Behind me, Chris snorts because he’s an ass who takes his pain out on everyone else. I briefly shut my eyes so I don’t say something I might regret. It’s not the time to argue, not when we could lose our mom any minute. The last thing she’d want is for us to argue at her deathbed, so I bite back my retort.
“What are we gonna do?” Summer’s voice trembles through the silence. I wish we could turn back time, forget all this, and go back to blanket forts and marshmallows. Lighter days and cherished memories.
Everything was easier back then.
“I don’t know,” I reply, squeezing her hand. Honesty is always the best approach. The truth is, I don’t know what we’re going to do or how we’re going to survive, but we will. We’ll make ends meet somehow. We always do. Speaking of money, we’re behind on the bills, and ignoring them won’t make them go away.
Standing up, I wipe my cheeks as I pass Chris, wondering if he’s even looked at Mom yet or if he’s been staring at the ground this whole time.
Nurse Madsen lifts her gaze from her paperwork when I rest my elbows on the counter and thread my fingers through my hair. I must look like a wreck. I certainly feel like one.
“Look, I know we haven’t paid, again.”
It’s a struggle to meet her gaze. I feel too bruised for this conversation.
“And you know how grateful I am for everything you’ve done.”
“Jessica,” she says softly, but I shake my head before she can interrupt me.
“I need to say this. Let me get this off my chest… You could have canceled Mom’s care when we failed to pay the first time, but you didn’t. You risked your job for us, and I owe you?—”
She sets her files down. “You don’t owe me anything. This is Falls. We look out for our own.”
A lump wedges in my throat, and I finally look at her through blurry tears.
“Besides…” She lowers her voice. “Your mom is a good woman. I’ll be damned if I’ll let her die in pain.”
What do I even say to that? She’s gone above and beyond to keep Mom here for as long as possible. Chris has paid what he can from his wages, but it’s not enough.
Never is. And now it’s become clear he’s found cash through other, riskier means. I kind of knew he had, if I’m honest, but I didn’t want to see it.
The signs were there all along. How else could we afford to stay in college? How else could we cover household bills without getting kicked out onto the street? How else could we afford to eat and keep Mom in hospice for as long as we have? It wasn’t through the meager wage we had coming in.
Madsen steps out from behind the counter and pulls me in for a rare hug. The faint smell of antiseptic lingers on her uniform, but I welcome it. God, I’ve been strong for everyone else for so long. I can’t do it anymore. The world is too heavy, and I’m exhausted.
Tears stream down my cheeks as she cups my face with a soft, motherly expression that only makes me cry harder. “You don’t owe anyone anything.”
I wipe my eyes, breaking our connection. “But the bills… Her medical treatment?—”
“It’s all paid for,” she says, gazing at me in that patient way of hers. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
It takes a moment for her words to register. I pause mid-nose wipe, frowning, as she heads back behind the counter to answer a phone call.
Mom’s bill has been paid for? How is that possible? What has Chris done now? What kind of trouble has he gotten himself into?
By the time Madsen puts the receiver down, I’m teetering on a full-blown panic, but she’s none the wiser, putting her glasses back on to sign for a parcel the delivery man hands her.
The moment he leaves, I turn back to Madsen, my hands on the counter, an expression that gives her pause. “Chris settled the bill? When?”
She sets the parcel down and slides her glasses off her nose. “It wasn’t your brother who settled the bill.”
I gesture wildly, as if to say “who?!”
This is bad. We’re talking a lot of money. Cash we don’t have. The only way to pay it off fast is through debt. The only people around here who can help are dangerous individuals involved in shit no one wants to touch. Once you’re in, that’s it. You’re indebted for life.
“If it weren’t Chris… Who?”
“Mr. Ravencourt.”
