get the money soon and pay the hospital. But the male hospital staff said, "You can check in when you have the money ready. You know a lot of patients are waiting for a bed out there. Besides, we cannot treat him if you cannot even pay the money you owe to the hospital. There is nothing to be discussed. He has to get out of here today. This is not an asylum." Kate's usually mild-tempered sister got angry too, "How can you speak to her like that?" Her father struggled on the bed and intended to lift the quilt and get down underneath it. He coughed and said, "Let's leave this goddamn place. I want to die at home." The sound of her mother pacifying her father, her father's coughing, the hospital staff exchanging words, all mixed together and turned into a net, wrapping and trapping Kate and making her feel suffocated. In confusion, she could only see the bankcard in her brain…two hundred thousand dollars. With two hundred thousand dollars, her father could have the surgery immediately. Without the two hundred thousand dollars… After a short stalemate, her mother accepted the fate they had to face and started to pack up their things. Her sister had called her husband, and they fought over the phone, and now she was sobbing. It looked as if their last hope was broken. Kate had never had such a hard conflict inside her. She looked at her luggage at the corner of the room. It was something that did not belong to her. Besides, somebody's life might be at risk. A phone rang. The male hospital staff, coldly monitoring them, answered the phone. After a few "well" and "ah," he changed his face and said awkwardly, "You don't need to go today." "Uh?" The whole family stared at him in surprise. He waved his hand and said shortly, "Somebody paid your bills." And he added, "But you have to try to get the money ready for surgery. The resources of this hospital are tight. You have to know that." He jerked his head to the other staff, and they left together.