Mantis

42. Devil in hospital

– What happened? – I asked, because from the tone of her voice, I could tell that something must have happened.

– I'm in terrible pain, – Mom groaned with obvious difficulty, and my blood pressure shot up to two hundred.

– But what hurts? Mom?

– My leg. I think it's broken, – she sobbed painfully on the other end of the line. – I fell down the stairs. Please, take me to the hospital. Julia is at the seaside and won't be back until morning, and...

Adrenaline immediately surged through every corner of my body.

– Okay, don't say anything more – I interrupted her. – I'll be there as soon as I can.

Without a second thought, I jumped on my motorcycle and sped home, not caring about the speed limits. I burst into the house through the surprisingly unlocked door and immediately ran into my father.

– What are you doing here? – he asked, more surprised to see me than I was to see him.

– I'm here to take Mom to the hospital, – I snapped back. – Get out of my way.

I shot a look of contempt at his repulsive face, which I hadn't seen for a good four years, and didn't bother to continue the conversation. I passed him and ran to the foot of the stairs, where Mom was lying on the floor, writhing in pain.

– Let that bastard she's leaving for take her, – he called after me. – You thought you could just leave and forget about me?

The last words were definitely aimed at my mother, and although I had no idea who he was talking about, I suspected that the fall down the stairs wasn't an accident and that dear husband had a hand in it, but I had no time to find out. The grimace of pain on Mom's face was enough for me to stop paying attention to that excuse for a man and focus solely on her.

Although we didn't have to wait long to be admitted to the hospital, it felt like an eternity as I watched Mom, who was trying to look like it only hurt a little, though I could see she was in immense pain. Only when they laid her on the bed in the emergency room and the doctor started interviewing her did I breathe a sigh of relief. My emotions slowly began to subside. Mom was in good hands. Now I just had to wait.

I sank heavily into the nearest chair in the corridor outside the doors and fixed my gaze on a leaflet about the order of patient admissions hanging on the opposite wall. I was almost through point B when my phone rang. It was Victor calling.

The little creature living inside me rolled its eyes. Just what I needed. First, he ruins my meeting with Alex and dumps his grievances on me, and now he's calling. For what? To feed me his complaints about the unfairness of the world and irritate my bad temper?

I declined the call and leaned my head against the wall behind the plastic chair, but Victor didn't give up, and a moment later, instead of a ringtone, I heard the ping of a text message.

Victor: Where are you?

I ignored the message and resumed casually observing people entering and leaving the nearest room. However, I wasn't granted the peace of sitting alone with my thoughts for long, because barely had I managed to detach my thoughts from Victor when he reminded me of himself with another text.

Victor: Are you going to stay silent now to punish me?

I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. He left when I answered the phone, and now he suddenly wanted to talk? About what? We had already said everything, and he made it clear that I wasn't worth his effort. I ignored the message again, and this time Victor didn't even wait a few minutes before sending another.