Chapter 6 The Arrogant Caregiver

As Layla limped into the ward, she saw several doctors and nurses around her grandmother.

"Ms. Reed, do you know that your grandma almost died last night?" one of the nurses growled. "The ventilator fell in the middle of the night. No one responded to her for help. Fortunately, a nurse walked past the ward and saw her struggling to breathe. Otherwise, she would be dead now."

"But I have arranged for a caregiver to take care of her," Layla explained.

"There was no one else in the ward last night," the nurse said.

Only then did Layla realize the caregiver Alina had appointed wasn't around.

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to take care of her grandmother after marrying Clark, Layla had asked Alina to hire a caregiver to look after her grandmother. But the caregiver was nowhere around.

Layla then called her, but no one answered. Half an hour later, the caregiver opened the door and walked in with a food container.

Her heart leaped to her throat when she saw Layla glaring at her. "Ms. Reed, when did you come?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

At that moment, Layla lost her temper. She grabbed the caregiver's hand and dragged her to the garden downstairs.

"Where the hell were you last night? Do you know my grandma almost died?"

"What do you mean? It was past work time, so I went home. You only pay me to look after her during the day. It's not my responsibility to take care of her at night," the caregiver retorted.

Bile rose in Layla's throat. She realized the woman had deceived her. Layla had hired her only because she seemed honest and reliable. But everything had been a facade to impress her.

She had paid the standard salary to the caregiver, who was responsible for looking after her grandma all day and night. How could the caregiver claim she didn't pay her enough?

"We had a deal. You are supposed to be on my grandma's aid twenty-four-seven. How could you leave her all alone?" Layla snapped.

This caregiver usually slacked off while looking after elderly patients because they were all too weak to speak. They wouldn't complain even if she was negligent. Now that Layla had caught her red-handed, she didn't bother pretending anymore. "Look, it's not easy to look after a patient at night. You either offer me a pay raise, or I quit," she replied haughtily.

"I have paid you enough! You can quit if you want. I'll find another caregiver."

"Go ahead and see if you can find one." The caregiver scoffed.

Layla immediately contacted the person in charge of the caregivers of the hospital, but as the woman in front of her said, only limited caregivers were available. Everyone was on a tight schedule. No one was available to take care of her grandmother.

The arrogant caregiver crossed her arms over her chest as she listened to the conversation. "Ha! If you don't have money, then look after your grandma yourself!" she sneered. "I know some senior caregivers are available. You can hire them. But you can't afford it, can you? Why don't you just stop the treatment and take her home? She is old anyway. How long is she going to live?"

Layla was seething with rage. She pointed a finger at the caregiver but was too angry to even utter a word.

The sheer audacity of the caregiver infuriated her. How could she say such things about her grandmother?

Layla wanted to fire her right away and hire a responsible caregiver, but didn't have enough money or time for that.

"I'll file a complaint against you!"

Layla angrily took her phone to record their conversation as evidence. However, the caregiver quickly grabbed her phone, threw it to the ground, and stepped on it repeatedly.

Before Layla could react, the caregiver fell to the ground and began shouting, "Gosh, she is hitting me!"

"If you don't get up now, I'll call the police!"

"You paid me only for half day but are demanding me to work round the clock. How dare you complain about me?" she continued to shout at the top of her voice.

As expected, her screams attracted everyone's attention. They all gathered around and began gossiping about Layla.

"Who are they? Why are they making a fuss in the hospital?"

"They're creating a nuisance."

"I heard the girl didn't pay the caregiver well and is demanding her to work day and night."

Considering the situation was getting out of control, Layla tried pulling the caregiver to her feet. But the caregiver was too heavy; she couldn't move her.

"Young lady, you better pay her first," one of the onlookers said.

"That's right. You owe the caregiver full salary for her service," another one echoed.

"Look, I don't owe her anything, nor did I beat her. She is the one who has been failing her duties. She left my grandma all alone last night," Layla tried explaining.

"How much is the fee? I'll pay for it," a voice cut in.