The poor Billionaire novel (Ethan) novel Chapter 83
The next day, Horace got up at dawn and cleaned the ward. He had always been a diligent young man before he learned of his true identity. His mother had taught him how to do house chores, so cleaning wasn't a big deal.
At about seven o'clock, Laila came to the hospital. She had taken the day off from work.
She had come to support Horace since his mother would be operated on today.
It wasn't until twenty minutes past eight that Caylee's oncologist, Cowan Mitchell came to her ward and checked her vital signs.
After Cowan was done with the examination, Horace asked with a low voice, "Doctor, you have been treating my mother for quite some time. Please what is the success rate for her operation? Are you a hundred percent sure that it will be successful?"
Tension was already brewing in Horace's mind at this time. He didn't want anything bad to happen to his mother. He wanted to know the success rate to determine if he would go ahead with it. If the rate was too low, he wouldn't agree to it.
"Did you just say a hundred percent?" Cowan chuckled and sucked his teeth. He then added, "In medicine, it's impossible for doctors to be completely sure that surgeries will be successful! The surgery about to be carried out on your mother is a tough one. The cancer isn't at the early stage, so the success rate is a maximum of thirty percent. Nevertheless, she will be able to live for three more years even if it fails!"
Cowan uttered the last few words with a complacent expression. In his eyes, a thirty percent success rate was very high and three years was a long time. He was so insensitive.
Cara had previously briefed Horace about his mother's surgery. According to her, the management of the hospital had specially assigned Cowan to his mother because he was the best oncologist in the hospital. They had increased the bills so she would be scheduled to be operated on by Cowan. It was increased from hundreds of thousands to a whopping two million dollars.
Horace was rich now, but he had worked a hectic menial job that only fetched him one hundred dollars a day. He would earn only three thousand dollars per month by working every day. If he had refused to reconnect with his rich family after finding out his true identity, it would have taken him six hundred and sixty-six months to make two million dollars without spending a dime out of his salary.
Six hundred and sixty-six months was equivalent to fifty-five years. Since he was currently eighteen, it meant that he would only be able to earn up to that amount at the age of seventy-three.
Working for that money would take several decades of hard work. All the money would be paid for the surgery, but the doctor rudely said that the success rate was a maximum of thirty percent. Since that was the maximum percent, Horace reasoned that it was definitely about ten percent lesser than that. This meant that there was an eighty percent chance that Caylee would have only three years to live even if she underwent the operation. More so, she would have to take treatment and down many pills throughout those years. It would be torture for her!
The sight of the doctor's complacent and indifferent expression made Horace's blood boil. "This operation costs two million dollars, and you are telling me the success rate is only thirty percent? Are you kidding me? Don't you have any shame? How could you be so complacent while mentioning such a poor rate?" Horace shouted.
Cowan's face instantly darkened. He glared at Horace and said, "I don't give a damn if you want to go ahead with the operation or not? She's your mother, not mine. Besides, do you think I care about how much it costs? For your information, there are a lot of patients waiting in line for me to operate on them!"
"What the hell? Are all the doctors in this hospital so arrogant? Did you just say you don't care whether I go ahead with the surgery or not? Have you no work ethic?" Horace was pissed and he shook his head in disappointment. Since his mother got admitted here, he had experienced far too many bad occurrences.
In the early days, there had been another patient in this ward. The patient was an old man in his seventies. His family had given up on the operation because they had no money. Horace vividly remembered how the man had cried and taken out a ten-dollar bill with his trembling hand. He had given it to him and said tearfully, "Boy, I have money. I don't want to die now!"
Horace's heart had broken to see him like that. He took the ten-dollar bill and went to beg the doctor assigned to the old man for a long time. Unfortunately, the doctor was unmoved. The reply he received was still ingrained in his mind. "Since he doesn't have money, he should accept his fate. This is a hospital, not a charity organization. It's none of my business if he's poor. I have to do my job and get paid!"
The old man was forcefully discharged afterward. Horace didn't know whether he was still alive or had passed away. Since he became rich, he always thought about him. He couldn't go to look for him because he hadn't asked for his address.
Cowan was unrepentant even after he was scolded. "It's not that all the doctors here are arrogant. We are just experts who are sought after by patients from far and wide. Since you are placing more importance on two million dollars than your mother's life, there's no way she would live past three years. You are free to take her home and start preparing for her funeral. You fool!"
Except for the employees present at the billing department that day, no other employee knew that Horace was wealthy. Cowan and the management were also oblivious to this fact. Otherwise, they would not have charged him more than one million extra after changing his mother's attending doctor.
"You bastard, you are lucky that I don't want to fight in the hospital. You had better watch your mouth. If you speak ill of my mother again, I would make sure you suffer a fate worse than death!" Horace shouted with fury burning in his eyes.
Caylee was the most important person to him. His life would be meaningless without her. As a result, he couldn't tolerate anyone insulting her, let alone wishing her death. He wanted to punch Cowan in the face for good measure, but Laila pulled him back.
"Horace, don't waste your energy on him. We would find another way. Your mother will be fine," she said in a soothing voice.
"You would find another way?" Cowan let out a peal of mocking laughter and continued, "Girl, you must think rectal cancer is like a minor headache. You are very wrong. It would be impossible for his mother to be cured in Rinas without my help. I'm one of the best rectal oncologists in the city. Did you just say she would be fine? How would he make that possible? Is it with the mere two million dollars he has? Sorry to burst your bubble. The other experts in this city won't give a damn about that measly amount!"
"Really? You are in for a disappointment. My mother will be fine. You are a quack, but you have a swollen head and want to get paid two million dollars. The nerve of you! You disgust me. Leave here now!"
"Humph! You silly brat. Mark my words. Once I step out of this ward, my fee would no longer be two million dollars. If you don't give me four million dollars and grovel at my feet next time, there's no way I will treat your mother!" Cowan snorted coldly. He then stormed out of the ward.
With the doctor's departure, Laila held her boyfriend's hand and said comfortingly, "Horace, please calm down and be hopeful. There must be a way to go about this."
"I know, Laila. There's still hope. Let me make a phone call first!"
Horace nodded his head and called Egan immediately.
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