Chapter 5 What's Wrong

Sarah was awoken by a noise that seemed rare for such time of the morning. The periodic noise reverberated through the walls, and to Sarah's hearing, it felt like the clashing of cymbals. She tried to sleep amidst the chaos but found no success doing so.

"What could that be?" she thought to herself raising her head. "I better go check" she muttered as she got up from their bed.

She took a few steps ahead before looking back and then shaking her head in disbelief as her siblings remained deep at sleep.

"How are they not hearing this? I'm guessing it is the TV anyway as they must have left it turned on before coming in here to sleep" she whispered.

She shook her head once again as she made way for the door. Opening it gently, she tiptoed out closing it as quietly as she could as it creaked all the way. "We need to change this door," she whispered once more.

She waddled in silence wandering around the house moving into the kitchen first in a bid to trace the noise to where it was coming from. Leaving the kitchen with no clue, she crawled into the light beaming from the living room as the sound that woke her up rang even louder.

Getting there, she stopped immediately. "It is not the TV?!" she muttered.

She looked down a hallway that led to the other rooms, the one where her Dad and her Miss Bella slept in particular.

"Could it be the TV in their room?" she asked.

As she walked down the hallway the sound got louder as it became distinct to her. She figured it was the sound of someone in distress.

"But who could that be?" she thought to herself.

Getting to her father's room door, the sound was at its loudest and she was sure at heart it was coming out from inside the room. She proceeded to knock on the door twice but to no response. She couldn't bear waiting anymore so she decided to barge in.

Slowing placing her hands on the handle, she pulled it down as the door clicked open.

"What is going on?" she asked.

She had opened the door to her father coughing sporadically while lying on his bed in almost zero consciousness.

To his side was Miss Bella who had a glass of water wrapped in her hands, tears rolling down her cheek and a barrage of pills by her side.

"Drink up please, what sort of cough is this! Please drink up Martinez!" said Miss Bella calling him by his first name as she looked dead worried and confused just like Sarah.

Meanwhile, Sarah stood by the door completely frozen at what she has seen. She looked on trying to process how and why her Dad looked in such a horrible state---snapping back into reality she paced to where he lay and tried comforting him from the edge of the bed opposite to where Miss Bella sat.

"What is wrong? Why is the coughing this bad?" she asked scared and confused.

Her voice trembled as she tried to process what was happening. "Please try drinking the water Dad, please, it could be just airways are blocked. Please drink this---please Dad" she said while she held his head up. He continued to cough as he wheezed in distress.

"Please take something, ---"said Miss Bella in close to tears.

He whimpered in his attempt to converse and so it became evident to Sarah that he wasn't magically going to stop coughing and they had to do something other than handing him a glass of water.

"Can you drive?" asked Sarah looking over to Miss Bella in tears.

"What?" responded Miss Bella.

"Can you drive? We have to get him to a hospital quickly. He doesn't look like he is going to get better in here!" replied Sarah.

"Drive? I haven't in a long time but yes, I can, I can," she responded.

He continued to cough but each one had an extended period in between it and the next relative to much earlier as he struggled to breathe while wheezing in the background during the chatter between Sarah and Miss Bella.

"Dad, where are your car keys?" asked Sarah as she got up looking around the room in desperation.

"Over there, on the table" replied Miss Bella as she remained seated on the edge of the bed with her husband's head laying on her thigh as he continued to cough.

"Is that blood on your dress?" asked Sarah looking to where her father's head rested.

"We need to hurry! Throw me the keys! Go get dressed so we lift him from here into the car quickly" said Miss Bella.

"Okay, I'll be right back! Do I wake up James or Jesus?" asked Sarah

"No! Just get dressed and come back here. I need to change as well" replied Miss Bella

Sarah left the room pacing for hers where she changed into the first dress she laid her hands on then returned to the room to Miss Bella getting ready.

"You'll lift his feet and thighs while I will hold him up from his shoulder so I place his head comfortably on my arms," said Miss Bella gesturing as she spoke.

"Okay, Okay" replied Sarah panting.

They carried him as carefully as they could out of the room into the hallway to place him on a couch in the living room. Sarah paced to open the front door as wide as she could then went outside onto the lawn to open the car doors widely.

Making it back to the couch, she joined hands with Miss Bella as they both lifted him out the front door, out on the lawn onto the back seat.

"Open the gates quickly," said Miss Bella. Sarah ran to open the gates as instructed, as Miss Bella drove out with speed and finesse.

Leaving the gates wide, Sarah got onboard entering through the back seat she placed her father's head on her legs and comforted him as he continued to cough while they journeyed their way to the hospital.

Getting to the town's only clinic with Miss Bella behind the wheels, she horned loudly for as long as she possibly could till the gates were opened. Just as she drove in, she got down clamoring for help.

"Emergency! Emergency! My husband won't stop coughing! He needs urgent help" she said.

Running out through the hospital reception doors were the two nurses on shift that morning as they came out to find out what the panicking lady was on about.

Meanwhile, Sarah remained in tears with her father's head still resting on her legs as he continued to cough sporadically in the back seat of the car.

