Chapter 6

Reina's POV

“Good day, Ma’am. Welcome to our restaurant.” I said, smiling at the beautiful young lady who was already seated, waiting to be attended to.

“Thank you. Can I see the menu?” She asked, with a poker expression.

“Yes, Ma’am. Here it is.” I replied and handed over the menu to her.

I stood by her table, smiling and patiently waiting for her to make an order but this lady was being unnecessarily slow. It seemed like she was having a hard time making a decision.

And damn it! I had other customers to attend to. Jessica was around, but she was in a foul mood. According to her, she was dumped by her boyfriend and they had been dating for six months. Well, that wasn’t my problem right now, my problem was this lady who was wasting my time.

“Excuse me, Ma’am. Do you need help?” I asked, trying to be as respectful as possible.

“What do you mean by that?” She frowned, with her right eyebrow, raised.

“I am sorry, but I have been waiting for quite some time and there are other customers I need to attend to as quickly as possible,” I replied, acting humble.

“Gosh! You are so rude. How would they employ someone like you who isn’t able to multitask?” She asked in a rude tone whilst rolling her eyes at me. “Anyways, get me some pancakes and waffles, with a cup of latte.”

“Alright, ma’am. Do you need anything else?” I asked as I folded my lips.

“No. And I need my order, right away. I have a meeting to attend, in less than an hour.” 

Most times, I just get tired of customers who are so demanding and rude at the same time. It was because I needed to make ends meet, that was the only reason I was still in this mess. It made me remember Ian who was my card to a better life. I needed to get him in my palms as soon as possible.

I quickly walked away to get the lady’s order and went back to serve it to her. And she didn't even say a thank you; rather she looked at me scornfully as if she had something against me.

“If every waiter was to be given a tip, you do not deserve one. Let that sink into your thick skull and make sure you work on your communication skills.” She said and started digging into her food.

Wait what the hell was that for? Did I offend this lady somewhere and I don't remember? Arrrggghhh, I just wished I could shove the menu at her face and hit it on her head. What a rude human!

I walked away from her table without saying a word to her. I'd rather use my energy for something else. I went ahead to attend to other customers and they passed nice comments, unlike the other rude lady.

As I was about to leave a table to get their order, all of a sudden, I heard piercing sounds and my eyes fuzzed. I could barely see anything and before I knew it, I was on the ground and everything around me went dark.

*****************

I woke up and found myself in the hospital ward again.

“Oh, not again!!” I slammed my hand on my face lightly as I exclaimed.

Then the doctor came in, with a note and a pen, jotting some things down.

“How are you feeling now?” He asked, nicely.

“I am feeling much better than the last time I fainted,” I replied, with a sigh.

“Alright. Miss Reina, you ran off when we informed you of your heart disease and you didn’t wait to hear the rest.”

“I am sorry. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the news.”

“It’s fine. Your condition is worsening and if nothing is done soon, you will keep having dizzy spells and shortness of breath, which could lead to death.” The doctor informed me, with his hands in his laboratory coat's side pockets.

“Please, Doc, you have to help me. I don’t want to die just yet. What can I do? Do I have to take drugs or more drips? Just tell me anything I have to do to get rid of this heart disease.” I pleaded, with tears in my eyes.

“Miss Reina. The only thing that will help you is for you to have heart surgery.” The doctor said, fixing his gaze on me.

A heart surgery? I had never thought that I would have to undergo heart surgery in my life. I grew up healthy so the news itself was disheartening.

“You will start having more severe symptoms like being weak all the time, chest pain or discomfort, not being able to eat, swollen feet, slow heartbeat, fluttering in the chest, and so much more. Something has to be done as soon as possible, Reina.” The doctor explained and then looked at his wristwatch.

“Oh, my goodness. Why me?” Tears welled up in my eyes.

“You don’t have to be so sad about it. There is hope that you will be fine, with the surgery you are going to undergo. Just get to the reception to ask about the quotation. You will be fine.” The doctor said, with an assuring look.

When I got to the reception, I gulped down my saliva and mustered up the courage to ask about the bill. I already knew that I would not be able to afford it but I just had to ask.

“Hello, Miss. How may I help you?” One of the attendants asked, with a smile.

“I…I would like to get a heart surgery quotation. What's the cost of the surgery?”

“Alright. Give me a minute, I’ll look it up right now.” The attendant said as she began to press the keys on her keyboard.

A few seconds later, she looked up and gave me a small printed paper containing the amount I needed to pay for the heart surgery.

“Here you go, miss.” She handed it over to me.

When I looked at it, my mouth went agape and the tears I had been holding back, flowed down my cheeks with ease. It was three million dollars and I didn’t even have up to ten thousand dollars in my account. How was I going to cater for my twin brothers? If I die, who would take care of them? Was it my dad who was definitely going to be more miserable after my death?

Tears continued to flow down my cheeks as I thought about death knocking on my door. The thought scared me.

**************

I was discharged after a few hours. I had to begin to look for a way to gather the money for my surgery but how? I had no hope.

But suddenly, I thought of Ian. Now more than ever I was more determined to use him and I needed to get to him as soon as possible.

As I walked out of the hospital I was lost in my own thoughts. I was thinking of ways on how to get Ian and then before I realized I bumped into someone and goodness gracious guess who it was.

Yes!! It was Ian.

I was surprised to see him, but before I could say a word, I noticed a few reporters gathered around the area, with their cameras, already flashing at the both of us.

“Since when did you guys start dating?” One of the reporters threw a question at us and the others followed as well, bombarding us with numerous questions. Some questions were silly while others were reasonable.

To make the relationship that didn’t exist seem real, I intentionally fell into Ian's arms and looked straight into his eyes, like he was my lover and I was certain that the media captured this pose perfectly.

It was exactly what I needed.