Chapter 76 Chapter Seventy Six
A WEEK LATER
I dragged my tired eyes from the screen when my phone kept on vibrating. I knew it couldn’t be Lucas because I had a separate ringing tone for his calls and his would definitely ring out, it wouldn’t be Grace; she would have stormed up here if she called more than twice and I didn’t pick up.
Now, this was the fifth time this caller had called. I would give it to the caller though. The person had called for five times straight in a row, their persistence was admirable.
I yawned and rubbed my tired eyes then I leaned back against my seat and grabbed the phone. from the table. The number calling wasn’t saved on my phone and it wasn’t even familiar at all. “Hello…” I drawled after I picked up the call.
“Good afternoon, ma’am. Am I speaking with Miss Sydney? You brought in Mr Mark Torres after he was involved in an accident.”
I frowned and sat up. “Good afternoon. Yes, I am Sydney.”
“I am a caregiver and I am the one assigned to Mr Mark Torres.
I raised my eyebrows. I remembered that before I left the hospital last week, the doctor had suggested that I hire a caregiver that would care for Mark before his mother or fiancée would get there. I had told him that he could get him a caregiver and also made it clear that he should give him all the things and treatment that Mark needed and assured the doctor that the Torres will surely pay for everything.
It was also then that I was reminded of the essence of a good name. At the mention of Mark’s family name, the doctor in charge had been eager to do anything and everything even though I only made payment for Mark’s surgery
“Are you there, ma’am?”
“Oh yes, I was dragged out of my derailed thoughts. “I am still here. Okay, you said you’re Mark’s caregiver, is there any problem?”
There is a big problem, ma’am.”
“Oh my.” My heart unnecessarily skipped a beat. “What happened?” What was it this time? It’s been a week, it was enough time for either Sandra or Rose to get to the hospital and identify themselves as relatives of Mark Torres, so why was she the one the caregiver had chosen to call? “When I got this job, I was excited that I was going to be caring for a man from a wealthy family and my pay will be steady and who knows? I might even get an increase but since I’ve started. this job. I’ve only been taking care of the unconscious man, no one has come to ch*ck on him talkless of paying me for the services I’ve been offering for the past days.” The woman’s voice was low but agitated. I could literally hear the frustration and disappointment in her voice. “Wait wait,” I held up my palm before me as though the caregiver was sitting across from me. “Did you just say no one has come to see him?”
“No one,” the caregiver bit out in an exasperated tone. “The doctor kept assuring me that his family was coming but it’s been a week now and mere assurances would not pay my bills or put food on my table.”
My frown deepened. I rested my elbow on the desk and massaged my furrowed brows, “What about his mom and fiancée? They haven’t been there?” I closed my eyes after the question rolled
my tongue.
God, Sydney! The poor lady just said that no one has come! I reprimanded myself. It wasn’t my fault though, I am stressed.
There was silence and I braced myself for the lady’s outburst. But she seemed to have a steady grip on the reins on her emotion because she replied calmly after some seconds.
“I just said no one has visited, Miss Sydney.” She clicked her tongue, “So I don’t know about any
Chapter 76 Chapter Seventy Six
fiancée or mother but no one has showed up for him. I’ve been the only one taking care of him. I had to force the receptionist to give me your contact info, I need my pay, please,” she said firmly. “I have been patient enough.”
I sighed. “I deeply apologize for this. It’s unlike the Torres family. I’m sure something is holding them up. I’ll try t
“What about my pay? I’m afraid I might have to stop giving my services if I d-”
I was coming to that, Miss. Text your account number and rate to this number. I will pay you immediately. So please, continue to take care of him.”
“Alright. Thank you.”
“I’ll also try to -”
I blinked when I heard the click that signaled that the call had ended. I raised
my brow and shrugged as I dropped my phone. I didn’t blame her, I would have been madder if I were her. She was just so soft–spoken that I hadn’t expected that she would hang up on me
I shook my head as I reclined in my seat. This was really unfortunate. Mark had been in a coma since his operation was finalized. Yes, he had been unconscious since his surgery. I couldn’t keep staying so I had to leave but my case was understandable, right? I had work to deal with plus I wasn’t exactly related to him.
Sandra had always been a selfish b**ch so I wasn’t surprised that she was yet to go see her fiance. who couldn’t show up to their engagement because he was involved in a fatal car accident but his mother?
Rose was always all over Mark, she made it seem like she was the first woman to have a child. who knew she would find it hard to pay him a visit at the hospital?
I thought of what to do, how to reach out to them. I could either go to them or place a call through to them but that would be so much stress so I decided to go with the latter.
I licked up my phone again. I was not sure if I had Rose’s phone number but I scrolled through. my contact list in search of it anyway.
