Looking at the doorman, in an instant, I felt that even if Shelton presented the inkstone whose price was thousands of times higher than these money combined, the doorman wouldn't bother to glance at it.
The doorman accepted the money and counted it two or three times, saying to us with a bright smile, "Wait a minute."
As he said that, he went in and made a phone call.
Within less than two minutes, from a distance, I saw a nurse dressed in a down coat show up at the door and run over at us.
Looking quite old, the nurse should be in her forties.
After running over, she looked at us and said reluctantly, "Come in with me."
At this time, we wanted to see Jessica the most. So we didn't bother with these.
We followed the nurse inside. Walking inside, I looked around and found that several trees in the yard had indeed withered and become lifeless rather than become seasonally withered in winter days.
There was no vitality in the whole hospital.
We followed the nurse to the sole building inside.
As soon as we entered the building, we found that the whole building was quiet. Except for a nurse's corner in the middle, there were neither lights nor windows in the corridors on both sides.
At the end of the corridor, there existed the sole window.
The whole hospital looked like a haunted house.
The building was filled with the smell of disinfectant as well as a strange smell mixed in between.
The nurse took us to the nurse's corner, took out a booklet, and asked, "Which one are you here to pay the renewal fees for?"
"Renewal fees?" I was a little puzzled, "We're here to visit a patient."
Hearing my words, the nurse suddenly looked up as if she had seen a ghost and asked, "Visit a patient?"
"That's right."
I nodded.
At this time, I had a bad feeling in my heart.
Could it be that nobody had ever come to visit the patients here?
Hearing what I said, the nurse burst out laughing. Then she lowered her head and said in a quite cold voice, "Sorry, no visit is allowed here."
"Why..."
Shelton interrupted me and spoke first, "We are here to pay the renewal fees for Jessica Reid."
Hearing Jessica's name, the nurse looked up at Shelton and then at me, "Jessica Reid? You don't have to pay any renewal fees for her."
"Why is that?"
I started to get nervous.
"What does the nurse mean? Could it be that my mother has..."
Soon, the nurse said, "Regarding her, someone has paid 50 years' fees here for her early."
I pulled Shelton. I thought of the pitch-dark wards on both sides.
In such a large mental hospital, this nurse was the only one in sight.
"Can a patient recover in such a place?"
As I was about to say something, Shelton seemed to have understood what I meant. He took out his cell phone and said, "100,000 dollars. We want to meet Jessica Reid." "Ah?" The nurse was stunned.
Shelton repeated, "I'll transfer 100,000 dollars to your bank account. We want to see Jessica Reid."
The nurse didn't come to her senses at first. However, after Shelton repeated his words, she was enlightened at once. Nodding right away, she picked up the cell phone next to her and quickly gave Shelton her bank account details.
Without saying anything more, Shelton transferred 100,000 dollars to her.
After receiving the money, the nurse stared at her cell phone and carefully counted the amount. After she made sure that it was indeed 100,000 dollars, her eyes lit up. She said, "Okay. Okay. Okay! Come with me!"
As she spoke, she began to rummage through the drawer behind her for a key.
She picked up a bunch of keys with "Fifth Floor" written on them, put her cell phone into her pocket, and waved her hands, gesturing us to go with her.
There were only five floors of the hospital here.
She took us upstairs by taking an elevator. The elevator was super old-fashioned. It would take at least ten seconds for the elevator door to be closed. And when it went up, it made a loud noise.
I didn't say anything.
The nurse said casually, "Could it be that she is your mother?"
"Yes. I only knew about it now." I nodded.
Hearing this, the nurse suddenly stopped and turned to look at me, "Is she your mother?"
There was a bit of surprise on the nurse's face.
I looked at her, "Yes, what's the matter?"
"Nothing. Never say that you're her daughter later. She has a daughter here. You'll get my point after you get inside." The nurse shook her head, turned around, and continued to walk forward.
My mother's ward is in the innermost room.
After walking for a while, we finally reached her ward.
Standing at the door, I quietly listened to what was happening inside.
It was quiet inside.
There was no sound.
The nurse looked for the key to this ward for a while and went to open the door.
Seeing the key turning, I was quite nervous. When I inquired about my scores in the national entrance examination back then, I wasn't as nervous as I was now.
After the nurse turned the key for three rounds, the door finally opened.
The moment the door opened, I finally understood what was mixed with the smell of disinfectant. It was a foul smell!
A burst of disgusting smell gushed out from the crack of the door!
Feeling a churn in my stomach, I almost threw up.
The nurse looked at me and said, "Put up with it for a while."
At this time, I heard a light and soft voice coming from the inside, "Hush. Charlotte and Caroline are sleeping. Don't wake them up."
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