Chapter 4: Sick Girl

“Oh my God!” I exclaimed, trying to stay calm as my heart raced. “Where are your parents?” I asked, already holding her in my arms.

I was just on my way to the administration desk to request my father's medical expenses statement when the little girl crossed my path. She appeared out of nowhere and fell into my arms, and fortunately, I managed to kneel just in time. She was probably about six or seven years old, but that wasn’t what alarmed me. It was her extremely pale skin and slightly bluish lips. I looked at her in surprise, and before I could react, I glanced around desperately, but there was no one in the nearby hallways. The child in my arms began to breathe with difficulty, and an indescribable fear overtook me. Without thinking, I lifted her and ran as fast as I could to the pediatric emergency room.

“Help!” I shouted as soon as I saw the first nurse in my path. “She’s not breathing well, do something, please!”

The nurse, with a professional and quick demeanor, immediately called for a stretcher and guided me to an area behind some curtains. Everything became a whirlwind of motion, but I managed to gently lay the little girl on the bed they had prepared.

“Don’t worry, everything will be okay,” I whispered, though it was more to reassure myself than her. “You'll feel better soon, okay? And then you can go play.”

Just then, a team of nurses arrived and moved me away from the bed. The nurse who had requested the stretcher looked at me seriously.

“Stay here. We’ll update you as soon as we have any news.”

I remained there, alone in the small waiting room, feeling panic and anxiety consume me. I looked towards the entrance, expecting to see some desperate parent or a relative asking about their daughter. But no one came.

The minutes felt endless. Where were her parents? How had no one noticed their daughter was in danger? What if I hadn’t arrived in time? The sound of monitors in the hospital waiting room made me nervous. I had no idea how long it had been since the little girl was attended to. Everything had happened so quickly that I still hadn’t processed it.

Finally, the curtain opened, and a tall, handsome man stepped out. He was wearing a white coat and had a focused expression on his face.

“Are you the one who brought the girl in?” he asked with a firm but not unkind voice.

“Yes… yes, it was me,” I replied, trying to stay calm. “Is she… is she okay?”

“I'm Dr. Harris. We managed to stabilize her and get her to respond,” he said, and I felt an enormous wave of relief. “She hadn’t taken her medication for a while, and the exertion was too much for her.”

I looked at him, confused.

“Medication? I don’t understand… what illness are we talking about?”

The doctor frowned, his expression becoming more inquisitive.

“Don’t you know? The girl has a heart condition. She needs her medication regularly to keep her heart stable. That’s probably why she collapsed.”

My mind went blank. I had no idea what he was talking about. I didn’t know the girl had a heart condition, I didn’t even know her name. Poor thing. The doctor noticed my confusion, and his frown deepened.

“Are you a close relative? Her caregiver, perhaps?”

I felt the heat rising up my neck, panic was about to make me say something I shouldn’t, but I’m not good at lying. I can’t.

“No… I’m not,” I admitted, my voice trembling. “I found her in the pediatric hallway. She literally fell into my arms. She was so unwell that I didn’t waste time looking for her parents, I just brought her here as quickly as I could.”

The doctor looked at me for a second that felt like an eternity, as if he were trying to read something on my face. I got nervous, did he think I was lying? That I had done something wrong?

“I… I didn’t kidnap her or anything like that,” I quickly added without thinking. “She just crossed my path, and I wanted to help her. You should try to find her relatives, maybe make an announcement over the loudspeaker or something.”

The doctor finally nodded, though his expression remained serious.

“I understand. Thank you for what you did. Now, we’ll try to locate her family. But for now, it’s best if you wait here.”

I nodded, relieved that the doctor didn’t accuse me of anything strange, though I still felt tension in the air. The nurse who had initially attended to the girl approached, with a kind expression that tried to calm me, though my mind was too overwhelmed to appreciate it.

“Don’t worry, the girl will be fine. You did the right thing by bringing her,” she said in a soft voice.

The concern for the girl was still there, but a new anxiety settled in my stomach: what if they thought I had done something wrong? What if they accused me of trying to kidnap her?

My hands began to tremble even more, and before I knew it, I started biting my nails. I couldn’t stay still; I got up and started pacing back and forth, my restless legs moving almost on their own.

For a moment, I considered just leaving, disappearing before something worse happened. But where would I go? My father was admitted to this hospital, and sooner or later, I would have to come back for him. If I left, they could easily track me down, and that would only make things more complicated. No, I had to stay and face whatever was coming.

I looked at the clock on the wall; only a few minutes had passed, but it felt like an eternity. I tried to take a deep breath to calm myself down, but it was useless. Every second that passed made me feel more trapped.

Suddenly, the door to the room swung open, and a woman burst in, practically screaming. Her desperation was palpable, and the sound of her footsteps echoed on the tiles of the spacious room.

“Where’s my daughter?!” she yelled, almost on the verge of tears, though there was no trace of them on her face.

Dr. Harris approached her and tried to calm her down.

“The little girl is still being attended to, but she’s stable now,” he informed her.

“I want to see her! Let me see her!” she insisted, almost hysterical.

I wanted to approach her, but fear kept me glued to my seat.

The doctor guided her to where I had taken the girl earlier to lay her on the bed. She didn’t stay inside for long; the woman quickly returned to the room and stood in front of the doctor to talk to him.

I managed to hear the doctor say in a low tone:

“She’s out of danger now; it was just a scare. I recommend you don’t leave her alone when this happens. A child with a heart condition needs constant supervision. Any physical activity, even playing or running, can put her heart at risk. You should already know that well.”

She seemed more irritated than concerned, as if the doctor’s comment had annoyed her, and I didn’t want to think otherwise. A mother always worries about her child, I told myself, even though I didn’t know these people.

“How did she get here?” she suddenly asked, as if that concerned her more than the girl’s condition. “Someone must have brought her.”

The doctor turned his head in my direction, and to my misfortune, he pointed at me with a slight nod. I felt the world crash down on me. The mother stared at me, and in her eyes, I saw more than annoyance: there was intense anger. Panic overtook me once again.

A hardened expression formed on her face as she advanced towards me. She stopped in front of me, her eyes locked on mine.

“What were you doing with my daughter?” she demanded in a sharp tone that made me shrink. “Who are you?”

I tried to articulate a response, but the words got stuck in my throat. She didn’t give me time to say anything either.

“Answer!” she demanded, stepping closer, her eyes filled with fury. “What did you do to my daughter? Who the hell are you?”

I was paralyzed, my mind blank, trying to process the situation. I barely managed to say, “No, I…”

But she didn’t let me finish.

“You tried to kidnap my daughter, didn’t you?!” she screamed, pointing at me with her finger, her voice full of accusation.

I nearly fainted at hearing those words. Every fiber of my being screamed to run; I should have fled when I first thought of it. Now they’ll accuse me, and the police will come to arrest me.

I’ll be incriminated for saving a child’s life.