MP CH 5 (Patreon)

The atmosphere was tense and Cecilia seemed to desperately beg him to promise her this.

"Mom."

"Please. I have never asked you anything. But this once. just this once. Please listen to me. "

Adam sighed. It was the first time he had seen her beg him. Cecilia was a proud mountain who could move mountains with her will. A strength of nature he had always respected.

Seeing her so vulnerable was heartrending. Still, he could not accept this. He had just started his new part-time job and he couldn’t just skip without forewarning. The pay was too good to pass. This was even more so in the current situation.

He was about to argue his point but the deafening clicks of heels echoed outside the room, interrupting him before he could continue. Then the door gently opened.

A mature woman strutted into the room. Sweat made her brown hair cling to her face, and her labored breaths were obvious to every eye.

“Cecilia! How are you!?”

Who else but Shuri?

‘Aren’t you the one who told me to stay calm?’

Adam could only give a dumbfounded laugh but his heart also warmed up. In life there was no need to have hundreds of fake friends. Only a small circle of friends you know would always have your back no matter what.

After Shuri came, Cecilia could only let go and began discussing with Shuri.

Finally, they could only reluctantly leave in order to let her rest.

—-

Walking out, he slowly closed the door while waving for one last time at his mother.

"Hello, could you please bring us to the doctor?"

Adam stopped a nurse and politely asked before promptly following her as she motioned him to do so.

Behind, Shuri still had a worried expression.

She has been friends with Cecilia for a for nearly twenty years now and she knew very well that despite her generally healthy body, Cecilia would always fall sick during this period.

Until now, while it was a recurring disease, it had become so common that she had stopped paying attention.

Even more so since it would only last a few days before she was back to being a muscle-brained woman.

But this time…

'I hope it won't be too much of a problem.'

—-

A moment later, Adam and Shuri both walked out of the hospital with somber expressions.

Clearly, the news delivered by the doctor was not pretty.

"Will you go back with me?"

"Do not worry, I can take care of myself, I just need to think alone for a short."

Shuri grimaced at the polite way Adam rejected. She could feel that he was absolutely dejected and indeed needed some time to think.

She was hesitant about what she should do now. But at least she knew she needed to go to work fast. Her husband was traveling. Not that she cared. She knew what all his “Work travel” were all about.

She would take care of this later and thankfully she didn’t have any big case on her hand currently.
‘I guess I will give some chances to the interns.’

The faster she freed herself from all her papers, the faster she could come came and take care of Cecilia. There was no way she was going to let her friend alone there.

They also needed to break the news to her. No matter how bleak it was. She knew her friend didn’t need anyone to babysit her by going around and hiding the truth.

“Will you come back with me to the campus?”

Adam shook his head before giving a simple smile, “Go on. I need to go home.”

Then before walking away he stopped, “Thanks Shuri. Thanks for everything you are doing for us. I promise I will repay you.”

—--

A few minutes later, after walking aimlessly, Adam reached a bench. Even though it was the middle of the week, he could see some family walking around, laughing and having fun.

He blankly looked at all this while remembering the talk with the doctor.

His mother was in urgent need of a transplanting operation. Her heart was suffering from a deficiency.

The exact causes of such deficiency in his mother’s heart were still unknown. They summarized that they needed more tests to be sure. But knowing why wouldn’t change the problem at hand.

What mattered was how to save her.

'I need money. A great deal of money.'

With how developed technology was nowadays, heart transplant surgery wasn't particularly complicated or dangerous. Though the after-effects could be quite dangerous, it was something that could also be worked on quite easily.

As such, the main problem was nothing more than money. Not only was the cost of the operation insane, but the most important aftercare to avoid rejection was no joke.

‘One million dollars, just for the first years.’

Adam could only chuckle helplessly.

The pre-transplant, procurement, hospital admission, physicians fees, post-transplant fees, and immuno-suppressants.

When all of these fees are factored in, a heart transplant would cost around $997,700 at minimum after the insurance did the work. Generally one should expect an average cost of $1.6M.

All of this for just the first year and if there was no complication. After that, in order to survive, one would still need to buy and use immuno-suppressants for all their life, which would be around a hundred thousand every month.

Cecilia was a courageous mother who did very well for herself despite the situation. But they were barely middle class. More like lower class.

The very fact that they had a house for themselves in L. A was thanks to Shuri, as they were tenants in one of her houses. Shuri wanted to give one for free but Cecilia would have never accepted and this was the result.

The worst part of the current situation was that those millions weren’t even the biggest problem.

Hearts didn’t grow on tree.

Not only was a compatible heart wasn't something easy to get in a short time, on any given day, but there are more than 3,100 people in the United States who were on the waitlist and 49% of the people who are on the heart transplantation wait list have been waiting for over a year.

Time during which they would have to spend even more money.

Even if they eventually choose to go to to another country to get a heart, he doubted they would let them skip the line.

To get a heart transplant, one needed money and influence. Of which they had none.

"Shit!"

Adam cursed out loud, startling the few people walking near him and causing some parents to hold the hand of their children tightly and accelerate to leave the zone.

Adam didn’t care that he was being looked at like a raving lunatic. He closed his eyes in order to calm the frustration before finally letting out a sigh.

Cursing and complaining were just a futile waste of time. Such time would be better used for something more productive.

Calming down, he took out his phone and switched the screen on, and entered his contact list before stopping at a particular name.

[Boss]

Dialing the number, it didn't take long for him to be answered.

[Hello, my favorite worker.]

The gentle voice of a woman sounded in his ear. Filled with teasing undertone. Still, he knew that one should never get fooled by her.

"Hello boss, I just wanted to ask if the proposal you made a few days ago was still valid."

[Hum… Indeed, none of my other boys have the right profile. But why, I thought your mom didn’t want you to work with me?]

“It doesn’t matter now, does it?”

[Hum. You are right. So, ready to take the job?]

"Yes. As long as we follow the old rules then I will take this job.”

He could hear her laugh lightly from the speaker.

[Happy to have you back, boy. Working with you is always such a pleasure. Come to the bar tonight at seven. Bye-bye!]

Once the call ended, Adam massaged his forehead.

His mother didn’t like him walking around this kind of people. But he knew very well that getting money the normal way was impossible.

Thankfully, even though the new job she wanted him to take was sketchy, it was still better than working as a fighter in the cage and much less dangerous.
He remembered his mother asking him to be home by midnight to honor this day. But he had no other choice.

He didn’t want to lose his second mother.