LESS THAN THREE HOURS

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SILAS’ SITTING ROOM, 12:02 PM

    Silas is sitting on a couch. He is full of thoughts. He checks the wall clock and sees that the time is 12:02 pm. “What shall I do now? I thought Nolan would send the money he promised to send,” Silas muttered.

    Silas hears the sound of his phone. He stands up gently and walks in the direction of the table. He clutches his phone and picks up the call.

“Hello…, Rachael,” Silas said gently.

“Where are you?” 

“I am at home.”

“At home…?” “We have less than three hours to provide the money the doctor demands from us.”

“Yes, I know. I have been following the hands of the wall clock.” “I think I have an idea.”

“An idea?”

“Yeah. You could just divorce me so that your father can support us with the money he promised to give us.”

“No! I can’t do that.” “What sort of spirit has entered you? Do you know the effect of what you are saying?”

“Stop shouting at me. I never asked you to kill a human being.”

“I am sorry, but I can’t do that.”

“Hello…, hello…, Rachael…,” Silas said, but Rachael had already cut the call.

    Silas drops the phone on the table. He walks in the direction of a couch and sits down gently. He holds his chin and thinks of what he will do.

“Mr. Man, your father is rich. How much is five hundred thousand dollars that your father can’t provide for his grandson's treatment? After all, he never disowned Emmett as his grandson.” Silas could hear the voice speaking to him.

“You mustn’t lose your only son because of pride!” Silas screamed. He stands up from the couch and rushes towards his phone. He picks up the smartphone, still contemplating. 

    Silas gazes at the wall clock. The time strikes his heart. He unlocks the phone and searches for his father’s number. “Where could his number be? Why did I even delete his number in the first place?” Silas muttered.

    Silas sits on the couch and keeps searching for his father’s phone number. “0895…” “Yeah, the number ends with this digit. I think I have found it,” Silas muttered happily.

    He uses one hand to scratch his head and uses the other hand to dial the number. 

“The number you dial is currently switched off.” The voice of a female erupts from the phone.

“Oh, no…, not this time,” Silas said grimly, hitting his head.

    He dials the phone number two more times, but he still hears the same reply. 

    Silas becomes angry. He almost smashes the phone on the floor before he remembers how he had to save his salary in other to buy the phone. He had gotten the phone three years ago and he hadn’t been able to change the phone.

    Silas looked at the wall clock. The time is 12:58 pm. He picks up the phone from the couch. He tried his father’s number again. This time around, the number goes through. 

    Silas becomes so happy. He waits for the receiver to pick up the call.

“The person you are calling is not picking up the call…” A voice of a female erupts from the phone.

“Pick up your call, dad,” Silas said with apostrophe.

     Unfortunately, nobody picks up the call. Silas tried the phone number two more times. It goes through, but nobody picks up the call.

    Grimacing, Silas clicks the message app.

“Please, Rachael, divorce me if you truly love our son. Your father has promised to help us if only you can divorce me. Once you divorce me, your father will support Emmett’s health with one million dollars. Don’t worry, once our son's health is restored, we will elope from Hawaii. We will start up a new life with the remaining five hundred thousand dollars,” Silas types on the phone very fast, using the keyboard.

    Silas clicks the send button and sends the message to Rachael. As soon as he sends the message, his phone rings. He gazes at the phone’s screen and sees the caller. It’s Doctor Ryan.

“Good afternoon, doctor Ryan…,” Silas started the conversation.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Silas. Where are you?”

“I am on my way to the hospital,” Silas said and stood up from the couch.

“Your attention is needed in the hospital. Please, hurry up…”

“Alright, doctor,” Silas said and hung up the call.

    Silas walked into his room. He changes his clothes and wears a pair of black shoes. He takes an umbrella and walks out of the room. 

“This umbrella won’t allow me to run fast,” Silas said, and dropped the umbrella on the couch.

    He changes his shoes and wears a pair of slippers he sees beside the table. He doesn’t want anything that will delay him from getting to the hospital on time.

    Silas hops out of the sitting room. The sun was scorching, but he had no money to get a taxi or a bus. When he gets to a double lane, he is almost hit by a car. He quickly gathered up courage and kept running.

