1 The doctor suddenly called me into her office to discuss my daughter's condition. My daughter is only seventeen, but she has been battling cancer for three years. After entering the office, I noticed a man in a suit sitting there as well. As soon as I walked in, they locked the door. The doctor said to me, "I'm sorry, but we misdiagnosed her three years ago. Your daughter doesn't have cancer." "She has osteosarcoma. Because of the previous incorrect treatment, it has progressed significantly, and she needs an amputation." "I formally apologize to you, but what's done is done. I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm sorry." I stared blankly at the doctor. Three years. To treat my daughter's cancer, she dropped out of school, I sold our house, and we spent all our savings. My husband slept only four hours a day, working two jobs just to keep her safe. Overworked and exhausted, he fell ill and died young, leaving us, mother and daughter, to depend on each other. My daughter used to be a beautiful girl. Now she is skeletal, her hair has fallen out, and she weighs only seventy pounds. We kept fighting the cancer, ruining our family for it, dreaming only of the day she would be healthy again. But now they tell me it was just a misdiagnosis. There was no cancer at all. Seeing my silence, the doctor continued, "Ma'am, osteosarcoma is easily misdiagnosed. If you look it up, you'll see it's one of the most commonly misdiagnosed diseases." I asked, "Did you call me here to discuss compensation?" She shook her head, "We don't plan to compensate." I was stunned. She continued, "The hospital's idea is that we won't refund the medical fees for the past three years of cancer treatment. Since you'll need money for follow-up treatment anyway, we'll keep it as a balance on our medical card. Is that okay?" I still didn't speak, feeling the world spin around me. She handed me a contract, asking me to review it and sign if there were no issues. Every line of the contract was predatory. Party A will not refund cash to Party B, only refunding the $830,000 balance to the medical card, which Party B cannot withdraw. Until Party B's treatment is completed, at which point any remaining balance will be refunded or additional costs charged. Party B promises not to pursue this matter further, not to publicize it on any internet platform, and to waive all civil litigation rights. The doctor said, "Although we didn't pay compensation and only gave you the medical card balance, we are also taking a loss. It's like we bore the cost of the past three years of medical fees." I said agitatedly, "But that was your misdiagnosis! That treatment wasn't needed in the first place!" She asked, "Is there any point in saying that? Are we not already taking a loss to cover it?" I couldn't understand their logic at all. 2 My family fought cancer for three years, until we were destitute. Now they won't pay a cent in compensation, won't even refund the medical fees, forcing me to keep the money in their hospital to treat the osteosarcoma, and claiming they are the ones taking a loss! I asked the doctor, "If you hadn't misdiagnosed her three years ago, if we hadn't wasted these three years, would my daughter still need an amputation?" The doctor sighed, "Why do you have to bring up these hypotheticals? Do you want me to feel guilty? The problem is, I already feel very guilty. I said, what's done is done, and I can't change it." Fate is so tragic. I had been hoping for my daughter to beat cancer, only to be told she never had it, and now she has to lose a leg because of it. I sniffled and asked, "Is there any way to save her leg?" The doctor said, "No, it has progressed too far. Amputation is the best option." I couldn't help but say, "I want to take her to another hospital. I don't accept your plan, and I don't feel safe letting you continue treating her." The doctor got anxious. She said, "Why don't you understand! Amputation is the best option now. Even if you go to New York or Boston, their treatment plan will be amputation! We've already covered the cost of three years of cancer treatment. What exactly are you trying to do by saying this? Are you trying to raise the price?" Her sudden agitation left me at a loss. My daughter was misdiagnosed, yet the doctor was acting more emotional than anyone. She suddenly wiped away tears and said, "Do you know? The hospital leadership has already talked to me. If you don't sign, I will be fired. But even if you sign, the leadership won't give me any promotion opportunities anymore. I've also lost my future. Let's just let each other go." I looked at the crying doctor, feeling the irony of the world. She kept saying she was guilty, but all she cared about was her own career. Just then, my phone rang. I picked it up and saw a message from my daughter. She asked, "Mom, are you done talking to the doctor? I finished my checkup." Looking at the message, I wanted to cry. 3 How do I tell her that her cancer is gone, but she has to lose a leg forever? I wiped away my tears and said, "I don't want to treat her here anymore. No matter what you say, I want to take her to a major hospital. I want to save her leg." The doctor panicked. She suddenly stood up, slammed a checkup report in front of me, and shouted at me agitatedly, "You can't save it! Don't you just want more money? Look for yourself, it has already metastasized to her lungs!" I stared blankly at the report she suddenly produced, but I couldn't read it. Because this was the first time I had heard of this disease. But I gathered from her words that amputation wasn't the end. I asked, "Is her life in danger? Will she die even if she loses a leg?" The doctor said, "Yes. If you cooperate and sign the contract now, we can provide life-saving follow-up treatment." I stood up. She misdiagnosed my daughter, allowing it to progress to amputation and