The doctors and nurses froze.
"She's still breathing, isn't she? That little brat's faking it. She's been putting on a show and fooling people since she was little."
A nurse lost her temper, her jaw clenched in anger.
"How could you say that? Another 30 seconds and she would've been dead! Sign the surgical consent form! Every second you delay puts her life at risk!"
Mom didn't bother acknowledging her.
She turned and fixed her cold gaze on Hugo, who was huddled against the wall in a corner of the hallway.
His face was paper-white. His lips trembled, but he couldn't get a word out.
Mom watched him, her voice frighteningly calm.
"Do you understand what you did wrong now?"
He nodded frantically, tears pattering down his face.
"Nodding doesn't mean a damn thing."
Mom took a pen from her handbag, snatched a blank sheet from the nurses' station, and slapped it against his face.
"Write. I want a 1,000-word pledge that you'll behave. I'll sign when you actually understand what you did wrong."
The nurse was so frantic her eyes reddened.
"Are you insane? Your daughter's life is on the line! There's no time for you to sit here teaching your son a lesson!"
"I'm disciplining my own son. Who are you to lecture me?"
Mom didn't so much as look up.
She pulled over a plastic chair, sat down, and took out her phone. Then she started scrolling through short videos as if no one else existed.
The resuscitation room doors opened again. A doctor rushed out, sweat covering his forehead.
"Has her family signed the consent form?"
No one answered.
Hugo bent over a plastic bench in the hallway, his hand shaking so badly he could barely hold the pen.
With every word, his hand jerked. Tears soaked into the paper and spread the ink into dark blotches.
Finally, he couldn't write anymore. He raised his swollen eyes to Mom and pleaded, "Mom... please... can't you sign it first? None of this is Enid's fault..."
"How is it not her fault?"
Mom didn't look up. Her finger kept swiping across the screen.
"You're her little brother. As your older sister, she has to set an example. Once she's taken this punishment for you, you won't dare do it again. Stop wasting time arguing and keep writing."
He bit his lip, lowered his head, and went back to work.
His hand shook. His words sprawled crookedly across the page.
Dad looked at the red light above the resuscitation room, then at Mom, who sat beside him with her legs crossed, watching videos.
"Rita... that's enough. Just sign it. Or she isn't going to make it..."
"You always say that's enough." Mom gave him a cold sidelong look. "That's exactly why he never learns. Shut your mouth and stay out of it."
Dad fell silent again.
At last, Hugo put down the pen.
He stumbled away from the bench, dropped to his knees at Mom's feet, and held the sodden page above his head with both hands.
"Mom! I'm done! Please save Enid! Please go sign it!"
Mom took the paper at her leisure.
She read it carefully from beginning to end.
Then she said flatly, "Sloppy handwriting. You should work on it. But I'll let you off this time."
She folded the pledge in half, put it in her bag, and finally rose slowly to her feet.
Glancing toward the resuscitation room, she sounded almost moved by her own efforts.
"Your sister's certainly had a hard time tonight. But if it teaches you a lesson, her suffering is worth it. Once this storm is over, I'll take her to the mall and buy her a couple of new dresses. I'm doing this for her own good. It'll stop her from suffering worse when she gets out into the world."
She turned to the nurse, who was nearly frantic, and took the pen.
"All right. Give me the form. I'll sign—"
The red light above the resuscitation room went out.
The doctor pushed through the doors, exhausted, and slowly removed his mask.
"No need. She was brought in too late. We couldn't save her. She's gone."
Aksara