Chapter 2

As consciousness slowly returned, the first thing Nick registered was a stabbing pain in his lower leg. He winced, eyes fluttering open to an unfamiliar white ceiling. 

Turning his head, he saw a nurse checking the IV drip by his bed. "Good, you're awake," she smiled warmly. "Welcome back to the land of the living. How are you feeling?"

Nick licked dry lips, throat raspy. "What...happened? Where am I?" He scanned for clues as he looked around.

"You were in an accident, dear. A car lost control on the roads and hit you while you were crossing 7th. Luckily a bystander saw and called 911." She examined his leg cast under thin blankets. "Looks like you've got a bad fracture, but it should heal up fine." 

"Thank you for your care," he told the nurse. "I should rest now." She nodded and slipped out.

In few minutes, his doctor stopped by with an update. "You had some internal bleeding we had to fix up as well. You'll need to stay off that leg for some days to fully recover." 

That evening, he forced himself to call his boss while feeling nauseous. "Boss, it's Nick. I just wanted to let you know I won't be back at the site for a while. Had an accident, broke my leg..."

His boss,Russ interrupted brusquely. "What a shame, Nicholas. Well, you just focus on mending up, y'hear?" He hung up before Nick could respond. 

A few days later, a nurse presented Nick with forms and a word he had been dreading - discharge. "Before you go, we need you to sign off on your bill. With the minor surgery and days of treatment, it comes to..." She read the total and Nick nearly choked. 

"$12,000!" That was his entire savings and it was meant for his mother’s bills.But what choice did he have? If he stayed there,he was going to be indefinitely racking up debt.

Reluctantly, Nick took out his phone and made the transfer. At least, he was going to get his monthly salary and that could help as a backup. He made a mental note to visit his mother in the hospital when he had the chance.

Finally able to walk without the cane that had been supporting him for days,Nick slowly made his way back to the construction site, ready to put in long hours to pay off his debts. As he approached, he saw Russ,his boss talking to the crew. Nick waved and called out, hoping for a cheerful greeting. 

Russ glanced over with a scowl. "Oh, you're back. I was hoping we had seen the last of you." 

Dread set in. "What do you mean? I'm all healed up now, ready to work." 

Russ strode over, glaring at him threateningly. "There's no work for you anymore.You should have thought of that before pulling your little vanishing act."

Nick’s stomach dropped. "But sir, it wasn't by choice – I was in the hospital! I told you on the phone, I broke my leg in an accident."

"And whose fault was that?” Russ said scornfully. “Should the whole job have shut down just cause you spaced out in the hospital? We had deadlines to meet and the whole earth couldn’t be on stand still waiting for you."

Nick’s heart started pounding in his chest as he pleaded, "Just give me another chance, I need this job! I'll work extra hours, do anything-" 

"Too late. We managed fine without you, so as of now, you're fired. Now get lost before I call the boys on you.” Russ turned away dismissively.  

Nick reached out,grabbing his arm desperately. "Please, at least pay me for the work I did last month." 

Russ rounded on him furiously. "You think you deserve a cent after flaking on us? You're lucky I don't charge you for wasting all our time!" 

Nick glanced around at coworkers in panic and most of them looked at him without any expression and others with pity. “I only missed a few days through no fault of my own,” Nick said, voice cracking. “Isn’t there some law protecting me?”

“The law is I said you’re fired. Now scram!” Russ pushed him and he staggered backwards, leg still weak. He tripped over a toolbox, landing hard on the ground as Russ towered above him, looking at him in disgust. 

“Take him out back and dump him in the  trash where he belongs,” Russ spat at two burly laborers. 

They roughly hauled Nick up and he was helplessly dragged away in front of everyone. 

The only way was to turn home now and figure out what to do next. He picked himself up,wiped the dirt from his clothes and dragged himself home in a daze, replaying his humiliations. 

When he arrived home finally,a commotion grabbed his attention. Men were tossing his things from the apartment onto the street.

"Stop!" Nick cried out hoarsely, stumbling over. "What's the meaning of this?"

His landlord, Camilo emerged,his plump lips curved in its usual sneer. "Ah, if it isn't my former tenant. Just in time to witness your eviction in person."

"Eviction? But my rent's not due for another week!" Nick looked completely confused as his mind raced. 

Camilo smiled but it lacked any form of warmth. "Not anymore, it ain't.I've found someone willing to pay double what you did, in cash, for a whole year up front. So you're out on the street where you belong."

Nick shook his head in agony. "Please sir, have mercy! I just lost my job too, I have nowhere else to go. Just give me a few days to find work and money, I'm begging you!"

"Too bad, too sad," Camilo shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "I run a business, you understand. And this deal's too good to pass up over one poor loser like you." He nodded to the beefy movers.

As Nick continued pleading, the movers manhandled another bookcase down the rickety stairs. It smashed against the railing, scattering Nick’s small possessions across the concrete like they were worthless.

“Stop,those are my things!” Nick cried out, limping towards the shattered pile. But the movers blocked his path, puffed up like oxen preparing to charge. 

With his hands shaky, he turned back to Camilo.“Just give me time to find a new place, I swear I'll have rent to you soon-" 

Camilo cut in,shaking his head with a stony expression. "Your troubles are no concern of mine. I'm a businessman first and you should have planned ahead like every other responsible adult."

Nick turned to the small crowd gathering, appealing, "Someone, please - any of you, if you have a spare room or couch to offer, even temporarily, I'll owe you my life..."

But downcast eyes and murmurs of "Sorry, buddy" were the only replies he got.No one there was willing to stick their neck out for a stranger.