"Please help us!" she screamed out her lungs.

"What is the problem? Please calm down" said one of the nurses, calmly.

"My husband woke up coughing and he has been coughing since 2 am. He is still coughing. Please do something, he is lying in the back seat. Please help us!" said Miss Bela.

"He's here please!" cried out Sarah raising a hand out the opened back car door.

"Be calm, he will be fine. Adams, please come give us a hand! Nurse Jessica please reel out the emergency bed from inside" said the calm nurse.

Miss Bella, Sarah, Adams, and the calm nurse all joined in carrying him out of the backseat as they placed him on the stretched-out bed and then reeled him into the ER.

While they carried him out, the only doctor on duty that night, Doctor Rodriguez had come out of his office amidst the commotion outside as he watched as they stretched an elderly patient with a persistent cough into the ER.

"What is going on?" said the doctor openly to the passing nurses.

"It is an emergency sir, please come through" replied one of the nurses.

Grabbing his coat and stethoscope, he jogged behind them into the ER. "Please you cannot be in here Madam! You and your daughter should wait outside till we call you in. He will be fine, I promise" He asserted. Shutting the door behind him, the doctor was present in the ER with the two nurses on call that night.

Having to wait in the reception, Sarah and her mum waited restlessly anxious at what the doctor's words would be when he comes out eventually. Along the hallway, down to the reception- the persistent cough reverberated through the walls and this made Sarah and her mum panic even more.

"He is going to be fine, Doctor Vasquez is the best we have around" reassured Adams, the security personnel.

"We hope so" replied Sarah. In the reception, Sarah and her Mum remained restless but not long after the words of the security personnel they noticed longer durations in between subsequent coughing sounds.

"Do you hear that?" Said Miss Bella as her eyes lit up in hope.

"What's that? What did you hear" asked Sarah immediately?

"The cough is fainter and not sporadic anymore," said the Security personnel.

"Yes! Yes! That is it" said Miss Bella

"I hear it too," Sarah said smiling teary-eyed as she moved her hands across her eyelids down to her cheeks, clearing up tears and she moved up the hallway closer to ER to confirm what Miss Bella and the Security personnel, Adams had said.

Walking back quickly, she nodded in confirmation as she hugged Miss Bella in relief. "He stopped coughing" she muttered under her breath.

Pulling away from the hug, Sarah sat on the sofa present in the reception. It was a relief to her as she had been seating on the hard floor earlier while she cried then in anxiety.

Seated on the sofa beside her was Miss Bella. They held hands in solitude as they hoped for the best.

"What does this mean? He stopped coughing right. Has he gotten better or worse" asked Sarah

"Let us hope for the best" replied Adams.

"They went in at 4:36 am, and now it's 6:50 am, still we haven't heard a thing," said Miss Bella as she got up from the sofa.

She paced frantically back and forth around the little area in the reception away from the seats as Sarah's questions made her even more anxious.

"Can someone come to tell us what is going on?" asked Miss Bella.

Just as she ended her sentence, the clicking of locks could be heard as the doctor and the two nurses came out of the ER down the hallway.

Sarah shifted her gaze from the pacing Miss Bella to the doctor as he seemed to walk in slow motion towards them. They all turned their sights in the direction which the doctor seemed to be coming from.

Sarah's anxiety peaked at this moment and so did Miss Bella as she paused pacing back and forth to pacing in the direction of the doctor. "What is the situation Doctor?" asked Miss Bella loudly with a pronounced sense of fear in her voice.

She held on to the lab coat of Doctor Vasquez as she repeated her question. Looking down, she noticed patches of blood present on the sides of his lab coat and this preceded her asking her father questions

"Please tell me my Husband is fine---tell me there is no reason to worry," said Miss Bella.

"Please, let go, Madam! He will answer your questions---just let go of his clothes already. That is exactly what we came out to do, so please let go!" requested the calm nurse as she tried pulling the hands of Miss Bella off his coat.

Sarah had walked up right behind her Mum, Miss Bella as she joined in with the nurses and security personnel as they pleaded she let go of the doctor's lab coat. Letting go, Miss Bella hugged Sarah and she continued to cry.

"There is no reason to worry Madam, your Husband is fine," said the Doctor calmly to Miss Bella.

She let go of Sarah immediately upon hearing the voice of the Doctor as her eyes lit up widely opened.

"Are you serious? My husband is fine? Thank you, Doctor! Thank you!" replied Miss Bella smiling as she let out a huge sigh of relief.

Miss Bella moved to hug Sarah with her head up smiling looking at Adams who stood away from them as they both smiled and thought of the kids they left at home. It was utter relief as they both let out tears of joy.

"Can we see him?" asked Sarah quietly sobbing.

"No you cannot, he has to rest for at least four hours so he recovers well. He can't be receiving visitors this early, okay?" replied the calm nurse with her hands on the side of Sarah's shoulder.

"I told you everything would be fine, Madam," said Adams, the Security personnel just as everywhere got quiet.

"Shouldn't you be at your post by the gate, Adams?" asked the Doctor genuinely confused.

"He has been in here since they arrived by 4 am," said Nurse Jessica, the second nurse on shift that morning.

