The Miracle of You

Camille remembered doing an extensive background check on Grady some time ago, but she only knew that he had a wife and a son. There was no mention of a daughter.

His elderly mother was still alive, but was prone to illness and spent most of her time away from the city, in the country where her other son lived nearby and took care of her. His father, on the other hand, died of cancer a few years ago.

So either Grady lied to her for some reason, or he really did have a daughter.

But that would mean…

Camille closed her eyes.

‘Did she run away from home, too?’ she couldn’t help but wonder.

‘Did she get disowned by her family?’

‘Or did Grady do something to erase her existence from the records?’

‘What in the world is going on?’

She had no clue. Right now, she was too tired to think clearly. Since she hardly saw or talked to Michael these days and only worked with Grady, she only had new information about Grady to include in the report.

“Damn it,” she cursed under her breath.

It was so frustrating that Christian was demanding that she do this just because he was her boss and because of her stupid ‘personal mission’.

But she had no choice. She needed to wait for the right time. If she acted prematurely, it would only end in disaster for her and her loved ones.

So, as much as she hated it, it wasn’t yet the right time to strike back.

***

The days flew by, and Camille was so busy that she hardly had time for anything else.

Even Grady seemed to feel the pressure of it all, because even during their short breaks, he still reviewed their documents while sipping his coffee.

After that night, he never brought up his daughter again, and there were no more sudden phone calls.

Grady always seemed calm on the outside, but lately, he seemed to be carrying some kind of heavy burden inside. She had never noticed it before, perhaps because he gave her wise advice and never showed any personal emotion at work.

‘I guess it’s true that appearances can be deceiving,’ Camille thought.

Using this busy time as an excuse not to get involved in anything that would violate her morals, Camille buried herself in her work, paying no attention to anything but her duties.

That is, until that fateful phone call came.

It came like the beginning of a storm, like a load of cement piled on top of her stress and emotional instability.

Camille sat at her desk, all the color drained from her face. Her hand holding the phone was shaking heavily, and she was trying her hardest to keep her voice under control.

Damn phone calls. Why did phone calls seem to spell disaster these days?

She could now empathize with Grady’s feelings that fateful night, because she was pretty sure she had the same expression on her face now as he had back then.

Swallowing, she couldn’t keep the disbelief from creeping into her tone as she spoke.

“…What do you mean Papa is sick?”

The voice on the other end of the line was solemn, but there were occasional quavers that Camille’s sharp ears could catch.

Paul was doing his best to remain calm, and at this moment, she wished she could be there in person to comfort him as she should be, as his big sister.

“He’s been diagnosed with a rare and serious illness. It’s why he hasn’t been feeling well for the past few weeks,” he told her. “Of course, we sent him to the doctor for a thorough checkup beforehand, but they thought there was nothing seriously wrong with him and just prescribed some painkillers and medicine. However…”

His voice shook slightly.

“This disease is usually difficult to diagnose until it’s in the later stages. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong until Papa started having these random seizures. It was really scary.”

Camille could hear the trembling in her younger brother’s voice, and she bit her lower lip in frustration.

She had never heard Paul sound like this before, except for that time years ago when he and Ben found out where she was and contacted her to make sure she was okay, that she was still alive.

“Then… what should we do?” she asked shakily. “How serious is it?”

“That’s the problem.”

“What?” Her tone turned urgent. “What do you mean?”

“Sis… There are no doctors in the city who can cure him.”

That made Camille stand up instantly from her seat. “What do you mean no doctor in this city can cure him?” she said incredulously. “That’s impossible!”

“Unfortunately, there’s really nothing we can do. Mama is devastated, and Papa is getting weaker by the day. All Ben and I can do is keep the business running while we look for alternative solutions. Believe me, sis, we’ve scoured the country looking for a doctor who has extensive knowledge of the disease and can treat it, but… so far, there’s no hope.”

“Paul, you have to keep trying! I’ll help, too. I’ll-”

“Sis… we also have a problem with money and the right connections. I don’t think we can afford the whole treatment process if we ever find a knowledgeable doctor. It’s too expensive, especially since the treatment takes at least two years. There’s also the issue of medication and maintenance…”

“Wait, money? But I thought that the hotel is doing well. I thought-”

Paul sighed heavily. “It is, but it’s not as good as before. There’s been a decline lately.”

Camille struggled to swallow. “Still, there has to be a way…”

“We went to the best doctors in the country, but even they had trouble finding a solution. Our best bet right now is abroad, where Dr. Colmen is,” Paul said. “They say he’s the best when it comes to treating this particular disease. He’s the expert, and he’s the first to offer a treatment that has a 90% success rate, which is much better than the usual 10%. Other doctors cannot guarantee such a high success rate, so we can only rely on Dr. Colmen instead of risking Papa’s condition with other doctors”.

“Then-Then there’s our solution!”Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“Unfortunately, sis… That also means he’s always booked. The disease apparently affects 10% of the middle-aged population. Even if we had the money, there’s no way we could force our way to the top of his waiting list. His patients are usually big shots like billionaires from all over the world, high-level executives, conglomerate owners, famous celebrity superstars… Of course, he also accepts patients who don’t have that much influence, but it really depends on his decision and if he feels like it. ”

Camille felt her throat close up. “But still, you should’ve tried appealing and offering-”

“The doctor does not take bribes, and he has been known not to respond well to threats or coercion. If we keep insisting, he might refuse to put Papa on the list at all and never consider it again.”