"Truthfully," the doctor told me, "he can go home. We’re not doing anything here that can’t be done for him at his house. And we know the resources that he is working with, so setting something up like this to care for him won’t be a problem."

I appreciated the level of honesty from the doctor, and I was also grateful that he wasn’t talking about cost. I knew that whatever the cost was to be able to go home, Roman would have paid it gladly.

What was the point of his wealth if it couldn’t even give him his freedom? Some part of me was somewhat irritated at the hesitance I noticed in the doctor. There wasn’t so much hesitance the first time around and I wondered what had changed.

Was it the fact that Roman had had to be check in again for the same injury? Surely the hospital couldn’t possibly think that we would press charges against them.

"I’m sure that Roman would be really happy to hear that," I answered. "So can he be discharged today?"

The doctor hesitated, before leaning back in his seat and wiping his brow.

"The thing is," the doctor continued, "for him to be discharged, several things would have to first be in place. We would have to confirm that with him. You see," he leaned forward, speaking to me, "we can’t take the risk that he will be fine. Even though I’m confident that he will, something might happen anyway. We can’t take the chance that if something does happen, it’s the hospital’s fault."

I understood that entirely. I knew that the hospital had to cover itself first. It cared for patients each and every day.

"However," the doctor continued, "that’s not to say that anything is impossible. I have a few suggestions. Once we can find a way to implement them, it would give us a better guarantee that Roman would be safely discharged, and the hospital would be covered entirely."

I appreciated the doctor’s candor and how willing he was to help with everything. I listened eagerly as he took me through the precautionary measures that they would take, and the changes that would happen. Once they were done, I thanked the doctor for his cooperation and made my way back to Roman’s room.

"And?" Roman asked as soon as I set foot back in his room. "What did the doctor say? What’s the diagnosis?"

I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the long explanation that I was about to give him. It was ironic. It was Roman’s wealth that allowed him to have the best medical care that existed. But it was now also his wealth the trapped him in the hospital. He couldn’t be discharged just like a normal person. The hospital had to cover itself and do everything in its power to ensure that when Roman left, he really did leave completely healed.

"Well," I began tentatively, "you can leave is what he basically said," I told him. It was the truth. "But there are a few conditions."

Roman looked puzzled. I began the long explanation of everything the doctor had said. I explained everything that I’d been told, and I conveyed to him the plan that the doctor had drawn up, which was the only way that they would allow him to leave.

Roman listened intently. Once I was done, he simply picked up his phone and began making a few calls. From the conversation, I could guess that he was getting his assistants to set up a room in his house that would serve as his temporary sickbay, along with ordering them to procure all the necessary items that he would need.

The call with the instructions didn’t take too long. I guessed that it wouldn’t take the assistants too long to get everything in order exactly as he had asked either.

It took a few hours, but they got everything and had it all set up. Once the room was done and prepared adequately, I went back to the doctor to tell him that everything had been prepared on their side.

When it came to the execution of the plan, taking Roman home was a bit of a complication and not as simple as just packing up and leaving. Since he still needed the medication, they couldn’t just leave without it. Since he still had to be on a timed amount, they had to see where the best window would be to take him home.

Everything also needed to be set up perfectly to the doctor’s standards at home before they would even think of discharging him.

It wasn’t so much that Roman’s body was in dire straits. It was that they had to make sure he was healed. It was more that he was the person that he was. The hospital just couldn’t afford to make a mess with such an important client.

The hospital survived on donations from people like Roman, and more than that, through the publicity they got that came from people like him staying at their hospitals. They could not afford a negative review or the worst-case scenario, a court case, from a client like Roman.

So they went out of their way to make sure that he was cared for.

Part of that was the team of doctors that was assigned to him had to be certain that his room at home was prepared enough for him to arrive.

All in all, the process took another three days, even after the doctor had decided that he could be cared for at home. Three days after I had spoken with the doctor Roman was finally allowed to go home.

The nurse that was going to be responsible for administering the drip had to be brought in to the hospital so that I could see the specific way everything had been set up for him so that I would continue to carry out the exact thing at home.

The doctors then went to his home to check that everything had been prepared for his arrival exactly as they wanted. Once they inspected everything, they arranged a time slot for him to be taken home.

Roman had refused to be taken home in an ambulance, so as much of his medication had to be given as possible before he left. The rest would be administered as soon as he got home.

He was helped into a car of his choosing, and he and I began the drive home.

For a few days, I barely left the room that Roman was in. He was still confined to his bed for three more days. At the doctor’s insistence, both his nurse and I had to follow that demand strictly. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Though I was obviously free to go wherever I wanted, I found that whenever I left the room, or left his side, I couldn’t find much peace in that.

It was the third day after he had gotten home. Roman was having breakfast outside his room for the first time in a long time when a visitor arrived.

Roman and I were sitting outside near the pool when two men were escorted onto the premises by Roman’s security. Roman and I were both prepared for the guests since absolutely no one got onto the property without Roman’s permission. The security guards had also called him as soon as they saw a car approaching the house.

"Officers," Roman greeted them as they came up to them. "Please, have a seat. How can I help you today?"

The officers both shook their heads. I wondered what they had to say to them. I was preparing myself for bad news. Roman had gotten out of the hospital and hadn’t suffered much of anything, there had to be something that wouldn’t work out for them. There had to be something wrong.

Maybe I was just used to being pessimistic, but I would rather steel myself now and be pleasantly surprised than be blindsided again by anything happening.

"No, thank you. We’re not staying long. We just thought that we;d stop by in person and let you know," the one officer began, "you’re free to go. We have enough evidence that clears you from everything, and for most of the other buyers as well. You’re all free to do whatever you’d like."

"Almost," the second officer put in. "I would try and stay clear of anything that skirts the law for a while, for the both of you."

The officers had a warning look about them, but they seemed friendly enough, so I guessed that it really was just a friendly warning.

"Thank you," Roman thanked the officers again.

True to their word, they didn’t stay long and simply left after that. For a moment, I was entirely at a loss for words. I had no idea how to feel, or what I was supposed to feel, but I knew that above everything else I was relieved.

Everything was finally over. Well, our part in it at least.