Chapter 12 TRIAL
ELIAS WOKE UP the next morning with a blinding heading and one thought in mind: this was the last time he was going to sleep in a motel.
It was good enough motivation to get him out of bed.
He was meeting with the house agent that morning, so he quickly began to prepare.
The house agent was a woman who looked at Elias with immediate respect after he told her he was ready to pay for the house in full. No leasing. No mortgage.
A few hours later, Elias was a homeowner in a quiet, reputable part of the city.
But his salary advance for the month had been depleted by almost eighty percent in just a few days.
As he was having an early lunch at a restaurant near his new house, he suddenly heard a familiar voice that made his blood run cold.
"I thought it was you!" The familiar voice laughed.
"Hello to you too, Beatrice," Elias said coolly, looking up from his food and suddenly regretting that he had come into this restaurant.
She pulled out a chair and sat opposite him. "I saw you on the news. I guess you're pretty popular now, eh?" she said, blinking at him with her small eyes.
Eyes that Elias would have done anything for before. Eyes that had made him go to prison for six years of his life. But now, looking into those eyes did nothing to him. He was not even angry anymore.
"What did you see on the news?" he asked, bored.
"When did you become a doctor, Elias?" she asked. "They said you saved some big businessman."
"I guess I did," Elias replied.
He dabbed his mouth with a napkin and waved the waitress over so he could pay for his meal.
Beatrice watched him carefully.
The waiter came over and bowed, dropping the bill on the table.
"How much is it?" Beatrice asked.
The waiter looked at her, confused by her interest, but replied, "Just a little over seven hundred dollars, ma'am."
Beatrice chuckled.
"Elias, you don't have seven hundred dollars. You don't have to disgrace yourself here right now." She picked up the bill. "You can return that suit you're wearing and stop with all the acts. I know you even better than you know yourself. My lover, Brad—you've met him, yes? He is—"
"Here," Elias said, cutting her off. He brought out his gold card and handed it to the waiter. Beatrice's eyes followed the card, and her mouth fell open. "Add her tab to mine," Elias said. He looked around and said again, "You know what? Add those gentlemen's tab to mine too." He pointed at a group of men seated several tables away.
"Sure thing, sir," the waiter said with a bow.
Beatrice took the next few moments to recover from the shock.
"Who are you?" she asked in a small voice. "Where did you get all that money? Did you rob a bank?"
Elias smiled and leaned back in his chair, savouring his wine. He crossed one ankle over his knee and looked at the woman he had once been in love with.
For a moment, he found himself asking his younger self what exactly it was that had made him fall in love with Beatrice.
The waiter returned with his card.
The payment of almost three thousand dollars had gone through successfully.
Beatrice struggled to process everything. She stammered, "I am going to get to the root of this. You must have involved yourself with a crime syndicate. After all, you went to prison."
Elias was about to point out that the reason he went to prison was because of her and her family. But then his attention was caught by one of the small televisions mounted near the ceiling.
The governor's son had been involved in a serious accident and his condition was critical. He was being rushed to Bellamy Medical Center, the closest and largest hospital in the state.
"Oh, shit," Elias muttered under his breath.
"What? What is it?"
"Thank you for the chat, Beatrice," Elias said sarcastically as he stood up and buttoned his jacket. "But I have to go. Duty calls."
For several minutes after he walked out, Beatrice's face remained twisted with confusion.
She looked at the television screen and cocked her head.
"Duty?" she murmured, then her eyes widened dramatically; "It can't be..." She shook her head.
"No. It's not possible that Elias is really a doctor."
AS SOON AS ELIAS GOT to the hospital, it was a mess.
The place was rowdy. The press were everywhere, trying to get news about what was happening inside as quickly as possible.
No one paid Elias any attention as he squeezed his way through the crowd.
Inside the lobby, things were no better.
Nurses were running through the corridors, pushing carts and carrying IV lines, medical equipment, and other supplies as the governor's son was rushed toward the emergency department.
"I got you this." Harper's voice made Elias turn around. She was holding out the latest smartphone.
"You didn't have to," Elias said.
Harper rolled her eyes. "It would make it easier to contact you. Like today... how did you even find out?"
"I saw the news," Elias replied, reluctantly accepting the gift.
Harper cursed under her breath.
"So it's already on TV," she muttered.
She looked through the large glass window at the reporters waiting eagerly outside.
The glass was one-way, so they could not see inside.
"Sometimes, I think they're expecting the worst possible news," Harper said. "It would make bigger headlines." She sighed.
"How bad is it?" Elias asked.
"Very bad," Harper replied. "I'm not a doctor, but I saw the condition the car was in."
Elias looked down the hall and saw Doctor Marcus pacing anxiously. He had never seen Marcus in such a state before.
"His driver died on the spot," Harper continued. "And now the boy is going to die here..."
Her voice became shaky as she gripped Elias's arm. "He can't die here, Elias. He can't... i don't know what would happen to father if he had such a scandal." She chewed her fingernails, a habit that Elias noticed she normally did when she was scared or nervous. "If he dies here, they'll blame the hospital. The governor will blame us. The press will tear this place apart.""
Elias clenched his jaw and nodded. "He won't," he said in a firm voice. Then he turned and walked away.
As he headed toward the operating room, he rubbed the pouch hanging from his belt for reassurance. He approached the theatre, and saw the look on Marcus's face, and he felt his resolve shake.
If something could make the head-surgeon scared like this then... Elias did not even know what to expect.
