The Alchemists

The next day, as promised, Nicolae waited for Marie in the lobby of their apartment building at 9 am. At exactly nine o'clock, the girl arrived with a neat appearance and a face filled with bright expressions.

Unwittingly, the two who usually dressed casually, wore neat clothes this morning, in the form of short-sleeved shirts and black non-ripped jeans for Nicolae, and an elegant yellow summer dress for Marie. 

Uniquely, this dress had two pockets on the right and left, but still looked beautiful, wrapping Marie's slim body perfectly.

For a moment, Nicolae was fascinated because this was the first time he had seen Marie in her summer dress. In their two previous meetings, Marie always wore a white tank top and ripped jeans.

Today, Nicolae deliberately looked neat because he knew he would meet Marie's mother. Seeing Marie also intentionally appear elegant, Nicolae nodded in satisfaction.

"Thank you for helping me. I'm indebted to you," Marie said in a cheerful voice.

"It's okay. This is all I can do for your mother," Nicolae answered calmly.

"You're very kind. Let's go to the hospital now. Did you tell the children what we're going to do today?"

"No. I don't think they need to know. Besides, I've kept them busy with some homework."

"All right. Then should we take your car or mine?" Marie asked as they walked out of the lobby, each with their hands in their pockets.

"Whichever will do," Nicolae said lightly.

"Let's just use your car so you can go home first. I might stay in the hospital for a while," Marie suggested.

"Alright, then."

Nicolae gave a signal for them to walk to the bas.e.m.e.nt parking. There, his BMW was waiting. As a man who was taught to be a gentleman, Nicolae opened the door next to the driver's seat for Marie before then entering the car through the driver's door.

This action stunned Marie for a moment, and she hesitantly got into the car. She hadn't seen a man act so traditionally like the man beside her, for a long time. Her fondness for Nicolae increased even more.

The trip to Stamford Hospital only lasted for ten minutes. During the trip, Nicolae tried not to ask Marie about her mother's situation. At this time, he only needed to prove that Marie's story was true, that her mother was indeed being treated in a hospital and her condition was very critical.

When they finally arrived in front of the Stamford hospital, and Nicolae parked his car, the man slowly began to be overwhelmed with feelings of sadness. Somehow, before they arrived at Mrs. Lu's ward, he had a feeling that the girl hadn't lied to him.

Marie brought Nicolae down the hospital hallway to the building for long-term patients, and the smell of antiseptic and hospital-specific drugs began to surround them. Nicolae was immediately reminded of the feeling of nostalgia when he was still working as a doctor decades ago.

For a long time, he hadn't done this profession and saved patients' lives. For the past 20 years, he had preferred information technology and pursued his job as a hacker and an information consultant. Now, seeing the hospital, patients, and the doctors who were working, Nicolae felt his c.h.e.s.t filled with familiar feelings.

Their steps ended in front of a special building in the Stamford Hospital Complex. Nicolae could see the signboard in the building as a sanatorium or a long-term care center for patients. He already believed that Marie's words hadn't been a lie. Her mother was indeed being treated there.

When Marie opened the door to one of the spacious wards, Nicolae could immediately see a woman lying on the bed with various life support machines. The woman looked to be in her early 40s. Her face looked beautiful, but her body was thin and invoking pity. Her skin was unbelievably pale, and her long hair hung down to her waist.

Judging from her treatment room, Nicolae could guess that the costs incurred to pay the hospital fees must be very expensive. Nicolae wondered whether Marie came from a wealthy family.

He also wondered if Marie still had other family members. But if there were still other family members, why didn't anyone come here? He could only wonder.

Marie walked with slow steps toward her mother's bed and sat on the edge of the bed. Her hand was holding her mother's right hand. Her face, which looked cheerful, was now beginning to be filled with grief. Suddenly, there was a double knock on the door, and a middle-aged doctor with white hair entered.

The man smiled when he saw Marie's presence.

"Ah, good morning. So you have arrived," the doctor said kindly.

"Yes, Doctor. Is my mother awake?" Marie asked in a quiet, calm voice. Nicolae recognized this voice as the patient's family member trying to sound tough even though their hearts were actually breaking into pieces. He hadn't heard this tone in a long time. Unconsciously, he watched Marie's face fixedly with sympathy.

"Yes, Marie. As you requested yesterday, she brought her out of her coma. Your mother had been looking for you this morning. I told her that you will arrive soon, so your mother decided to sleep first." The doctor approached the patient and checked the pulse in her hand, then nodded in satisfaction. "She's fine. Just wait, your mother will wake up soon."

"Yes, doctor. Thank you." Marie nodded and tried to smile.

Nicolae only paid attention to the interaction between the doctor and Marie and tried to guess what really happened.

"Has your mother been intentionally put in a coma? Medically-induced coma?" Nicolae asked her. Medically-induced coma is a condition where the patient was given medication to enter the medically comatose state so that they wouldn't feel extreme pain when they become conscious. 

Patients who have severe or terminal illnesses, burn patients, and several medical conditions that make the patient feel severe pain usually make the doctor or the patient's family determine that the patient should be made to 'sleep' or induced to comatose state so they would not suffer too much.

Marie nodded slowly at Nicolae's question. "That's right. Every time my mother woke up, the pain she experienced was excruciating. That's why I've always asked the doctor to give medicines to my mother so that she 'sleeps' and not have to experience the pain."

"Oh..." Nicolae could only imagine how much pain Marie's mother was experiencing that she had to be made to sleep for a long period of time.

"Every time my mother woke up, she would insist that she was fine. But I know better, that she was really in pain." Marie sighed sadly and looked at her mother with lovingly.

"Then why did you ask for your mother to be brought out of her coma?" Nicolae asked in amazement. "If she really feels pain when she wakes up, why don't you just keep her in a coma?"

Marie looked at Nicolae for a long time before answering his question, in a voice almost whispering, because she didn't want her mother to hear her words.

"I woke her up because I realized this was unfair to my mother. It's been almost ten years that she's like this, and I can't bear to see her suffer constantly. That's why I wanted to wake her up so she'll be able to see that I'm okay, that it's time for her to let me go. It's time for her to be happy and no longer feel pain..."

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From the Author:

I'm sorry for the irregular update the past few days. I am currently unwell.. huhuhuhu. I will resume regular updates once I'm better. I hope you can stay patient and awesome as you are now :).

Btw, and TikTok is having a contest for faceslapping moment and I intend to join since the winners will get exposure and banner in . I am thinking of making a video for the faceslapping moment where Caspar bought Atlas Corp just to fire the marketing manager who harrassed Finland.

What do you think? Will that be a good idea, or you have another favorite faceslapping moment from this book? Do let me know in the comment. You can also make the video from your favorite faceslapping moment. It would be awesome to see.

And, oh.. if you use TikTok, you can follow my account "Missrealitybites" to see the video (May 22-24, 2020).