Reborn at Eighteen The Billionaire's Second Chance novel Chapter 130

Chapter 130

Elara

The cardiac unit smelled like disinfectant and despair.

Raven led me through narrow hallways to a four–person room. Beeping monitors. Hushed conversations. The steady hiss of oxygen

machines.

Her grandmother lay in the bed by the window. Small. Gray. Hooked

up to so many tubes and wires she looked like a broken machine.

“Babushka,” Raven whispered. “I brought a friend.”

The old woman’s eyes opened. Focused on me. She smiled faintly.

“Hello, dear.”

Her accent was thick. Russian, maybe. Or Ukrainian. The kind that never fully fades, no matter how many decades you spend in America.

“Mrs. Blake,” I said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Call me Anya.” She patted the bed. “Sit. Please.”

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I perched on the edge carefully, avoiding the wires.

“Raven tells me you’re helping her with school,” Anya said. “That’s

good. She’s so smart. Too smart to waste.”

“I know.”

“The doctors say I need surgery.” Her voice was calm. Resigned. “But it

costs too much. So I wait.”

“You’ll get the surgery,” I said. “I promise.”

Raven shot me a look. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.

But I meant it.

A nurse came in, checked vitals, adjusted something on the IV. When

she left, I pulled out my phone.

“What are you doing?” Raven asked,

“Research.”

I found the hospital’s patient advocacy page. Their triage protocol.

The policy manual buried three clicks deep.

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“When’s your appointment?” I asked.

“Two PM. Why?”

I didn’t answer. Just turned and walked back toward the cardiac unit.

Raven followed. “Elara. What are you thinking?”

“That we’re going to fix this.”

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The waiting area was packed. Families clustered around plastic chairs, holding coffee cups and worry like armor.

I stood up. Raised my voice.

“Excuse me. Can I have everyone’s attention?”

Heads turned. Conversations stopped.

“My name is Elara. My friend’s grandmother is waiting for heart surgery. Emergency bypass. Three–vessel disease. But she’s been scheduled two weeks out because the surgeon is busy.”

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