I sat back on the couch and laid eyes on Louie who was following me to his usual position—the one he had slept in for more than three years. He was lying on the edge of his pillow, head on the floor in front of the door, looking underneath. Waiting. Every single night. And every single night, it broke my heart to see him there.
“I’m sorry for what I put you through, buddy,” I said, and even though he didn’t turn his head to face me, his ears pricked up. “I promise, I’ll hold myself back next time. Work, gym, home. The two of us.”
The vibration of my phone interrupted me and I picked it up to look at the notification. It was Leonardo’s invitation to his Dungeons & Dragons stream. I clicked on the link and, instead of being redirected to Twitch, YouTube, or another streaming platform, a prompt appeared, asking for the full name of the person who had invited me as well as my full name. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to watch his stream, but I knew he would ask me about it. Sometimes I wondered why he had never stopped trying to get me back out there, but I guessed that’s what good friends do. I typed the names and the URL field disappeared from my device completely. Before I managed to tap anywhere else on my phone, the stream entered full-screen.
A beautiful diamond-shaped wooden table, similar to the ones used by big D&D streaming groups, was surrounded by a group of people with Leo at its head. He had just started talking, introducing the game he was going to DM, but I paid little attention to what he was saying. Instead, I examined the people sitting around the table and instantly absorbed what information was available about them.
Name : Sierra Lancaster
Race : Human
Class : Mage
Level : 13
Name : Saa’za Gadit
Race : Night Elf
Class : Sorceress
Level : 16
Name : Chester Ironhoove
Race : Jungle Orc
Class : Paladin
Level : 43
Name : Hollis Aestrea
Race : Light Elf
Class : Scout
Level : 24
Name : Eleiah Narith
Race : Light Elf
Class : Oracle
Level : 34
Their classes and levels were as diverse as their races. I had to zoom in to believe what I was seeing. Three elves, one of whom had dark-gray skin, a human and an orc sitting around the same table as though the cast of Critical Role were playing in cosplay. Their demeanor was so casual it almost made me feel excited about becoming part of this world. But I knew that excitement was something I wasn’t worthy of anymore and this new world could only bring me and Louie more trouble.
Before I closed the stream, a notification popped on my screen, with the preview reading “INVOICE”. I turned off Leo’s stream and opened my email account thinking it would probably be some kind of phishing attempt. The body of the email seemed legit and came from the hospital I had been treated in earlier. It was kind of weird how fast they’d processed the invoice, but I opened the attached file to see the analysis of the hospital costs and what was covered by my insurance.
My insurance had paid $2,324.45 for my hospitalization and I was supposed to cover the remainder which was… Twenty-seven thousand fucking dollars? They must be on crack if they think I’m just going to pay this kind of money. $27,660 for the CT scan, the ambulance company’s bill, the stitches, and the bed.
Not wasting a second of the rage boiling in me, I called my insurance provider. As I went through their automated process of identification, where I had to speak out loud my credentials and reason for calling, I only became even angrier. So angry in fact, that before the agent had even finished his opening “my name is whatever, how may I help you” line, I was already screaming my lungs out.
“I’m not paying a single dime for this shit. This is why I’m paying you. This is why I’m letting you suck my blood month in, month out. For emergencies like this.”
“I am sorry, Mr. MacFie,” the man replied in a monotone voice, “but injuries from fights aren’t covered by your health insurance plan.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? I was beaten up by five people. I was left bleeding on the side of the street.”
“I truly am sorry for your misfortune, Mr. MacFie, but as I said, your current plan doesn’t cover these costs. However, you might want to consider upgrading to our…”
“I’m sorry, what was your name again?” I interrupted.
“My name is Gary, sir.”
“Well, fuck you, Gary!” I shouted, hanging up the call and sweeping everything off the kitchen table in one violent motion, breaking glasses and dishes as they hit the walls and floor.
The veins on my temples were throbbing and I was seriously considering renting a car just to drive it to their offices downtown and through their glass entrance. But all my wrath escaped me when I saw Louie cowering in the corner of the room, shaking in fear.
“Oh, no, buddy,” I said and felt a wave of disappointment hit me as I realized it was the second time my temper had hurt him. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s fine. Everything is fine.”
He jumped up in my lap as I fell on my knees in front of him and his shaking immediately subsided. I knew that my feelings were a problem but it had never occurred to me that it could cause damage to anybody other than me. I put him on his pillow again and laid down next to him, petting his neck. Life had suddenly thrown me the most expensive curveball because of my temper and all I could think of was how it affected Louie. After all, I didn’t need money to live. Okay, perhaps I needed some to feed us and keep a roof over our heads,