life-threatening danger. Then she started threatening me with my daughter's life, saying this was the best choice. At this moment, I was even more certain that I wanted to change hospitals. But just as I stood up, the man suddenly leaned in, grabbed my shoulder, and pressed me down. Forced back into the chair, the man sighed and said, "I understand you care about your child, but sit down first. Let me talk to you." I turned around, looking at him in shock. I asked, "Are you forcing me to sign?" The atmosphere suddenly became very serious. The doctor glanced at me and said, "Sign it, and there won't be so much trouble. This is for your daughter's good. I'll go out for a bit, you think it over." She said to let me think, but after she left and locked the door, only I and this man remained in the room. He sat in the seat the doctor had just occupied, adjusted his suit, and said to me, "Let me introduce myself. I am the hospital's lawyer. My last name is King." I whispered, "Hiring a lawyer to talk to me, do you really think you can win the lawsuit?" Lawyer King shook his head and said, "Impossible. We will definitely lose this lawsuit, but you must accept the hospital's conditions." I looked at him, confused. Since he knew the hospital would definitely lose, why did he want me to accept? 4 Lawyer King said, "The hospital conservatively estimates that if treatment starts immediately, your daughter will live for about two more years, and there is even a possibility of full recovery. I admit your daughter was not in mortal danger initially, and all of this was caused by the hospital's incorrect treatment over the past three years." My heart sank. He looked full of confidence. But what was the basis of his confidence? Lawyer King said, "If you accept the hospital's conditions, we will start follow-up treatment immediately. But if you don't accept, as far as I know, your family really can't scrape together any money. Without money for treatment, your daughter might not live for a year." I instinctively said, "I can make the hospital pay compensation, and then take the child to a big city for treatment." The lawyer asked, "And what if we appeal?" I stared at him blankly. He shrugged and said, "Civil disputes are very slow. We'll drag it out for six months first. After the court ruling comes down, we'll appeal if we're dissatisfied, dragging you for another three months. When the ruling comes down again, we'll delay the payment for a while." I said excitedly, "Aren't you bullying people?" He nodded, "Ma'am, you're right, we are bullying you. But we are legal. Even if we drag it out until your daughter dies, we haven't broken the law." Lawyer King suddenly took out his phone, placed it in front of me, and dialed 911 on the keypad. He said, "You can call the police if you're not convinced. It doesn't matter. Even if the police come, I can say openly in front of them that I intend to drag this out until your daughter dies, because we haven't broken the law." Listening to his words, I felt the world spinning. My daughter doesn't have much time left, all because of them. But not only did they have no guilt, they used this fact as a weapon to cut deep into my heart. Sitting in the chair, I felt a helpless despair spread throughout my body, making it hard to even breathe. Lawyer King said, "How about this, you don't need to rush to sign. Go talk to your daughter first, and feel free to ask anyone for advice. Ma'am, I advise you, the law is fair, but the law is often too late." He patted my shoulder and sent me out of the office. I stood at the hospital entrance in a daze, my head full of the words spoken by Lawyer King and the doctor. I took out my phone and searched for the contact information of many doctors and lawyers. Those doctors told me that if osteosarcoma has metastasized to the lungs, treatment must be immediate, as life is already in danger. 5 Those lawyers asked me first if there was any way to raise money to get through the immediate crisis. After knowing that I really couldn't raise the money, they told me that now it's either money or my daughter. Just as Lawyer King said. The hospital pushed us to a dead end, and then took advantage of our lack of retreat to bully us to their heart's content. Legal murder. What an ironic term. I wanted to cry, but I held it back. Because I saw my daughter, Sunny, waiting for me on a stone pier by the road with two bowls of fried rice from a cheap takeout place. Thinking I hadn't arrived yet, she opened both bowls and carefully moved the eggs from her bowl to mine. Since my husband died from overwork, she was always afraid that one day I wouldn't be able to hold on either. She always secretly gave me the nutritious food, lying that she had already eaten. With my husband gone, this family of mother and daughter needed a pillar. I didn't want my daughter to see me cry. She held the bowl, her thin hands trembling. My daughter used to be such a beautiful girl, but now she is skeletal, finding it difficult even to hold a bowl of rice. When she noticed me walking over, she quickly arranged the two bowls of rice, handed me the one with more eggs, and said to me with a smile, "I've already eaten half." I took the rice, held back the urge to cry, and sat beside her. Sunny rubbed her aching leg, smiled and said to me, "Mom, my birthday is coming up." I looked at her expectant little face and asked, "What do you want?" She said, "I want a hoverboard. I checked online, it only costs three hundred dollars. My leg always hurts, so that would make it easier to get around, and it can take me to work." Sunny took out her cheap smartphone. The screen was cracked in several places, but she couldn't bear to replace it. She pointed at the hoverboard on the screen, full of anticipation. Holding the bowl, I couldn't stop my tears from falling.
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