    As soon as Silas flies a canal, his phone rings. He stops and removes his phone from his pocket. He glances through the phone’s screen and sees the caller. “What does Rachael want to say again? Has she yielded to my message,” Silas muttered and picked up the call.

“Where are you?” “Our son is dying!” “You have to get to the hospital now.” All these were what Rachael said from the other end.

    Silas puts the phone inside his pocket and increases his speed. When he gets to the hospital, he rushes inside the waiting room. He looks around and can’t see Rachael. The only people he sees are some patients and nurses.

    Silas rushes to Emmett's room. He sees the doctor standing beside Emmett’s bed. Rachael, on the other hand, is sitting beside Emmett on the bed.

    Silas is so surprised to see Emmett. Emmett is slugging on the bed and his eyes are open.

“What's going on here?” Silas said.

“Well, thank God you are here…,” Dr. Ryan said with a smile.

“Talk to me, doctor. Rachael called me some minutes ago and told me that Emmett was dying. I can’t understand why Emmett’s eyes are open.”

“It’s a miracle, darling,” Rachael said and touched Emmett’s forehead. She wanted to know whether Emmett's temperature was normal, as if she was a doctor.

“As your wife said, it’s a miracle, Mr. Silas,” Dr. Ryan said with a smile.

“I don’t understand, doctor. Can you buttress your point?” Silas said and sat down on the bed.

    Dr. Ryan pats Silas on the back and says, “A nurse rushed to my office and told me that Emmett had stopped breathing. I was so shocked. I ran here and used my stethoscope to check Emmett’s heartbeat. Surprisingly, he was breathing. His breathing was slow though. I was gazing at Emmett’s face when he opened his eyes and now his eyes are still open.”

“I am so happy.”

“You should be happy, Mr. Silas. I would be happier if I were his father,” Dr. Ryan said.

“Emmett, how are you?” 

“Mr. Silas, you shouldn’t disturb him. He has injuries all over his body.”

“Alright, doctor,” Silas said with a nod.

“Good. I have to go now. I will come and check on him later in the day.”

“Alright, doctor Ryan.”

“Emmett, you want to say something?” Rachael said as soon as Dr. Ryan left the room.

“Yeah…, mum,” Emmett said with a faint voice.

    Emmett rests his back on the pillow and says, “I fell from the rooftop…”

“Rooftop?” “That’s because of your rough play.”

“No, dad,” Emmett said and shook his head.

“Alright. What happened?” Rachael said.

“We were in class yesterday when the headmaster walked into our classroom…”

“Mr. Justin?” 

“Yes, dad.” “He accused us of stealing his money. He began to ransack our school bags. When it was my turn to be ransacked, I was so shocked to see 300 USD inside my school bag. The headmaster was disappointed in me. He slapped me twice on my face and called me bad names…”

“Mr. Justin did that to you?” Rachael said, observing Emmett’s face.

“Yes, mum,” Emmett said with a nod.

“Did you steal the money?”

“No, I didn’t. Dad, don’t you trust me again?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I held my face and ran out crying. I was crying outside when I saw Kayden…”

“Mr. Justin’s son?”

“Yes, mum.”

“What did he do?”

“He started mocking me and mimicking me. He said I stole the money which my dad doesn’t have. I became angry and aggrieved. I called him a dullard and he slapped me. As I was trying to fight for myself, I slipped on the tiled floor and I fell from the rooftop. I became unconscious. I didn’t know how I got here.” Emmett coughed.

“It’s alright, Emmett. I will go and challenge the headmaster tomorrow morning,” Silas said, and touched Emmett’s hand.

    He discovers that Emmett’s hand is cold. “OMG! Rachael, go and call doctor Ryan! Silas screamed.

    Rachael rushes out of the room. He came back with the doctor. Rachael stays behind the doctor, panting.

    The doctor held Emmett’s hand. He checks Emmett’s veins. He places the stethoscope on Emmett’s chest.

“I am sorry we lost him…,” Dr. Ryan said gently.

“My son is dead?” Rachael said and fainted.