death of hope

Chapter 22 "Flying Windfall" (22) Terminal Illness

At night, in a farmhouse on the outskirts of York City, a family sat around in the living room, the lights were dim, and the atmosphere seemed a bit depressing.

A crumpled pathology report was spread on the table, and small print was printed on the conclusion column:
"Phase II of uremia in children."

Albert, a middle-aged strong man with a big beard, was leaning on the broken leather sofa, with a cheap and inferior cigarette dangling from his mouth, his eyelids were drooping, and he was listless.

"Brother, I beg you as my sister, please accept this money!" Anna tore open the newspaper cover, which contained a stack of banknotes.

Albert shook his head slowly: "No, it's not easy for you and Roy."

"The two of us are much better than before. Roy met a nobleman, a wealthy collector, and admired his paintings. Look, we both use wireless communicators."

Anna's parents also persuaded: "Albert, the family should help each other, and then return the money to your sister and brother-in-law after earning money."

"Ahem..." Albert took a breath of the cigarette, coughing with choking:

"You don't understand, little Lisa's illness is a bottomless pit, and she needs long-term blood dialysis treatment. I can deal with it myself. The rich have their own way, and the poor have their way. Let's see if this child's life is hard."

"Brother! What bastard words are you talking about!" Anna was a little angry, her pretty face flushed red: "Are you saying what a father should say? It's so irresponsible!"

"What can I do!" Albert said loudly, "You think I don't love Lisa? She is my lifeblood! My reason for living!
At the time of divorce, in order to retain custody, I chose to leave the house. For her, I worked overtime three times a week, and even found a part-time night shift. I was as tired as a fucking dead dog, but who would want to encounter this kind of bad luck? thing! "

"If you encounter it, you can't escape it. Brother, accept this money and face it bravely together!"

"Lisa is my daughter, her life is up to me!"

"Okay, okay, brothers and sisters, what's the fuss..."

Seeing the future father-in-law and mother-in-law winking at him, Roy said seriously:

"Brother Albert, it's not easy for you to go to work and take care of the child by yourself. Little Lisa is so cute, she's a real beauty, I like her the most, how can I watch this child suffer.

Brother, don't worry, I'll pay for it, we won't do dialysis, just replace it with a state-of-the-art artificial kidney. "

"Thank you for your kindness, good brother, I would rather exchange my kidney for her."

"Don't be stupid, brother, the doctor said it before, no, there are millions of people waiting for kidney donors every year, only one percent of the lucky ones can survive the day of transplantation, and more than half of them die of kidney donors. Rejection and various complications, so the best option is to transplant an artificial kidney."

"That kind of genetically engineered stuff... has a high chance of failure. After all, children's surgery is at a high risk. Don't try to persuade you. I know that the money was put together by a few of you. All of your wealth, I have to deal with my own problems, and it is best to treat them conservatively, so farewell!"

Albert was a stubborn man. He put out his cigarette butt, drank some water, picked up his clothes, and hurried out of the gate.

The old couple looked gloomy and lamented again and again. Anna went to persuade him. Roy stared at the stack of money on the table and thought:
(The root cause, after all, is because of fear of poverty,

Albert, this guy, doesn't believe that I can easily come up with this money. He is a man, and he would rather carry it by himself than involve his family. )
This visit was obviously not pleasant. Anna's parents loved Roy very much and prepared sumptuous dishes for him every time, but this time, when they came out, their stomachs were still empty.

"Let's find a place to eat something, my stomach is growling."

Anna was still wiping tears: "I'm not in the mood."

"I know you're sad about Lisa, that child is truly lovable,

I will do what I said, I will pay for her surgery, and I will pick her up from school when I am free, and I will do it without telling your brother. If the operation really fails, all resentment and anger will be left to me Come on. "

"Roy!"

Anna hugged her lover tightly like a koala hugging a eucalyptus.

"Okay, don't cry, you are a healthy adult, you are not as strong as a sick little girl."

"Roy, I'm hungry."

"Come on, let's go to the hot dog stand, your favorite one."

"it is good!"

Another week later, at the Spike fuel cell plant, two more workers died, one from complications caused by nuclear radiation and the other from the poor air near the plant.

When eating in the cafeteria, the atmosphere is even more oppressive, with constant coughing. Many people have been in a sub-health state for a long time, and the workers feel like livestock waiting to be slaughtered.

The factory executives were all talking about the strike organized by the trade union, worried about whether it would affect production. No one proposed to send pensions to the families of the dead workers.

The disappearance of a low-level person can't even cause a ripple in this cold and cruel society.

In the afternoon, there was another production accident. Due to the long-term disrepair of the equipment, a worker was stuck inside the machine tool. Fortunately, the danger was saved in time and no one was killed.

The production line leader who had the accident was called to the upstairs office to give him a stern reprimand. The reason was not a safety hazard, but slowed down the production speed and affected the efficiency.

Roy is determined to take Anna out of this man-eating ghost place as soon as possible, and nothing can go wrong before boarding the immigration ship.

In the evening, Roy said he was going to meet the collector, and Anna wanted to thank the benefactor face to face, but of course he was rejected.

(It takes hundreds of lies to cover one lie, which is exhausting.)
Thinking of this, Roy got up and went to the old lame bar to get some money. There were no taxis on the road, so he had to walk there.

The main road was blocked, because the marching workers were confronting the riot squad, so they had to take a detour, and heard sporadic gunshots, cries, and alarm bells from a distance...

(This night, God knows how many more people will die, and the situation is getting worse.)
The communicator rang, and it was brother Bart, a worker, complaining to Roy about the messy things in the factory.

At the corner of a certain dark alley, several black figures surrounded them. The leader was a tall and thin man, holding a long dagger in his hand, and the others were holding pistols or iron bars.

This couldn't be more common in the city of York, where law and order are terrible. The gang of maggots took advantage of the local police force to suppress the strike tide, and then came out to make trouble. Roy pressed the button of the wireless transmitter in a hurry, and then slowly Tun raised his hand:

"Don't be nervous, brothers, I surrender."

"Boy, bring the money, or take out your intestines to dry."

(End of this chapter)