After getting almost no rest the entire night, Lara left the hospital the next day.
Mrs Nina and Mrs Tina insisted she go home and sleep at least for some hours and come back to the hospital, all refreshed.
After all, Lara was barely at home all day yesterday.
After having some breakfast, she had gone to her makeshift personal studio to record her songs.
After recording some parts of her song, she left for busking in the city.
She busked at six different spots and then went to the bar for her part-time job.
Then, after the call, she had run between the ward, the administration desk, the doctor’s office and the pharmacy.
She was so anxious and starved, she had puked in the hospital’s public washroom.
She too got admitted to the hospital with ‘hunger nausea’ and was given saline.
Mrs Tina offered to accompany her to take her back home, but Lara turned down the offer.
She still had to go somewhere first.
She waited for the metro system to start and bought some freshly baked buns as her breakfast.
After the metro started, she bought the first ticket of the day and took the train.
In the train, all alone, she closed her eyes and started thinking about last night’s conversation with Dr Jones.
Lara kept thinking about the money that she needed for the treatment.
Even if she did save up money, she could never end up getting that much money Dr Jones quoted her.
She opened her banking app on her phone.
She looked at her bank account and sighed.
“Looks like I have to slave myself to make some money, huh?” Lara said and got up from her seat.
Her station had arrived.
She got out of the train and walked a few streets down and stopped right in front of her last night’s location.
The first place she went after leaving the hospital was a bar called “99 Drinks”, the bar she worked in nights.
The bar had a ‘closed’ signboard hanging on the door, but Lara pushed the door open anyway.
The bar was empty, with the cleaning staff cleaning the place from last night’s mess.
Split drinks, vomits of overly drunk customers, food spilt on the floor and tables.
The bar manager, Sophia, was doing the accounting and bookkeeping.
As soon as she saw Lara entering the bar, she shouted her name in worry, “Lara?
Why are you here?
What about your grandmother?
What happened to her?”
“How did you hear about my grandmother?” Lara asked in surprise.
She didn’t even tell her or anyone, for that matter.
She literally ran to change and left out without talking to anyone.
“Corbin the bartender told me.
He overheard your conversation with the hospital,” Sophia replied.
“Corbin, that dumb*ss.” Lara muttered under her breath.
“Grandma had a minor surgery and now is under care in hospital.
The doctor said that she is recovering well.
I came here to get my stuff.
I had left my guitar here last night in that hurry.” Lara said, walking to the changing room.
“Let me get changed quickly.
I borrowed Jason’s shirt without knowing or considering his jealous girlfriend’s situation,” Lara said.
After changing out the plaids, she came out of the room with her guitar strapped on her shoulders and sat on the high chair.
“Could you make some coffee, Sophia?
I need one desperately,” Lara said while rubbing her temples.
“Did you even catch some sleep in the hospital?” Sophia said, looking at the dark circles that formed under Lara’s eyes.
She took out some instant coffee powder and heated up the water on the electric kettle.
“Not really.
It was so cold.
Also, I had to fill out so many forms and registers.
Then I myself got admitted due to my usual nausea problems.
I just got out of the hospital to collect my things so that I can take them back and get some rest at home,” Lara said.
“So, you decided to come to a bar just after getting out of a hospital?
Wanna have a drink to make all of your neighbouring aunties think something big happened in your family?
Give them gossip material?” Sophia teased.
Lara gave a pained smile.
She knew from where Sophia was coming.
She didn’t know what something big did happen.
She just said, “Nah, can’t.
I’ll drop dead here, in this pile of disgusting…
oh my god, what just happened here?”
Lara noticed the actual intensity of the mess for the first time.
There were broken chairs and shards of glasses lying everywhere.
There were some suspiciously looking blood splatters on the walls of the pillars.
“Sophia!
What happened here?” Lara turned back to Sophia and asked.
“A bloodbath brawl between men.
You know, male inflated ego and poking and commenting on other man’s woman.
The usual stuff.” Sophia sighed.
This was pretty usual stuff in a bar.
“This is more than the usual stuff, Sophia.
THIS is destruction of public property.” Lara pointed at the broken chairs.
“I know.
That Rian got no self-control at all.
I was this close to suing him,” Sophia said in anger.
“Then why didn’t you?” Lara asked in surprise.
“‘Cause that idiot is my childhood friend.
He already reimbursed me last night for the destruction he has made.
But that doesn’t fix furniture.
I have to close the bar for today to get things fixed.” Sophia pressed between her brows and sighed deeply.
Lara couldn’t imagine exactly what had happened after she left that such a mess happened.
“What exactly transpired here?” She asked.
“Some random guy was shit-talking about the woman he likes in front of him, and he lost it.
So he just…blew up.
It took a lot of strength to free him from the other guy.” Sophia looked into her accounts again.
“Seems like your friend is still my type of guy,” Lara said softly, barely audible, and sipped on her hot coffee.