"Is that true, Adams?" inquired the Doctor.

"Uhm---Uh," stuttered Adams.

"I asked him to stay," interjected Miss Bella..."He helped us manage through the past 2 hours, he told us reassuring stories about you and the hospital in general, so please do spare him," she said.

The Doctor looked on wearing a look that spelled confusion,

"He speaks English?!" asked the doctor of the calm nurse as he pointed towards Adams.

"Yes, very well in fact" she replied.

The doctor scoffed shaking his head in response.

"That is interesting. We could use your skills up here you know, Adams" he said with a giggle.

"I am always ready for any change, good sire" replied Adams as he turned towards the entrance of the reception heading for his post close to the gate.

"We learn every day, don't we?" said the doctor openly. The nurses, Sarah and her mother, Miss Bella all giggled in response.

"You should get some rest, Miss Belle, we will be reaching out to you soon," said the Doctor as he removed his coat walking down the hallway towards his office.

"It's Bella," said Nurse Jessica.

"No it is fine, Thank you, again," said Miss Bella.

The doctor flanked by his nurses walked back down the hallway past the ER into an open space, a lounge that had a sign on the entrance which read---"Workers only".

"Why did you lie to them?!" asked the calm nurse. She screamed like one who had been itching for the four walls of privacy.

"Joy, can you calm down?" said the nurse Jessica.

"Calm down? Really? We lied to a family in distraught and you are telling me I should calm down...Calm down?" she responded.

"Yes, calm down!" replied the nurse Jessica as reached for a bottle of water from the opened fridge.

"You know this is illegal right?!" riled up the calm nurse once more.

"Enough! What did you want me to say! She ran to me drowning in tears before I even reached the reception---It was difficult okay? It was!" said the doctor.

"I have nothing to argue with you both, I'm leaving this place soon anyways...you better find a way to tell them the truth or I will," said Joy, the calm nurse storming off banging the door on her way out.

A few feet away from the lounge was the reception where Sarah sat on the couch as soon as the doctor and his nurses had left the reception, she noticed the yellow color for the first time all morning as she ran her fingers through the surface, checking out the texture of the leather.

"Why are you caressing and seducing the chair, I want to seat please," said Miss Bella as she belted a loud laugh.

"Jesus, stop!" replied Sarah giggling. "I was only checking the leather, it is just like the one at home," replied Sarah.

"Talking about home---it is bright outside and I am sure the kids are awake already. I feel you should go home, get dressed, take a shower, inform the kids and return in the afternoon," replied Miss Bella.

"Okay, I will do just that. What is the time?" asked Sarah.

"It is 8 am, be back by noon. Take the car keys, get the gate keys from the car and take both with you to the house. Do not forget to return with them" replied Miss Bella as she stretched her hand towards Sarah with the car keys on it.

"Okay, Mum" replied Sarah with a wink. "So I should drive or..." gesturing contemplation as she raised one hand after the other.

"Don't you dare!" replied Miss Bella smiling.

Sarah left the reception walking through incoming patients and their wards while waving her Mum goodbye as she walked towards the car to go get the gate keys. Just as she closed the car doors, Sarah heard her name from a distance.

"I hope it is not my Sarah" she muttered to herself as she inserted the car keys into the hole to lock the car.

"Sarah, is that you? Oh it is you, Hello!" said someone behind her.

"Oh, Christ! it is me" said Sarah to herself while she faced the door.

She peeked through the car windows hoping to get a reflection of the person's faces, "David? David is that you? Oh it is you" said Sarah as she smiled surprised at meeting him here.

"Sarcastic as ever," replied David as moved closer to her.

He looked inside the car to blood-stained white sheets laying in the back seat. "What are doing here? That looks like blood, Are you good? It looks like you drove here too... Someone is being a badass already," he said with a smile while struggling to make eye contact.

"Too many questions," said Sarah jangling the keys in her hands. "Well, my dad was ill, and so we had to bring him here quite early... also, no I didn't drive, my Mum did" she replied almost irritated by his questions.

"Your Mum? I thought she was..." said David with a stern look.

"Yes, my Mum. It's a long story so I wouldn't bother trying to figure it out just yet if I were you" she replied.

David looked on very confused as he halted asking further questions in a bid not to ruin his chances if he had any in the first place at asking the beautiful Sarah out someday.

"What are you doing here?" asked Sarah.

"Oh, me? I just arrived here actually. I came to get my test results," replied David.

"What is the test for?" she asked.

"Uhm---it is a bit---personal and Uh" stuttered David.

"It is okay, you don't have to tell me. That is fine" said Sarah as she jangled the keys in her hands once more.

"Sure? Why not" replied David but he proceeded to count his word once more.

"No stop, it is fine, moreover I have to go home now. My siblings are alone at home so I have to be there for them," said Sarah.

"Okay, I guess I will see you at work on Monday," replied David.

"Yes, Monday" replied Sarah as she moved away from him.

"She is really strange...man" muttered David to himself.

Sarah left him as she moved towards the gate hoping to hail a ride as walking home would be too tasking given the distance from home.