Chapter 20: A Different Status
When Theo reached the hospital, he quickly found his way to Doctor Nischov’s office. He met the nurse who had been with Thall before and stopped her to ask about his wife’s condition.
"Have there been changes since she has been induced?"
The nurse hesitated, then replied reluctantly.
"She has not been induced."
Theo stopped in his tracks and turned, frowning.
"What? Why? I’m sure I made it clear that I was going to get the money, and that she should be moved to the comatose state."
The nurse answered politely.
"I received a different order from the Doctor, sir. And he’s my boss, not you."
The betrayal of it settled somewhere under his ribs. There was no point trading words with the nurse anyway. The man he had actually asked was Doctor Nischov himself, someone he shared a personal relationship with.
He reached the man’s office and walked in angrily.
The Doctor sat behind his desk with a tab propped in front of him, laughing along to a pre-apocalyptic show called Korean drama. When the door swung open he composed himself quickly and rose to his feet.
"Theo! You’re back."
Something in his expression turned somber, though it landed more patronizing than genuine.
"So you see it now... have you come to the best decision to make?"
Theo clenched his fist tight, gritting his teeth behind closed lips.
"Yes, I have. And I have decided to move my wife to another hospital, seeing how completely ignorant and lackadaisical you are."
The Doctor’s casual smile faded.
"What?"
"Not only that... since I am a Hero now, I also have some right, and part of that right is reporting you to the government. I can sue you for this, Doctor Nischov, and I honestly want to right now. There’s only one reason I am not punching you in the face right now, and it’s because of how much my father respected and liked you before he died. But aside from that, honestly, I am just disappointed."
The Doctor spoke reluctantly.
"Hey, Theo... listen here, I am just trying to look out for you. That amount of money, to spend it on anyone, would drain you. If you had that kind of money, your father wouldn’t have died, Theo. This is going to ruin you and your future. I made a promise to your father to look out for you in ways that I can."
Theo inhaled.
"If you are looking out for me, then you’d place an important value on the people I care about. If you’re going to sabotage my loved one out of your promise to my father, then why should I trust you? Please make arrangements for my wife to be moved to another hospital."
At the same time, the nurse’s phone chimed. She glanced at it, then crossed to the Doctor and whispered into his ear. As she spoke, he went very still.
When she stepped back, the way he looked at Theo had changed. He looked confused, and almost afraid, the color gone from his face.
’There’s no way... we have a new royal-tier insurance customer, and that person is Theo?’
The bank sat at the top of a network of information that fed much of the infrastructure of the post-apocalyptic world, because resources had grown more individualistic, given how much influence Heroes held. So whenever a new rich citizen appeared, the record rippled out through every channel it touched, from hospitals that ran on the insurance to loan companies and even the Hero Association.
Doctor Nischov could not believe what stood in front of him, because Royal-tier was only two tiers beneath the highest and most respected rank of citizenship — a rank so rare that Meteor City itself didn’t hold a single one.
So a Royal-tier citizen was a big deal.
’But how?’
It was a question he couldn’t answer, and rather than keep asking it, he bowed his head before Theo and swallowed his pride.
"Theo, I made a very big mistake in my bid to look out for you. I am very sorry." He glanced up and jabbed a finger at the nurse. "Quickly, move her to a private quarter right now, and make sure it is the best available one in the facility!"
Theo stared blankly, blinking. Doctor Nischov had turned suddenly full of energy, and while Theo didn’t hate it, it was strange to watch.
Of course, he was unaware of the internal politics and the flow of information around this tier, the one that had simply been offered to him at some bank.
After that, everything moved very quickly, and Theo was escorted up to the top floor of the hospital, where the surroundings were a world apart from the lower floors.
The walls here weren’t white. They were homely, panelled in warm brown boards, and as Theo walked he saw two frail-looking kids with tubes in their noses run past him. The air smelled different up here, not the sharp antiseptic of the lower floors but something softer, and the lighting was warm, gentler on the skin. Everything else carried the scent of luxury, and Theo could tell without being told that this was a wing kept for rich folk.
He entered Thall’s room, a broad yet simple space. A long couch sat close to the wall as one came in, and past it the brown partition slanted up toward the ceiling, dividing the room. Beyond that divide lay a homelier sitting area with a center table, and further on, where Thall lay, one could see her even from the couch at the entrance.
The room was full of soft beeping and tall machines, their wires running to different parts of her body, each one marking her pulse with a small steady light. Thall lay very still beneath the sheets, her chest rising in shallow but even breaths. Theo walked closer and reached out, touching the back of her hand gently.
’Her body temperature has come down...’
He felt relieved at that, for some strange reason, and he breathed out slowly.
’The only problem now is hiring capable security.’
He turned to Doctor Nischov and the little group of doctors and nurses waiting politely behind him. Theo glanced over the polite faces, felt a bit uncomfortable, and settled his attention on Doctor Nischov.
"Is there a way to increase the security around here?"
Doctor Nischov answered kindly.
"Yes, we can do that for you..."
Theo spaced out for a moment.
’No... it’s not going to be enough... the person who tried to kill her was skilled, and would slip through any surveillance system easily. I need an actual Hero to guard her.’
His brows drew together.
’Since I now have the money, why not hire someone capable.’