As the security guards led a sputtering Kathryn away, Beck grinned, raising his palm in the air at Seth. “Way to go, man. We got her.”
Seth grinned, high-fiving him. “Hell yes, we did!”
Heavenly watched, dumbfounded. They were still taking care of her, despite…everything. Because they still cared. She had the strongest urge to rush to their arms and pepper their mouths with kisses.
She didn’t.
“Thank you. Both of you,” she said instead. “This means more to me than you know.”
Before she gave in to her urges, she retreated to the nurses’ desk alone.
Hump day. More like humped day. It had been another awful one. Heavenly hated being down all the flipping time. But every morning her alarm went off, her reality was still the same. Her father was weaker, her schedule was overwhelming, her wallet was empty…and her life felt beyond meaningless without Beck and Seth.
Oh, they tried to engage her every day. Beck still brought her lunch and did his best to coax her into conversation. Seth showed up at the end of her shift and walked her from the hospital to the bus, talking to her about anything and everything—how much he missed her, the fact his new business was surprisingly busy, that he still found California weather baffling. He smiled, flirted, charmed.
To be honest, they were wearing her down.
Damn it, she was trying to be noble. Why did it have to be so hard and hurt so much?
There was one bright spot in her life. It had been eight glorious workdays since Kathryn had been fired. The look on that hag’s face when Nurse Lewis had escorted her to her locker for the final time, then walked her out the door had been sweet. Heavenly hated to relish in anyone’s misfortune, but Kathryn had gotten what she deserved.
Since her dismissal, the ER had been blissfully peaceful. Even Marcella had been nicer. And instead of Heavenly being worried about placating Kathryn in order to get a decent recommendation after graduating from nursing school, Nurse Lewis had all but assured her that she had a job if she wanted one.
It was a relief.
Too bad graduation wasn’t coming anytime soon.
With a sigh, she stepped off the bus, avoiding a twitching man who looked wild-eyed and picked at his pockmarked face as she dashed toward the pharmacy. Thankfully, the first official day of spring was tomorrow and she had a bit more sunshine to walk with every day. The trek to this discount location was necessary…but had been a little scary during the dark winter months.
Heavenly waved at the camera, and they buzzed her through the barred door without incident as she clutched her purse. It held exactly three hundred twelve dollars. Once she left here, she’d have eleven dollars and some change to feed her and her father for the week, but he would have his life-saving meds. Nothing else mattered. At least not for nine days. That’s how long she’d have to come up with the rest of the rent. It was a tall order, but she’d learned to flirt better at Bazookas. Tips were slowly improving. It would be all right.
There was a line at the pharmacy, and the wait took longer than expected. Finally, she reached the counter and smiled at the tech, who nodded and reached into the bin for her father’s meds.
He glanced at the invoice stapled to the cluster of bags. “That will be eight hundred four dollars and seven cents.”
She froze. “There must be a mistake. It’s always three hundred dollars and twelve cents.”
It couldn’t be more than that or she’d have to dip into her already depleted rent stash to afford it. And then where would the money to put a roof over their heads come from?
The fifty-something man shrugged and pointed. “This one isn’t covered by your insurance anymore. And this one had a price increase as of March first.”
He handed her the invoice. She looked down at the numbers. The bold black digits swam in her eyes. But the damning facts blared at her in black and white.
The cost of her living had just increased by twenty-five percent without warning, and she had no way to pay for it.
She tried not to cry. Where would she come up with another five hundred a month? Would she have to resort to stripping? Prostitution? She was already eating as little as possible and had whittled their living expenses down to nothing. It was impossible to find a cheaper apartment. She’d looked, especially after Mr. Sanchez had hit on her.
Heavenly swallowed. Panic encroached. The man behind the counter was staring. She didn’t know what to do.
Blinking, she forced herself to look at the numbers again. “I-I’ll take these two today and come back for the others tomorrow.”
“Sure.” He rang them up and took her money as if he wasn’t completely terrifying her. As if he wasn’t forcing her into an awful position.
She hadn’t even managed to wrest control of her trembling hands and get her change into her wallet before the tech was leaning around her and helping the elderly gentleman just behind.
After picking up the meds, Heavenly stumbled out into the last of the March sun. She gulped in brisk air, trying to find calm, doing her best not to crumble and fall.
Why the hell was she so alone in the world? Because she had no siblings to share the responsibility. No aunts or uncles or cousins to help her carry the load. Because her own mother hadn’t loved either of them enough to stay and bear the responsibility.
It had taught her a valuable lesson.
Beck and Seth care, maybe even love you. They vanquished Kathryn for you…
She bit back a sob. Yes, she could just picture going to them and begging for forgiveness one minute…and money the next. She’d look disingenuous, gold-digging, and heartless. They might have contempt. They might even hate her.
There had to be a different way. She’d figure it out, get creative. There were other opportunities to make
