2: Good Samaritan

Alexander had hardly got any work done when he got a call from the hospital stating that his old man had a seizure and had been admitted. He would have rudely asked how it concerns him, but as his only close relative, it was only logical that they called. 

He contemplated not going, but a huge part of him wanted to taunt his father. In his own twisted way, it gives him pleasure to see his old man in pain. Before he could overthink it, Alexander had Yusuf drive them to St. Louis hospital, which was about twenty minutes from his office. 

Upon arrival, he was met with chaos, as expected in such a busy hospital. His eyes scanned the outpatients before he made his way to the reception. He had just uttered a 'hello,' when a worried woman pushed him out of the way and started shouting at the nurse “Please miss, my son is dying."  While the nurses seemed unbothered by the outburst, the poor woman was on a verge of tears. 

Alexander eyed the woman secretly as she clenched her fist tightly, glaring at the nonchalant nurse. When the said nurse gave Alexander her full attention and entirely ignored the woman, he couldn't help but feel sympathy for the mother, who was helplessly sobbing now. 

“I'm not in a rush.”  He offered. 'After all, I am here to watch a bastard die', he thought. His prompting had the nurse turning begrudgingly to the woman, 

“Do you have the means to make the payment now, Ma'am?” She asked in a bored rhythm,

“No, but…”

“As I told you earlier unless you pay for the bed, we can't help you.” she cut the woman off with and without wasting much time on her, the nurse turned to Alexander, all smiles. 

“How may I help you, sir?”

Alexander tried to hide his shock and said softly, "Is there nothing you can do for her?" 

“It’s the hospital policy, sir.  Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about it.” And true to her word, she did nothing. 

Alexander stared at the smiley nurse and marveled at how unbothered she looked. His gaze shifted to the helpless woman just a few meters from him, and for a moment, it reminded him of his own mother. Those last instants before she died, her sole instinct was to comfort him. Alex believed she felt his pain more than she felt her own. 

He couldn't help but pull out his card and thrust it in the nurse's hand. “Charge whatever she needs.”

Both women couldn't hide their surprise. While the nurse gasped and gaped, the relieved mother turned to Alexander and suddenly engulfed him in a tight, awkward embrace. “Thank you… thank you…” The woman chanted. “God will bless you.” She continued making Alex cringe at the attention they had started attracting and the mention of the deity. He personally doesn't believe in religion, and as far as he was concerned it was he, who had helped the woman and heavens had nothing to do with it.

“It's nothing, ma'am,” he responded tightly, pulling himself from the embrace and straightening his suit. He managed a brief forced smile,

“I will pay you back,” she informed earnestly.

“There is no need for that,” Alex countered honestly.  He turned back to face the nurse, but she spoke up again, “I insist,” 

“That won't be necessary, ma'am.”  He muttered, his voice rising impatiently. It's that kind of drama he likes avoiding. Can't she just accept the help and move on? He grimaced.

“I could work for you," she was stubbornly annoying. Alex noted with a sigh. But he wasn't going to accept a refund. He had more money than he will probably need in one lifetime anyway. “Where is your son? “ He asked instead, successfully diverting the woman's thoughts. 

“There," she turned and pointed at a couch where a boy who was just a young adult lay. He had blood running down his nose and appeared to have ugly bruises all over his face. Alexander couldn’t see the face clearly because of the long black curls falling on his forehead, but from what he saw, he concluded that the boy was beautiful. He was about to ask the nurse why they hadn't started attending to the boy yet, when he saw different hospital staff rushing with a stretcher to do just that. 

“Greedy bastards,” he muttered under his breath, amused at the seriousness they were exhibiting, yet they couldn't care less just moments ago. 

He shook his head in disbelief as he turned and picked his card from the nurse before having an inaudible conversation with her about his father.  

He spared a glance at other patients sitting pitifully on the chairs, and his heart went out to them. Furthermore, he couldn’t help all of them, and that unsettled him for some reason.

Without bothering to check on his old man, or bid any kind of farewell to the woman he had just helped, Alexander hastily made his way out of the hospital.

He didn’t get to enjoy tormenting his father, but strangely his heart was at peace, content even. It had been a long time, since he had felt that. A smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes broke on his face.