Chapter one

DANIELLE CARTER

I get out of my car with urgency not even bothering whether I had parked well in the hospital parking lot. the car door closes with a bang and I run into the busy hospital, not caring about the patients they were wheeling in and out of the hospital or the crazy strong smell of drugs and sick people I hated the hospitals a lot.

I could not calm down or think of any other thing but the call I had received from the police earlier. I was sitting at home watching a reality show when the call had come in through Carlos's phone. the joy of picking up the call from my fiance was cut short when instead of his sweet Spanish accent I heard the siren of a police car and a middle-aged man telling me on the phone that my fiance had just gotten into an accident.

" Ma'am would you please move out of the way " I ignore the voice again and keep running till I get into the waiting room area, I sight the counter where some nurses are standing and chatting and I walk up to them.

" Hi..hi did my fiance get wheeled here? " I ask panting, my voice breaking due to the way I had rushed over here.

" Your fiance ? " the blonde nurse in white asks while the others just sat staring at me.

" Yes my fiance, I was home and I suddenly got a call, they said they were going to bring him here, isn't he here? " I ask a lot of questions because my patience was slipping away.

" Do you have any way to identify the patient at all ? " she asks. I look around the waiting room in the hospital before looking back at her.

" Yes his name is Carlos Garcia and he is thirty years old. " I say, tapping on the counter unconsciously out of worry.

" He is here, they brought him in a few minutes ago," she says after looking into a file on her laptop. I sigh in relief that at least I had found him.

" Thank you so much. can I see him? " I ask

" Yes but first you will need to fill certain forms about the treatment and how you are related to him. " she says and I nod " you can have your sit there while waiting as I prepare a form you will fill," she says and points towards the direction of the waiting room right in the room.

" I have to wait? I have to see him, I must see him " I say but she points to the chairs again before giving orders to another nurse beside her. the nurse she had just spoken to hurriedly leaves the counter with a file in her hands.

No one gives my rant a reply and I turn away from them and obey. I sit on the chair patiently waiting for the nurse that left to come back.

" Mrs. Mayer " a man in a blue coat calls out and an elderly woman gets up from the chair beside me. it takes her a few minutes to walk just five feet to where the man is and I watch her trying to get there, I push out every bad thought of Carlos out of my head so I don't cry.

As soon as the woman reaches the doctor, he smiles at her and holds her hand before whispering something in her ear, the old woman laughs and follows the doctor. I tear my eyes away from them and stare at the nurse's table once again. just then the nurse that left earlier gets back with a form

I get up from the sit and hurry back to the table, I rub both my hands together and watch the nurses exchange words that I'm not too bothered to not care about.

" You have to fill this form and the form for the surgery too ? " the blonde nurse says and places the two forms on the desk in front of me before handing me a pen.

" A surgery form? " I ask and h? the table for support " what is the surgery form for? " I ask

" The patient Mr. Carlos Garcia needs three urgent surgeries at the moment and you need to sign the form as fast as you can. that's all I can disclose to you, but after you are done here, the doctor in charge of his chart will brief you more about the surgery. please read it and sign " she says and looks away from me over to another woman standing beside me.

Three urgent surgeries. a car accident and my world come crashing with it, with shaky hands I fill out both the forms with me and drop them back on the desk for the nurse. she reads through it gently and hands it over to another nurse again.

" Follow me, " the nurse with the forms says and leaves the desk. I follow her inside the hospital, increasing my pace to catch up with her.

" Where are we going? " I ask as we walk past different doors with different labels on each.

" I'm taking you to the doctor in charge. after I give him the forms he will then attend to you " she says and I nod and continue following her.

She stops in front of the door that is labeled Doctor Jim and then knocks on the door.

" Come in " she opens the door and enters alone leaving me outside. after a while she comes back out of the door " he will see you now," she says and leaves.

You can do this all, it is just like facing something important and it's for Carlos so it will be fine. I push open the door silently, as soon as I am inside the office, I lock the door behind me and then walk towards the man in a suit and glasses

" Miss Carter you may sit, you are Mr. Garcia's guardian ? " he says reading the forms.

" Yes thank you," I say and sit in front of him. he looks up from the forms and removes his glasses, isn't the situation already disturbing, what's the need for the demonstration?

" I will just give you the news in a straight and understandable manner. Mr. Garcia your fiancee got into a fatal accident and we found him late. the car wheel punctured his right and left legs and he suffered a concussion from the glasses that broke into his face he went into shock due to the impact of the accident. the left side of the heart is swollen and he has lost an artery in the process. " he starts and I listen " we will perform three different operations on him, the first one is the opening of the chest to find the faults, the second is the brain and the third is for his two legs " he continues.

" It's a lot to take in.. will these three operations save him? " I ask tears in my eyes. I can't lose Carlos now I really can't.

" I cannot guarantee that he will live but I will try my best " were the doctor's last words in the office.