Chapter 1: Elliot Harrison

The cold breeze blew along the streets of New York at dawn, making a kind of cool sound pleasant to one's ears and body, but it wasn't going to be pleasant for a man who has been out in the cold for hours, at a far distance was a frail looking figure of a man walking about with packages in his both hands and a worn out, hand-me-down black bike also filled with packages of different sizes beside him. His shabby dark inky hair was scattered amid his face, layers peeking amid his collarbone.

He walked about putting each packages on each door as he knocked on them and left. This was Elliot and his everyday lifestyle from dawn to dusk, delivering packages for almost everyone in the city almost all his whole life. That was Elliot Harrison, the package deliverer.

His dark hair seemed tattered and his eye balls were as though they wanted to bulge out, eye bags were formed under his eyes and his clothes looked damp, he looked unhealthy to behold. And nonetheless, he still had to continue his penny-pinching lifestyle.

Suddenly, the loud buzzing and vibration of his cell phone rented the air, which even jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Hello?"  He said, awaiting the caller to respond. After what seemed like eternity to him, the voice he has always longed to hear spoke.

"Elliot, what in the world? Grandmother's birthday party is almost over, and you're not still here yet. Don't you know that the best impression you could make of yourself now is attending her birthday party?" Hannah yelled behind the phone, her heavy breathing was hard, it was like she was going to lose her mind. 

"H-hannah, I am b-bu," He stammered but almost immediately, his words were cut off by her.

"Oh stop it, and drag your lazy ass over here with a reasonable gift for her," She yelled yet again and hung up the phone not waiting for his response.

Elliot sighed, his heart sunk the moment he stared at those countless number of packages still seating on his bike waiting to be delivered. He was confused, should he just drop the packages and leave? He thought of the odds and decided to attend the birthday party. What could possibly go wrong?

"Maybe, I could find favour in Lady Hart's eyes if I attended her birthday party." He muttered to himself.

As he was about to mount on his bike, his phone rang again, out of frustration, he picked it up, and this time, it was an unknown number. Before he could speak, a cold masculine thick voice already did.

"Hello, you're Mr. Harrison right?" The thick masculine voice spoke from behind the phone.

Elliot's heart skipped a bit, "Yes, why?"

The man coughed slightly before speaking once again, "Your Nana is currently at St. Patrick's hospital and your presence is currently needed there right away. Have a good day," And with that, he hung up. The beeping sound filling the air.

Immediately, Elliot's phone dropped from his ear to the ground, his heart sunk and started beating fast, it seemed like his whole world was beginning to crumble before him in his very own eyes. He was done for! Nothing bad must happen to his Nana, his one and only Nana. 

Without waiting a minute longer, he mounted on his rickety rockety bike and zoomed off like a flash.

~~~~

The halls were well decorated with illuminated lights, gentle music was played in the background as men and women could be seen dancing slowing, their dresses looked rich and elegant that one could easily guess it was a party for the rich.

A big banner largely printed "Happy Birthday Lady Hart," was hung perfectly at the other side of the hall with the picture of a woman who looked like she was in her late fifties, though she looked younger than that, her face was all plastered with smiles, as she waved her hands gently, sipping the content from the cup elegantly.

Hannah's attention wasn't on those who were dancing, she kept on looking at her wristwatch for the umpteenth time and panicking around while mumbling.

Beads of sweat were already formed around her oval face which clearly showed that she was nervous.

Soon enough, she saw her cousin, Miranda walking elegantly towards her with a smirk on her face.

"Hannah, oh dear, I haven't seen Elliot all day, anything wrong?" She asked pitifully but with a slight hint of mockery.

Hannah sighed, and chuckled a bit while taking a last glance at her phone , "Oh, he's going to be here soon, I'm sure of that," 

Hannah knew Miranda's character since childhood, she always tried to belittle or make fun of her in any slight opportunity she could find.

Miranda suddenly bursted into an uncontrollable laughter, "Did you even think he could make it? This isn't his type of party for crying out loud Hannah." She said pointing at the large crowd and continued. "Even if he was to attend the party, don't you think he should come with a high class gift for grandmother, I mean, grandmother deserves the best."

Hannah gritted her teeth in anger, but she tried suppressing it, Miranda was already crossing the line.

"I know that, and If you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than stand around and chit chat with you,"  And without waiting any longer, she walked away leaving a dazzled Miranda to herself.

~~~

Elliot barged into his Nana's ward room with his heart banging very loudly, his face was rugged, he was already stressed out as it is.

The pale body of his Nana that lied on the bed helplessly struck him like a plague and his heart squeezed in pains as if they were about to burst.

The sight was just too much for him to bear! Her lifeless body laid still on the hospital bed as though she was dead and only the beeping of the hospital instruments vibrated throughout the room.

Without thinking straight, Elliot ran into the doctor's office, he opened the door quickly only to be greeted with a pair of doctor's eyes seated in the middle of the room, as if he has been waiting for him.

"Good morning, Mr. Harrison, I have been awaiting your arrival for quite some time now," His voice seemed cooler than earlier.

Elliot gave him a weak smile and nodded, while the doctor gestured for him to have a seat.

"Mr. Harrison, you may not know but you're Nana is in a severe condition, she needs a heart transplant and we need at least fifteen thousand dollars to perform a surgery on her," The doctor started. 

Elliot tried weighing the odds, "And what if I don't provide it on time?" 

The doctor sighed and bowed his head slightly, "If you don't provide it in the maximum of ten days, I'm afraid to say, you're Nana may not make it out alive!"