Chapter 64
Sweet Subterfuge
Lucas was still driving the same silver Mercedes from before, and he drove rather fast with the top down.
The temperature uphill was colder than downhill. As Larissaâs arms were bare, she was shivering from the cold wind brushing against her.
âCould⦠Could youâ¦drive slower? Or⦠Orâ¦close the hood?â
She could barely open her eyes. Thankfully Vivian had tied her hair securely, otherwise, she had no idea what kind of mess it would be in.
Only then did Lucas pull up the top and turn up the heat. âSorry, Iâm used to speeding like this on my own,â he apologized to Larissa, whose body was gradually warming back up. Her teeth had also stopped chattering too.
âWhy are you going to Victory General at this time of the night?â Lucas asked her cúriously.
âJust⦠Well, something came up,â Larissa replied vaguely.
Knowing that she did not want to talk about it, Lucas stopped asking. About an hour later, the car stopped at the main entrance of the Victory General Hospital.
âThanks for today.â Larissa was about to get out of the car when Lucas stopped her.â Hang on.â He removed his jacket and handed it to her. âItâs cold at night, and youâre not dressed for the cold.â
Larissa did not refuse him this time. Her gown was too thin, and the chiffon did nothing against the cold. Although Lucasâ jacket could only shield her torso, it was still better than nothing.
She rushed up to the spinal surgery department.
Thankfully, there was no one in the department at night. Otherwise, her strange outfit would have attracted the attention of many. There were a few nurses doing their jobs quietly in the nurse station.
Larissa went over and asked, âMay I know who is in charge of Travis Hardy?â
A nurse looked up and stared at her for quite a while before tearing her eyes away from her outfit.
âThatâs me,â She said, âAre you Travis Hardyâsâ¦exâwife?â
âYes.â Larissa nodded and went straight to the point. âWhere do I pay?â
you make an âThe payment counter downstairs is closed at this time. Why donât account with our mobile app, and pay online through it? It will be linked to Travisâ patient records, and itâs quite convenient. Besides, you wonât have to come here late at night ever again.â The nurse withdrew a piece of paper from a drawer and slid it before her. âFollow the instructions here to make your payment.â
Larissa did not really want to do all that.
She felt that after making that account, it wouldnât be linked to Travisâ patient records, but hers instead.
âHow about this?â She started to negotiate with the nurse. âI will transfer the money Travis owes to you.
You will write me a receipt as proof. Then, Iâm afraid Iâll have to trouble you to go to the payment counter next morning to help pay the fees. Do you think thatâs okay?â
The nurse waved her off at once. âOur hospital has rules that forbid medical personnel to take the money of patients and their kin this way. Should we be found out, the milder punishment would be a fine, while the heavier one would be termination.â
âThen Iâll pay it tomorrow? Look, Iâve come all this way at this time of the night. I will not bail on you tomorrow.â Larissa continued to plead for leniency.
âItâs not a question of trust.â The nurse looked frustrated too. âItâs that my superiors have given the order. If the money isnât here by 12 am, Travisâ medication and treatment will be stopped.â
Having no other choice, Larissa could only do as the nurse said, creating that account on the hospitalâs mobile app and paying for Travisâ medical fees which amounted to nearly ten thousand dollars.
Having spent ten thousand in a week⦠no wonder his parents would run away.
If she were in their shoes, she would probably be unable to bear the burden either.
After paying, the nurse looked noticeably brighter, and she said, âIf anything happens with Travis again, Iâll contact you.â
Larissa really wanted to tell her not to but was unable to, so she just smiled and left.
She went back the way she came from and planned to call a cab to take her home, but she was not expecting that silver Mercedes to still be there.