All Chapters of At the ICU Door, I Learned Who Mom Really Loved: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

Claire's POVThe nurse gave me a sympathetic look before walking away.I was still clutching the CT scans I'd just picked up, but suddenly, I couldn't remember why I'd come here in the first place.The ICU allowed visitors only once a day, for 15 minutes. Ever since I'd heard that Mom had regained consciousness, I'd been counting down the hours until I could see her. I'd barely slept all night.It had never even crossed my mind that she might refuse to see me."Claire? What are you doing just standing here?" I turned around to find Dad approaching. He shoved a hospital bill into my hand."Your mom's expenses for today still haven't been paid. Go take care of it."He paused. "Is she awake today?" I nodded, my voice hoarse from lack of sleep. "Yeah. They're… allowing visitors today."Dad's eyes widened. He immediately pulled out his phone. "What time? Why didn't you tell me sooner? I'll call your sister and have her come over right now." The tightness in my throat, which ha

Chapter 2

Claire's POVI didn't go to the hospital the next day.That evening, my phone suddenly started buzzing nonstop. I picked it up and found the family group chat exploding with messages.At the top was a photo Mom had posted. She was propped up against the pillows in her hospital bed, with Cathy sitting beside her. They were both smiling at the camera, their hands forming a heart between them.Mom had added a caption. "Thank you to my sweet Cathy for taking such good care of me and helping me pull through. I wouldn't be here without you."In the photo, Cathy was holding a hospital receipt. Her phone was conveniently angled toward the camera, showing a 1,370-dollar transaction.The relatives immediately flooded the chat."Priah's out of danger now? She seems to be doing pretty well!""Cathy is such a good daughter. It's a weekday, and she still took time off work to stay with her mom.""Paying the bills and taking care of her? You raised an amazing daughter. You're so lucky!"My

Chapter 3

Claire's POVI took screenshots of every payment I'd made since Mom was admitted, attached them one by one, and clearly labeled what each charge was for. Then, I typed, "Mom's hospital bills from the past week came to 127,360 dollars. I paid every cent of it."Both children have an equal responsibility to support their parents, so I've attached the full breakdown here. @Cathy Brenner, your half comes to 63,680 dollars. Please send it to me as soon as possible. You can deduct half of the 1,370 dollars you paid yesterday from that amount."I also spent the entire past week at the hospital, seven days straight. I ate there, slept there, and barely left the building. Cathy can take over this week. I don't expect her to do as much as I did. Just don't show up for ten minutes and leave as you did on the first day."The chat went dead silent. My aunt, who only minutes ago had been one of the loudest voices calling me selfish and immature, suddenly had nothing to say. My cousin stopped

Chapter 4

Claire's POVTwo weeks later, Mom was discharged from the hospital. The moment she saw me, her entire demeanor changed. She reached for my hand with a warm, affectionate smile, as though nothing had happened between us."I'll stay at your place for a while after this. I talked to your dad. You've been sulking all this time because you're upset I didn't see you first when I came out of the ICU, isn't it?"Come on, Claire. Stop keeping score over every little thing. I'll stay with you, and then you can see me every day. Happy now?"She said it as if she were doing me a favor. I didn't take the bait. "I've already taken a week off work because of the accident. I'm seriously behind, so I won't have time to take care of you."You can stay with Cathy after you're discharged. Seeing more of her should be good for your recovery, right?"Mom's smile vanished instantly. "You've been at your company for years. Nobody's going to care if you slack off a little. Your sister is different. She

Chapter 5

Third-Person POVPriah spent the night at Cathy's apartment and didn't return until the following morning.When she pressed her finger to the scanner on the front door, a cold electronic voice responded, "Access denied."Frowning, she tried again. "Access denied."Priah's frown deepened. She raised her hand and started pounding on the door. "Claire! Open up! I'm back!"The hallway was deserted. Her voice echoed back at her through the silence.She knocked even harder. "What is wrong with this stupid lock?"Without warning, the door swung open. A shirtless man Priah had never seen before stood on the other side, glaring at her."Who the hell are you? Why are you banging on my door?"Priah stumbled back in shock. "I… What do you mean? I live here."The man impatiently pointed at the apartment number. "Lady, take a good look. This is my apartment. Keep harassing me, and I'm calling the police for trespassing.""This is my daughter's apartment!" Priah snapped, humiliated and f

Chapter 6

Third-Person POVPriah no longer needed anyone looking after her, but that very afternoon, she packed up and moved into Cathy's apartment anyway. Perhaps she wanted to prove a point.Claire might have abandoned her, but she still had another daughter who was more than happy to take care of her. At least, that was what Priah wanted everyone to believe.But reality looked very different.Cathy left early every morning and came home late at night. Her apartment was an absolute disaster, and from the first day Priah moved in, she found herself cleaning up after Cathy instead of the other way around.Then, there was the food.Cathy ordered food delivery for her, but everything that arrived was greasy, salty, and exactly the kind of food Priah's doctor had told her to avoid while she recovered.Priah opened the takeout container and stared at it in disbelief. She called Cathy, but the call was immediately declined.A few minutes later, Cathy called back, sounding irritated. "Mom, I

Chapter 7

Third-Person POVJohn had never been good with paperwork, and hospital procedures only confused him further. Worse, he had neither the patience nor the interest to figure them out.When he went to pay a bill, he stood in the wrong line. A staff member sent him to the third floor, only for someone upstairs to tell him he needed to go back down and take a number ticket first.Picking up Priah's scans was no better. He spent forever fumbling with the self-service kiosk, unable to get it to scan the code. When the people waiting behind him started getting impatient, he lost his temper and argued with them.Whenever he had a question, he stopped the first nurse he saw. If the nurse told him it was something he needed to discuss with Priah's doctor, he accused them of refusing to do their job.After yelling at the nurses, he turned his frustration on Priah. "You can't do anything right. How do you manage to break your leg just walking around? All you ever do is create more problems for

Chapter 8

Claire's POVMy college class president, Lily Collins, worked at my new company. In fact, she was the one who had suggested that a recruiter reach out to me.When she saw me on my first day, her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "You actually left your hometown? I only asked Rachel to reach out and see if you'd be interested. I never thought you'd actually say yes!"We had gone to college in Northbridge, and she'd tried to convince me to stay after graduation.Her father's friend owned a company there, and she'd offered to introduce me. The salary and benefits had been excellent for a new graduate.But I'd turned her down without hesitation. All I'd wanted back then was to go home.Dad was an ordinary factory worker, Mom picked up whatever part-time work she could find, and Cathy's grades were barely holding together. I worried about all of them.If I worked close to home, I could be there whenever something happened.Lily and I had worked on several group projects together i

Chapter 9

Claire's POVWhen Mom turned 60 years old, she finally took me to court.She wasn't asking for money. She wanted the court to order me to visit her regularly.I let my lawyer handle the entire case and didn't attend the hearing myself.By then, I had more than enough documentation.There were over ten years of bank records showing the money I'd sent my family. I had the receipt for the 90,000-dollar hospital bill I'd paid, along with screenshots of everything Mom and Dad had said in the family group chat.In the end, the judge denied Mom's request.The written ruling was clear."The defendant has resided in another city for an extended period and has a deeply strained relationship with the plaintiff due to longstanding family conflict."The plaintiff has another adult daughter who remains available to assist with her day-to-day care. The defendant may therefore fulfill her legal obligation to support the plaintiff through reasonable financial contributions."Accordingly, the

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