Aline walked towards the side table and her eyes fell on the a black card with silver alphabets,
John William.
"This name?"
Suddenly, she remembered, William Law Firm.
He is the owner of the most prominent law firm of the country. Aline felt bitter in her heart. The Blackstone family have resources, which are best among the best.
And what she has, $25,000 savings in her account and a small house left by her parents.
She was fully aware, if she sells the house and put all the savings all together, she wouldn't be able to afford a full session of consultancy with John William.
As she was still in her thoughts, the door creaked open and a familiar face came in her view,
"Aria?" she subconsciously called.
"Hi Aline, how is Amy now?" Aria asked and put the bag she had been carrying on the side table.
Aline shook her head. "They are saying she is in a comatose state and nothing can be said."
Aria put her hand on Aline's. "I'm really sorry. I should have listened to you and not took Amy with me to my house." Aria's eyes glistered with tears. And as she talked,
She is also a member of the Blackstone family, but her family is a side branch.
She is not the direct descendant of the Blackstone family. Her grandfather is the cousin brother of the current patriarch of the Blackstone family.
Her mother and father don't hold any power in the company, neither in the family, in decision-making.
Her mother is the head of one of the side company's financial department and her father is the directing manager of that same company.
So their influence is obvious. They are not important enough to be in the headquarters, but her parents are already content with what they have.
Aria is their only child and having the surname Blackstone already is enough for her to find a good husband and leave her natal family with good relationship and dignity, so her parents never take the part in the power struggle in the main family.
They did their job honestly as to want to show their loyalty to the head of the family. So the family can take care of their daughter without any motives, but this also led them to have no standing in important things like this time.
Aria also felt regret that she couldn't get Amy, her best friend, the help. Not even an apology from the Blackstone family as her friend was given to them in person.
She tries to talk with her parents, but they told her they don't have enough importance in the main family, so they can't raise this issue.
What they can do is just to apologize Aline and Amy on their own behalf and try to cover Amy's financial need by their personal savings. Aria felt guilty about this.
"Aria, stop it sweetheart, I know it was not you, stop blaming your self." Aline couldn't bring herself to resent Aria about this.
She knows Aria is a good girl and her heart is pure. It wasn't because of Aria who told her about how Amy had this accident. She couldn't have known about this, so she can't just blindly blame Aria about this.
"But I can't just stop feeling guilty. I really hate myself to take Amy to my house if I had knew that Alex and his girlfriend—" Aria stopped,
because she doesn't want to scrape this untouchable wound of Aline.
She has seen how Aline reacts towards Alex last night and mentioning him would bring nothing but pain. She wiped her tears and looked towards Aline and said,
"All right, let's not talk about this. Amy will be fine and we will make sure of that.
See, I have brought some food for you. I know you might not have taken a single bite from last night till now." Aria took out boxes from the bag she has put earlier on the side table.
"Aria, you don't need to do this," Aline said.
"I am not feeling hungry."
"No, you should eat something. Amy will be quite sad if she knows her sister Aline has been not eating food because of her." Opening the container and putting spoon in Aline's hand.
"You need to stay strong for her if not for yourself." With so much coaxing, she managed to make Aline eat few bites, but it was obvious she doesn't want to eat anything.
Aria, fed up with her eating small bites, said, "You are as good friend of mine as Amy. She is your younger sister. So, please consider me also the one?"
"Aria, I always consider you as my sister. Don't say that," Aline said.
"If you consider me your sister, then please have a meal." There was a plead in Aria's tone. Aline couldn't hold herself and little droplets of tears started falling,
But she took the control of her emotions and said, "Alright, I will finish the food." After eating, Aria got a call from her mother and she left in a hurry but she promised to visit at the night.
The knock on the door pulled Aline's attention from her tray. "Come in," she said in a hoarse voice.
"Good morning, Ms. Wilson. I'm Rose, and I'll be taking care of the patient from now on," said Nurse Rose, stepping inside.
Aline looked at her with confused eyes. She knew the nurse in charge of Amy was someone else — this wasn't her.
"You… if I'm not wrong, there was another nurse in charge," Aline said cautiously.
"Yes, Ms. Wilson," Rose replied politely. "That nurse is the general in-charge for this section. But I'm the personal nurse appointed by the hospital to take care of your sister."
"Personal nurse? But I haven't asked for any," Aline said, still confused.
"Well, I was informed by the Dean to take care of your sister. If you have any questions, you can ask them," Rose said, keeping her tone gentle. She walked up to Amy's vital monitor and began checking the readings, leaving a very confused Aline with too many questions swirling in her mind.
She decided to ask the Dean herself. As she got up, she turned toward the nurse.
"Please take care of Amy. I'll be back in a while."
"You can rest assured, Ms. Wilson. It's part of my job — and I take my job quite seriously," Rose assured her before Aline walked out.
Aline headed toward the receptionist desk to ask where she could find the Dean. With that thought in mind, her heels clicked softly against the floor as she approached the reception area.
"Excuse me," Aline said, looking at the young nurse in front of her.
"Yes, miss. How can I help you? Wait—aren't you the family member of the trauma case that came in last night?" The nurse's eyes suddenly lit up with recognition.
"Uh… yes, that's me," Aline replied, a little confused.
"Thank God, I remember your face. This saved me a trip to your ward. Here—please wait," the nurse said, shuffling through the papers on her desk as if searching for something. Her eyes lit up when she found the file.
"Take this," she said, handing a white file to Aline.
"What is this, miss?" Aline asked, taking the file but looking at the nurse with confused eyes.
"These are the receipts and other documents related to your family's treatment. The person who settled the bill was in a bit of a hurry and didn't collect them all. We were told by him to give the remaining documents to you. So, here you go. Please take them with you."
Aline nodded and gently opened the file as she started walking away. She remembered the documents John had handed her earlier — they included the operation fees and the charges for the instruments used in Amy's surgery.
He must have missed these receipts and payment details.
As she flipped the cover, her eyes widened. The first page contained the total medical estimate — and the amount written there made her stop in shock.
2.5 million dollars.
It included six months' stay in a special private room, a personal nurse, and all estimated medical expenses for that duration.
Aline had never seen such a huge amount together in her entire life, and now it represented the cost of her sister's treatment for just six months.
The amount seemed exaggerated, but she couldn't deny the truth — Amy was being treated in one of the most elite private hospitals in X City.
Only the wealthiest people could afford care here, and it was said to be the most advanced hospital in the entire state.
She suddenly felt little grateful that Blackstone family has took Amy to this hospital.
If it were other, the chances of getting out from the operation table alive was nearly impossible.
Since she got the answers of her questions, she didn't ask anything from nurse and walked out.
She was not worried about Amy since there was a person appointed by that so-called family as a caretaker for her sister.
No matter what the Blackstone family do, this didn't soften her heart at all.
The fact her sister was in this condition because of them, it is a bitter truth.
It doesn't matter, if they are offering money, their care or what so ever.
Her sister wouldn't in have been in this condition, if it wasn't that arrogant bastard— full of himself and push her sister to this state.
No amount can erase this truth.
As she walked, she didn't know where to go.
Office?, she thought,
but this time and the way she looked, she wouldn't be able to get past security guard. They might take her as a lunatic with how messy she looks.
Then home?.
Home— this word makes her heart squeeze into a painful grip.
Her home was her sister, her family. Not those lifeless walls of a house.
Aline's eyes blurred with fresh tears. She had long lost count of how many times she had cried since last night, how many times her grief had poured out through her eyes.
The door creaked open as she stepped inside her house. Moving on instinct, she walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cold glass of water, hoping it would somehow calm the storm inside her.