001

“Code Blue! Code blue!” The alarms rang loudly, resonating through the hospital walls and jolting my attention. Another life hung in the balance. Little did I know that the emergency would be the catalyst for my own crisis.

I had just finished my eight hour shift and was ready to get some shut eye.

“I wonder what happened now,” Jessica, one of the new in-training nurses muttered lowly as she shrugged out of her scrubs.

Having no response to her words, I shook my head with a sigh and pulled my locker door open. Just then the door opened with a bang.

“We need more hands at the ER now!” Silva, the assistant to the head nurse, announced in a rushed tone.

Without skipping a beat, I unbuttoned my scrubs, shaking off my exhaustion and running after her to the emergency room.

I took a slight pause at the scene I met when we arrived at the ER; the staff were running back and forth like headless chickens, pushing gurneys along as they went, frantic voices surrounded the room. It was chaos.

“What is going on?” I asked with heavy breaths as I blindly followed Silva.

“There was a three way collision on the highway, we have four injured and one dead. The alarm is for a patient that went into cardiac arrest on the third floor.” The woman answered with a distressed frown before her attention was called across the room. Without sparing another glance at me, she rushed off.

With a frown I stared at the woman's retreating form and regarded the chaos around me, unsure of where my help was needed.

“Nurse Kings, over here!” I was alert, quickly answering to my name and running over to the middle-aged doctor.

“Male, seemingly in his late twenties; two fractured limbs, major head trauma with excessive bleeding, a couple of rib fractures and minor lacerations…” I listened in as another nurse listed out.

“We are going into surgery in a few minutes and you are assisting, be prepared.” The doctor said, directing his words to me and I gave him a wordless but affirmative nod in return.

“Let's go!” I yelled to the other nurse before we pushed the gurney together, making our way to the operation room.

We were in surgery for another five hours before I was finally able to change out of my scrubs and leave the hospital.

On my way out, I stopped in my tracks as I noticed that the people in the common area were focused on the large screen mounted on the wall. Filled with curiosity, I casually redirected my gaze to see what they were so fixated on.

“…billionaire, and CEO of Zoran Inc. was in a fatal accident earlier today…”

“Of course, leave it up to the rich people to always be at the center of attention. Hundreds of people get into accidents everyday and we barely hear about them.” I scoffed, muttering lowly to myself and catching the eye of a woman that was staring at me strangely.

I ignored her and turned on my heel to leave, not before hearing the voice of the reporter drone out,

“...and is currently at Sinai hospital, renowned as the best in the country. The remaining details are still a mystery to the public.”

My face morphed into a frown at the added information.

“The billionaire is at the hospital? I wonder which one of the numerous patients he is.”

Although I would normally regard all patients as the same; patients. I could not help but feel curious about the presence of the world renowned billionaire in the hospital.

Just then my stomach grumbled, reminding me that I had not eaten in over twelve hours.

I doubled my steps, already making plans on a quick meal. I contemplated between stopping at a drive-thru or settling for a frozen meal, since I was out of groceries.

However as I stepped out of the hospital, I was bombarded by flashing lights and loud voices. Quickly assessing the situation, I doubled my pace, sneaking past them to the parking lot.

I let out a sigh as I successfully escaped the reporters and got into my car. “All these for some rich man?” I thought with a scoff as I drove away from the hospital.

As soon as I arrived at my small apartment, I made my way to the kitchen to source for food.

“Shit! I forgot that I'm out of groceries!” I lamented, slapping my palm against my forehead.

I sucked my teeth in annoyance, ignoring my stomach's protest before trudging to my closet-sized room and going to sleep.

A few hours later, I was awoken by a loud banging sound that echoed through the walls. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes with the back of my palm before dragging myself out of bed.

“Are you in there? Open up!” I paused in my movements as the deep voice boomed out, accompanied by harsh knocking on the door.

My lips downturned into a frown as I quickly made my way to the door, without saying a word, already recognizing the voice.

“Give me my money!” The man bellowed as soon as I pulled the door open.

Thea let out an exasperated sigh as I stared at the enraged man —who I could clearly see the center of his balding scalp.

“I told you that I will pay up soon, I have been-”

“I don't care what you have been doing! You owe me two months rent and you keep asking for an extension!” He retorted with a raised voice, rudely cutting me off as his face contorted into a scowl.

“I know,” I sighed, “I promise to pay up all the outstanding dues, but please just give me a little more time,” I pleaded in a calmer tone.

The stout man stared at me in disdain for a few seconds before giving a reply.

“Fine! I'm giving you one month, once your time is up, you are out of here!” He exclaimed, raising his voice at the end.

I was barely able to make out a timid ‘thank you’ before he shot me a condescending look and stormed away with clenched fists.

Releasing a heavy breath, I gently shut the door, sagging her back against it.

It felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders as my eyes drifted to the wooden coffee table that contained piles of envelopes, each one reminding me of unpaid bills and student loan debts.

“How will I get myself out of this mess?”