Bernadette, Wife For A Year

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 2

  "People appreciate and never forget that helping hand especially when times are tough." 
                                  Catherine Pulsifer

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Chapter-2

"You go, I will wait outside," Nick said as he sat on the bench near the graveyard. 

I nodded and walked inside. I spotted a middle-aged woman sitting near the gravestone just next to Mama Jones’.

Viewing her appearance and looks, she looked like someone incredibly beautiful and sophisticated. Her eyes were closed, she looked exhausted.

I placed the sunflower bouquet on Mama Jones' gravestone. She always wanted to attend my high school graduation. I missed her every day since her demise, especially today. 

Today, everyone came along with their families to attend the graduation ceremony. Luckily, I had Nick there for me, or else it would have been a disheartening reminder that I had no one to call mine in this whole world. 

Nick was like a brother I never had. He has always had my back, no matter what.

“Your mother must be very proud of you,” I heard a gentle voice say. 

I looked up to see the middle-aged woman standing near me. I was sitting on my knees near Mama Jones' grave.

“Hope so,”I said, smiling a little. Nodding, she gently patted my head. 

“What is your name, sweetheart?” she asked. 

“Bernadette Peterson,” I replied. 

“Beautiful just like you,”she said, smiling softly.

 No one had ever called me beautiful, well, except for Nick and Mama Jones. Everyone at school called me names like the ugly duckling, ragged princess, garbage bin, and whatnot that successfully made me believe that I was indeed someone unpleasant.

“Thank you,” I replied, getting shy.

“How old are you, my child?” she asked after some time. Not sure why she asked nevertheless, I still answered.

“I am eighteen.” 

“You have your whole life ahead of you. May God bless,” she stated to which I simply nodded. 

“May I know your name?” I asked.

“Maria Robustelli,” she said and handed me her name card. 

Just as I was about to turn, I saw Maria taking unsteady steps. And in a trice, she crumbled into a heap on the floor. I quickly hustled to her and gently placed her head on my lap. 

“Nick!.. Nick..,” I called for him. 

Nick immediately came running inside hearing me call him.

“Bring my water bottle,” I said pointing at my backpack. I sprinkled a little water on her face, in the hope to wake her up. But nothing worked.

“I think we need to rush her to the hospital,” I said.

 Nodding in agreement, he pulled out his phone and booked a cab. 

“There, the ride is here,” Nick said after a while.

 He then helped Maria settle in the backseat and settled himself beside the driver. I moved closer to Maria and put her head in my lap. My nerves were all over the place. I couldn't help but anxiously think about this lady whom I met just a few minutes ago. My hands were starting to sweat. 

“We are here.”

Maria was escorted to the emergency room as soon as we reached the hospital. A triage nurse examined her condition followed by a resident Doctor. The nurse asked us to wait outside. 

“We have to immediately run some tests on her. Please, pay the bill so that we can proceed,” she said, not looking up from her notepad. Handing me the receipt of the lab tests and the bill, she walked away. 

I made an involuntary sound of shock which made Nick demand “What's wrong?” 

I handed him the bills.

 Soon he too had a look similar to mine. 

 The '$7000' in bold had our eyes bulging. 

Three thousand more than my life savings. 

“Please hurry with the bills or else we will have to shift the patient to the waiting room,” the nurse said from behind. Yanking us off from our state of shock. I was absolutely clueless about what to do next. 

“Can you please start with the sample collection? We will arrange the payment as soon as possible," I pleaded. I had no idea how to arrange the rest of the amount. 

“You have ten minutes, then we are shifting your mother to the waiting room,” she said with no trace of emotion and left. 

“It's okay, I have some in my account,” Nick said, placing his hand on my shoulder. 

Hurriedly, I paid $4000 from my newly issued debit card. While Nick paid the rest. Just a few days ago, I had applied for my first bank account. I deposited all the money I saved the last few years for my college applications and all. Though, it was not enough but still. Now, just in a matter of seconds, I had nothing left with me. My job hardly covered my daily expenses. I wanted to pursue medicines. It was an expensive dream to pursue. Nonetheless, I was willing to put in all of my struggles and hard work to turn my dream into reality. I wanted to make a better life for myself. 

Finally, after clearing the bills, we sat outside the emergency room.

“Do you know her name? We need to inform her family,” Nick asked. 

“Her name is Maria Robustelli. That's all I know about her,” I said.

“Where is her purse? There must be something that we can use to reach out to her family,” I suggested. We scanned through her purse only to find nothing. Her phone was also locked. There was nothing except a credit card and phone in her purse. 

“Wait, she gave me her name card,” I said and fished out the card she gave me. The card had an email id and a landline number printed. We tried calling the number a few times before and finally, someone answered.