The hospital and the bill

A smile appeared on Vanessa's face.

She was undoing her buttons, preparing to take off her clothes. She felt as though she were in a furnace, her whole body burning hot.

Vanessa had learned in her textbooks that this was a symptom of hypothermia. She estimated that her body temperature had probably dropped below 35 degrees, and her face was probably starting to turn blue.

That must look strange, she thought. So dying is this wonderful. It doesn't hurt at all. It just gently wraps itself around my neck.

Vanessa closed her eyes, ready to accept her end.

Suddenly, her hands stopped undoing her buttons. She rolled over, pushed herself up off the ground, then began walking down the street.

Her steps were steady, nothing like those of someone on the verge of death.

Vanessa's eyes widened in surprise. She clearly hadn't done anything, so why had her body started moving on its own?

Does hypothermia cause hallucinations too?

There seemed to have been something about that in the textbooks, but Vanessa couldn't remember. She felt dazed, her consciousness gradually sinking away. Death was already within reach.

Unfortunately, her steps were quick, and she stayed one step ahead of death after all.

By the time she came to her senses, she was already standing at the entrance to a hospital.

A h-hospital?

Vanessa's eyes widened, and her whole body shuddered. Even those unhesitating footsteps faltered for an instant.

I can't go to the hospital! Hospitals are too expensive. I can't afford it!

Her fear of debt actually overpowered death for an instant, but only an instant. Soon, her legs began moving on their own again, carrying her through the hospital doors.

"What's wrong, ma'am? Is there something... good heavens!"

The nurse directing outpatients took just one look at her before horror spread across her face. She shoved her own chair behind Vanessa for her to sit down, then immediately ran toward the emergency room beside them.

A moment later, a doctor and two nurses pushing a gurney rushed over. The doctor's face twitched at the sight of Vanessa's bluish face. He placed his hand on her forehead, then snatched it back as though he had received an electric shock.

"Quick, get her into the resuscitation room! Bring hot-water bottles! As many as you can!"

The two nurses hurriedly lifted Vanessa onto the gurney and pushed her forward at a run.

The doctor was about to run to the resuscitation room when the woman at the reception desk suddenly stopped him.

"She looks rather bad, Doctor Norman. How have your department's financial figures been lately?"

A hospital was a place for saving lives and treating the injured. Every doctor had sworn to treat patients without discrimination. It was a noble profession, but... even the noblest doctor needed filthy money to live.

In New Scandinavia City, there was a dividing line for people. If they fell below that line, they were no longer human. They were essentially dead; they simply hadn't breathed their last yet. Dead people couldn't produce money, and they didn't need treatment.

Vanessa was below that line.

Doctor Norman waved a hand. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Didn't you notice? She has a school badge pinned to her clothes. Miskatonic University. Oh, the people there are old friends of ours. A few come in every other day, and plenty look far more bedraggled than this."

The young woman at the reception desk nodded in understanding, then her expression changed. "Good heavens, then why aren't you hurrying to treat that young lady? God, I hope she'll be all right!"

In the resuscitation room, a nurse cut open Vanessa's clothes, which were soaked through with freezing rain, then found hot-water bottles and tucked them beneath her armpits and against her chest. Soon, a piping-hot medicinal decoction arrived as well. The nurse supported Vanessa's head and gently poured it into her mouth.

Vanessa's face was blank with confusion. Hypothermia had all but stripped her of the ability to think. Now she felt only groggy, unable to think about anything.

She sank into a deep sleep.

An unknown amount of time passed. When she opened her eyes, she was already in a nursing ward.

Someone was coming through the door. The sound of it opening must have woken her. Doctor Norman was making his rounds with a nurse, and when he saw that she was awake, he gave her a gentle smile.

"You've had quite a rough time, Miss Vanessa."

Vanessa froze for a moment.

Before Vanessa could ask, the doctor picked up the school badge beside her bed and waved it. "Miss teaching assistant, next time, please remember not to stay outside in freezing rain. Even if you don't get rained on, the damp will make you lose body heat rapidly."

"Thank you... I ran into some trouble..."

"Hahaha, I can see that. Your constitution isn't very good. You'll need to stay in the hospital for at least a week. Do you need me to contact the university for you?"

Vanessa immediately grew nervous. Once he contacted the university, the doctor would immediately learn that she had lost her job.

Make me pay the medical fees? Good heavens, even selling me wouldn't cover them!

All I can do now is stall and find some way to get through this. In any case, I need to make up an excuse first...

"I was dismissed. I'm no longer a teaching assistant at the university. I was wandering outside because I didn't have a penny to my name."

Only after she finished speaking did Vanessa realize what had happened. She covered her mouth in horror, watching helplessly as the face of the doctor opposite her twisted.

Damn it, why did I just blurt that out for no reason?!

I never meant to say that at all!

Why does it feel as though someone is controlling me?

Wait, being controlled...

Although her earlier memories were somewhat hazy, Vanessa could still recall that she hadn't seemed to come here of her own accord. Some will had controlled her and brought her to the hospital!

And now, that will could even control her speech?

Vanessa felt as though she had plunged into an icy pit. All sorts of rumors she had occasionally heard before rose in her mind. Had some ghost possessed her? Had she been bewitched? Or had some cult of an evil god set its sights on her?

Unfortunately, she had little time to panic before Doctor Norman's words interrupted her thoughts.

"Are you saying... you have no money?"

"Yes..."

"None at all?"

"Y-yes..."

Vanessa was panicking inwardly. She feared that Doctor Norman would throw her straight outside, but he was in no hurry to speak. Instead, he was very calm, studying the girl carefully.

First, he looked at her long brown hair-it was hair she dearly loved and had always taken care to maintain. Even in her current bedraggled state, its beauty could not be concealed.

Then he looked at her dark eyes. Vanessa blinked in confusion.

The doctor stepped forward and reached out to stroke the girl's face. She shrank back a little, but there was only calm in his eyes, as though what stood before him were not a girl, but an object.

He gently pressed the girl's chin, making her open her mouth, and examined her neat teeth.

Then he took hold of Vanessa's arm. He couldn't help frowning at its slenderness, but after tapping the bones in her arm, his brow relaxed somewhat.

A satisfied expression appeared on his face.

"I-I can..."

"There's no need to worry, Miss Vanessa." The doctor interrupted her, speaking in a leisurely but firm tone. "Your bill can be settled in other ways. I'll bring you a contract later."

"Huh?"

"Please get some rest, ma'am." Doctor Norman turned and left the ward with the nurse.

(Please keep reading during the new-book period. It really matters to me! Thank you so much!)