Sewers pt.4

After a time that seemed like an eternity to Lobert, the doctor from before appeared again. She looked around the room briefly and their eyes met.

"He's stable now, come with me."

Lobert's tension evaporated; he had been tense all evening.

But now he could let out a sigh of relief.

Now that Marc's condition was stable, there was nothing to worry about, was there? Lobert thought to himself, but he still held back his joy.

He thought about it a little more...stable didn't necessarily mean he was healthy...it just meant he wasn't in any mortal danger.

Maybe there would be permanent damage, which was even the more likely outcome.

Especially in the case that Marc did not get sufficient oxygen, it would be quite possible that there had been damage to his brain. Lobert didn't really want to think about it, so he pushed the thoughts away; he was about to find out anyway.

The walk to the treatment room seemed to take forever, a lot longer than the drive to the hospital.

He had been on his feet all day, and his steps fell sluggishly. 

The nurse stopped next to a door. This was probably the room Marc was in. Slowly, he pushed the door open.

On the bed lay Marc, pale.

"Hey Lobert."

Good, he could still talk.

"Hey Marc."

"You look like shit, you know that?" Lobert commented.

It looked like a smile that Lobert saw under the ventilator.

"And even though I almost died, I still look better than you."

Marc and Lobert laughed mildly.

Lobert was really glad that Marc seemed okay.

"I heard you saved my life."

"I guess I did...you owe me one now." Lobert said with a smile on his face. Now the rest of Lobert's tension disappeared.

"But in all seriousness, I'm glad you're okay."

The doctor turned to Lobert and interrupted their conversation.

"At his request, you may also listen to the following:"

The doctor detailed the type of damages Marc had and treatments that had been performed.

All in all, however, it could be taken away that Marc would not have stood a chance without Lobert's intervention, Marc miraculously suffered no permanent damage - thanks in part to the glorious state of medical technology - and that Marc could walk out of the hospital in a week or so.

But that didn't sound so good to Marc. "What will happen to my little brother then? I can't be gone that long! Not to mention my work!" Marc yelled all agitated.

"Relax, your little brother can live with me. And as long as I'm still doing your work, the boss won't notice a thing." Lobert assured him.

When he heard these words, Marc relaxed a little again.

The doctor looked Marc in the eyes and chimed in, "The treatment costs plus the accommodation costs, and that without insurance..."

Now Lobert knew why the question about insurance worried him.

This was not a public hospital.

This was a private hospital.

He hadn't noticed it until now because of the stress he was under, but the hospital was far too clean for a public hospital. Marc also received treatment way too fast for that.

"...makes a total of 200,000 ETU. But after checking your account balance, we determined that you are not able to pay..."

The doctor paused briefly, probably to listen to objections. But there were none.

"...we will remove one of your kidneys as compensation. This will reduce the debt to 100,000 ETU. Of course, we still expect that to be paid off."

Marc turned even paler than he already was.

"Is that all?" asked Marc in a surprisingly composed tone.

"Yes." Replied the doctor without any sign of empathy.

For the doctor, informing people of their total financial ruin was probably part of his daily routine.

"Then please leave."

The doctor left the room, Marc and Lobert were now alone.

Lobert briefly thought about running away with Marc, but he dismissed the idea quickly.

If these people believed that you owed them money, then there was no escape. 

If you didn't want to pay your debts, then you had to accept to lose your life.

The kidney could not be spared.

Tears came to Marc's eyes and he cried silently.

Some time passed.

"You should have just let me die." Marc sobbed.

Lobert's heart felt like it was about to burst.

"I know it's not your fault. But how am I supposed to go on now? I can't pay off the debt as long as I live. And if I eventually bite the dust without even coming close to paying off my debt, it will become his debt. My little brother will never be able to be well off, to live a good life, because of me. Tell me Lobert, what should I do?"

Marc covered his eyes with his hand.

Lobert, who generally always had at least a few good ideas, was at a loss this time.

"I...I don't know Marc."

Lobert lowered his gaze.

"I'm sorry."

Marc looked out the window, seeking his comfort in the colorful neon lights on the street, and concluded, "Then please leave me alone now."

Granting Marc's wish, Lobert left the room and then the hospital.

×

There was nothing more to do now, so it was time to go home, Lobert thought to himself.

But the service truck had already been hauled away, so Lobert walked to the next stop.

He didn't get away without consequences either.

In the waiting room, a policeman visited him and fined him 8,000 ETU for the traffic offenses; a sum Lobert could not pay.

He did not even have the 4,000 ETU the policeman wanted to turn a blind eye.

Compared to Marc's plight, the amount was a joke.

It thundered once and it started raining - first a little and then buckets.

At least it washed his dirty clothes.

Reality weighed heavily on him once again.

Maybe he should get some of that Happy that has become so popular lately.

Lobert's life was one of worry, constantly thinking about his problems. And if he didn't have any problems today, tomorrow he would have some to worry about. Always with his thoughts in the uncertain future.

If the Happy really worked as they said, then he could forget his worries and surrender himself to the here and now.

He had had enough of reality, which was probably why he found himself drawn to artificial realities.

It was already pretty late when he finally stood in front of his home, normally he would be asleep by now.

Outside his door he could hear the TV still on, was his mother still awake?

Cautiously he opened the door and saw his mother lying in bed, but still awake.

His mother turned from the TV, "Welcome back Lobert."

It was a cheap 50" 4k OLED flat screen and had none of the new features on it, but it was the best he could afford, even if it was used.

After all, his mother loved to watch TV.

She watched the late news, the chatter of the TV livening up the room.

...terrorists tossed bag explosives into the police station in the inner south district...

...5 policemen were killed, 5 others seriously injured...

...their motives are still unclear...

Lobert, however, paid no attention to the TV chatter.

"Hey mom. Feeling better?" Lobert said with a gentle mine.

She dismissed his question with a counter question.

"I'm fine honey, but what about you? You come home so late, and then you smell so awful."

"I'm fine, I just took a quick bath in the sewer."

"You know if there's any trouble you can always talk to me about it, I'll always have an open ear for you." she said, not entirely convinced by Lobert's story.

She always had a keen sense in such matters.

"I know you will, mom. I'm just going to wash up. Why don't you go to bed, it's already so late."

When Lobert came back from the bath, his mother was already asleep.

Lobert felt a little better now and went to bed as well.

He would be fine without any Happy, Lobert thought to himself, before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

The next morning Lobert got up a little earlier, he wanted to do Marc's work as well.

Like every morning, however, he was careful not to wake his mother while he was getting ready for work.

When Lobert opened the door, he checked on his mother; she was still asleep.

He locked the door and went upstairs, but there were already a few people in black suits waiting for him.

Uh-oh.