From Rags To Riches

Chapter 1

 Elias sat on a plastic chair that felt like it was made of ice, his hands clasped so tightly between his knees and his worn out jacket that his knuckles had turned white.

His clothes, threadbare and sickly. 

Every time the heavy doors at the end of the ward swung open, he flinched. He was a Sergeant; he had faced down armed suspects in dark alleys without blinking, but the sound of those  doors made his stomach lurch with everything he feared.

"Elias? You still awake?"

He looked up. Dr. Miller was standing there, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses. He looked like he’d been dragged through a hedge. 

"Yeah. I’m here," Elias said. His throat was so dry it hurt to swallow. "How’s Lily doing? Can I go back in yet?"

Miller sat down next to him, letting out a long, heavy breath.

 He didn't look at Elias. He looked at his own shoes. "She’s the same. We’ve got her on the heavy stuff for the pain, but the infection... it’s spreading fast Elias. We need to get her into surgery. Like, now."

"Then why are we sitting here?" Elias asked, his voice rising. "Go do it. Why are you out here talking to me instead of being in there with her? What do you need, anything I should  be signing!" Desperation  dripped off from Elias' tone like a flood.

Miller finally looked at him, and his eyes were full of a tired kind of pity. "I can't. I went to the office. I talked to the admin people, Elias. I told them you were a Sergeant, that you’ve been on the force for fifteen years. I told them you were good for the money."

Elias felt a cold knot tighten in his gut, the  feeling of dread settling like a hardened rock.

"And?"

"And they don't care," Miller said quietly. "They told me the hospital doesn't run on charity."

"They’ve got a list of kids whose parents have the insurance or the cash ready to go. They’ve flagged her bed, man. If the deposit isn't in by eight tomorrow morning, they’re moving her to the county facility."

"County?" Elias stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. "You’re kidding me. You know what it’s like over there. It’s a dump. She won’t last the night in a place like that."

"I know," Miller said, looking up at him. "I told them that. They didn't blink. You need two hundred thousand, Elias. Twenty-four hours. If that money isn't in the system by tomorrow morning, my hands are tied. They’ll have the transport team here at eight-oh-one. I’m sorry. I really am."

Miller stood up and walked away without another word. He didn't have anything else to say. Elias watched him go, feeling a deep, dark weight settle on his shoulders. Two hundred thousand.

He trembled  at the weight of the information  pressing  down on him and heart out pounded against  his chest.

 He didn't even have two hundred in his checking account right now. He’d sold the car. He’d sold his watch. He’d sold everything that could be sold, even his clothes.

He pulled his phone out. His hand was shaking so much he almost dropped it. He called Sarah. It rang and rang, and for a second, he thought she wouldn't pick up.

"Hello? Elias? What’s wrong?" Sarah sounded like she was whispering, her voice tight and stressed.

"The doctor just left," Elias said. He had to lean against the wall to keep his legs from giving out.

 "Sarah, they’re serious. They want the money. Two hundred thousand. By tomorrow morning, or they’re sending her to County."

"County? No, no way," Sarah said. He could hear her start to cry, that low, jagged sound that made him want to punch a hole in the wall. "We can't let them do that. Elias, you have to do something. Talk to your Captain. Talk to the union."

"I’ve tried, Sarah! I’ve tried everyone!" he yelled, then immediately lowered his voice as a nurse looked his way. "I’m sorry. I’m just... I’m losing it here. Is there any way you can get an advance? Talk to your boss at the bakery. Tell him it’s life or death."

"Elias, I’m already on a double shift!" Sarah snapped back. "I’m standing here in the back room, I’m covered in flour, my legs are killing me, and you’re asking me to beg for more? I don't have it! I’m doing everything I can, and it’s never enough for you, is it?"

"I didn't say that," Elias whispered. "I’m just scared, Sarah. I’m scared I’m going to lose her."

"We’re both scared," she said, her voice shaking.

 "Look, I have to go. My manager is calling for me. I’m staying for the night shift to get the overtime. Just stay with her. Don't leave her alone, okay? I love you."

"I love you too," Elias said, but she’d already hung up.

Elias slumped back into the chair, the silence of the hospital pressing in on him. He felt like a total failure. 

Here he was, a man who supposed to protect people, and he couldn't even protect his own daughter from a hospital's accounting department. He stared at the blank screen of his phone, feeling a wave of guilt. 

Sarah was out there killing herself at that bakery, working through the night, and he was just sitting here. He shouldn't have called. He shouldn't have burdened her with the money talk when she was already at her breaking point. He was the one who was supposed to figure this out.

He leaned his head against the cold wall and closed his eyes. He needed a miracle. He needed something to break his way, just once.

His phone buzzed in his palm. It was a restricted number.

"Yeah?" Elias answered, his voice dead.

"Sergeant Thorne," a gravelly voice said. "I heard you’re in a bit of a tight spot. A two-hundred-thousand-dollar kind of spot."

Elias went stiff. He sat up, his police instincts fighting with his desperation. "Who is this?"

"Someone who knows you’re the best 'cleaner' in the city. Not the kind that uses a mop, but the kind that knows how to make a messy room look like nobody was ever there. I have a job. A penthouse in the Diamond District. The pay is exactly what you need.  Tonight."

Elias looked through the small glass window into Lily’s room. She looked so small in the big hospital bed, her breathing assisted by a machine that clicked with every breath. "I'm a police officer," Elias whispered, his voice cracking.

"And you're a father with a dying girl," the voice countered. "The job is simple. Private security and a bit of sanitation. No questions asked. You in?"

Elias didn't look away from his daughter. "Give me the address."

The Diamond District was a different world. The streets were clean, the air didn't smell like exhaust, and the buildings reached for the stars.

 Elias felt out of place in his worn jacket and scuffed boots as he entered the lobby of the Valaris Towers. 

He took the private elevator to the top floor. The doors opened directly into a penthouse that was larger than his entire apartment building. It was dark, save for the city lights bleeding through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Hello?" Elias called out. He walked deeper into the suite. The floors were polished marble, reflecting the blue and red glow of the city below. As he turned the corner into the primary living area, he smelled it. The heavy, metallic scent of fresh blood.

He stopped. He moved low, his eyes scanning the shadows. In the center of the room, near a white leather sofa, a man was sprawled on the ground.

 A pool of dark red was spreading across the white floor, soaking into the expensive rug.

Next to the body, a woman was huddled. She was sobbing, her hands over her face, her expensive silk dress stained with the dark spatters.

"Ma'am?" Elias stepped forward, his voice calm but his heart hammering against his ribs. "I'm here to help. Just stay still."

The woman gasped and looked up. The light from the skyline hit her face, and Elias felt the world stop turning.

"Sarah?"

The woman blinked, her eyes red and swollen, her breath hitching in a jagged sob. "Elias? What... what are you doing here?"