I found it. My thumb hovered above it. I have always hated any form of communication between my former mother–in–law and I; I used to do anything to avoid getting in situations that would require us to interact.
I thought of calling Sandra instead but it was only natural and sensible that his mother would be the first person I will reach out to, not the woman that was indifferent about him.
I sighed and dialed her number.
“Grandma Doris, this is for you,” I muttered to myself as the phone rang. I’m doing these things that I don’t like or want to do because I want to keep my promise to you.”
If only Doris was here, I’m sure she would have rushed to the hospital that morning.
The ringing ended and no one picked up. I frowned and cocked my head to the side as I dialed the number again. After a few seconds, the ringing stopped as there was no response.
My frown deepened as I stubbornly redialed the number.
“Why isn’t she picking up?”
There was still no response after I redialed it the fourth time. If she was intentionally ignoring my call then she must be a fool and not care about her son at all. So far, she must know that I was the only one who would be with Mark in the hospital and since I never called her, she was. supposed to know that I must be calling her regarding Mark
I decided to try to call her with someone else’s number. I rushed to Grace’s office. “Hey, can I have your phone?”
“Sure…” she trailed off as I had already snatched her phone from her desk.
I felt her eyes on me as I punched Rose’s number into her phone and dialed it. No response. I tried again and there was still no response.
“Strange,” I murmured under my breath as I handed Grace’s phone to her. Her curious gaze was on me as she absentmindedly took the phone from me.
Chapter 76 Chapter Seventy Six
“What’s up?”
I sighed and plopped in the cushioned chair in her office. I’m trying to reach Rose. I tried to reach her with my line but she didn’t pick up so I thought maybe she was ignoring my calls. I tried to reach her with your line too but it’s still the same. At least, now I’m sure she isn’t deliberately ignoring my calls.”
“First, why are you trying to reach her?” That was the first question that Grace blurted out.
I told her why I needed to reach either Rise or Sandra and her m*uth formed an ‘O‘ then she pouted, “I really
feel bad for him.
“Me too,” I murmured back. My eyes followed Grace as she got back to work; she seemed to be joining some fabrics with a tiny needle.
“Now that Rose isn’t picking up, I guess I have to call Sandra,” I shrugged and with my l*ps. twisted unpleasantly, I dialed Sandra’s number. As I dialed her line, I wondered how come I had it. She answered almost immediately, as if she had been expecting my call.
“Hello?”
“Sandra. It’s Sydney.”
There was a brief pause then, “Sydney?” She sounded surprised. “What do you want?”
I crossed my legs. I just got a call from Mark’s caregiver,” I heard her emit a low groan but I ignored it and kept talking, “I just learned from her that you haven’t visited your fiancé since he’s been in the hospital.”
“So?”
My brows raised on their own accord. “It’s been a week, Sandra. A whole week! Even if you don’t genuinely love him, you should consider the amount of money he willingly spent on you and the engagement. It’s unfair, you should at least go and see him,” I reproached her.
“Uh, duh!” Sandra said nonchalantly, “We are yet to have our engagement ceremony so he’s not really my
fiancé yet. That being said, I have no obligation to take care of him.”
I opened my m*uth, surprised but what was I expecting from her. “You shouldn’t say that, Sandra. You guys are dating and you’re the one he intends to get married to and spend the rest of his life with. The least you can do is to be by his side in this trying time and care for him,” I said placatingly.
She let out one of those ‘you’re so boring‘ groans, “Spare me. What am I? A nurse? Besides, that’s why he’s got a caregiver. Let her do her job.”
“Sandr-”
She interrupted me and asked the most ridiculous question expected from someone whose fiance is trapped in a hospital bed. “Hey, how is he in bed? Before and after the accident.” She didn’t let me respond as he droned on, “My God, I heard that some people lose their S*xual ability after waking up from a serious accident, how am I supposed to live with that?! I simply cannot accept that! The marriage won’t even work, it will be a disaster. You know, I actually dumped Joel, that softie, because he couldn’t satisfy me anymore, then she scoffed, I’m not even about to get into another relationship where I will not get S*xually sated.”
Grace’s m*uth was hanging open. She could also hear Sandra’s utterances as the call was on speaker. The hell! How much more stupid could this girl be?
I was fuming with anger but I suppressed it. How would I know how he is in bed, Sandra? I’ve never slept with him. Why don’t you ask your good friend, Bella? They used to be dynamite in bed. She should be willing to tell you.”
I didn’t wait for her dumb response, I furiously tapped on the ‘end call‘ icon and threw the phone on the other end of the couch.
“God!” I clutched my head in my hand while Grace giggled and got back to work.
I let out a breath and sighed. Since no one was ready to show up, I would have to take responsibility for Mark’s care until Rose shows up. Again, for Doris‘ sake.
