Our last conversation had ended badly. But I had nowhere else to go, and not enough money in the bank to last me longer than a week or two in a motel. As for returning to work, the idea made me light headed. I couldn’t escape him.
“This is so cool, Lee. Do you think they’ll let you keep this?” Mike asked, plopping himself into the chair and wheeling around the room.
It was hospital policy to leave in a wheelchair, completely unnecessary, but unavoidable.
“Why? Are you planning on needing one sometime in the future?” I asked, amused at the excitement on Mike’s face.
Men…
“You will need one, and a surgeon to remove my foot from your intestine, if you don’t get up and let your girlfriend sit down,” said the unfamiliar nurse, who was a leaning against the door, along with another lady I didn’t recognize.
I blushed and Mike jumped up from the chair, rolling his hand out lavishly in front of him, gesturing me to sit.
“I’m not his girlfriend,” I muttered as I sat down quickly.
Ignoring my correction, the nurse introduced herself as Mary, and the lady with her, as one of the hospital administrators- a short, frazzled looking blonde named Lizzie, with an alarming amount of paperwork in her hands.
My palms trickled with sweat at the sight of all those forms she was clutching. I had no freaking clue how I was going to be able to pay for over a month’s worth of hospital bills.
I was about to ask if they had a payment plan, when Lizzie handed me two sheets of paper from the bundle.
“Now, Miss Bennett, all I need from you is a couple of signatures. If you could sign under the patient signature line here and here, you’ll be good to go,” she said, dropping a pen on top of the rather intimidating forms in my lap.
I looked at her, confused, and back at the papers.
“What about my bill? Do you have a payment plan I can take on?” I asked, scrawling my signature under the printed version on one page, and then the other.
“No need. Your bill has been paid in advance.”
I snapped my head up to frown at her. “No, you must be confusing me with someone else; I haven’t made an advanced payment. I don’t have a credit card.”
Lizzie was confusing me with another patient, but the puzzled look on her face indicated that she thought that I was the confused one.
“No, there is no confusion, Miss Bennett,” she mused, flicking through her paperwork. “Yes, your bill has been covered in full by a Mr. Carter.”
She handed me a form, and there it was, Kyle’s signature and credit card details. My heart fluttered in my chest a little as reality smacked me straight between the two eyes; he’d gone behind my back again.
Son of a bitch.
“That’s great,” Mike interrupted, taking the papers from me and handing them back, before clasping the handles of the wheelchair. “I’ll take her from here.”
*****
I was still sulking when the car pulled up outside the familiar two story house on 13th street.
Goddamn Kyle, and his stupid freaking money.
I wanted to pay my own way- I didn’t have a clue how- but he’d just gone over my head on a decision that included me again. He couldn’t freaking buy his way out of his problems. I was so sick of him throwing his money around. I didn’t want a dime.
Mike killed the engine and opened his door. I grabbed his arm quickly. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
Mike coming inside was a terrible idea. Kyle would freak. I was ninety-nine percent sure he wasn’t at home, but I didn’t want to take that one percent chance and risk another fight. I’d had and seen enough of those, to last me a lifetime.
Oh, I was going to speak to him about paying my hospital, but not right away. I needed to speak to him with a clear head and calm temper. Right now, I had neither of those.
Mike frowned at me incredulously. “Are you joking? You think I’m letting you carry those cases yourself?” He scoffed and climbed out of the car. Oh boy.
Moving around to the trunk, Mike swung my duffel bag over his shoulder and held my suitcase in the other. “No way are you carrying these bags, Lee. You’ve just had surgery and you’re pregnant. Not a chance.”
I reluctantly got out and walked up the driveway to open the door. My fingers shook as I placed the key in the lock and turned.
My key still worked, a small relief.
I hadn’t been totally sure if Kyle had changed the locks or not. I didn’t know where his head was at, or where I stood regarding my living situation for that matter, and I knew that was my fault for banning him from the hospital and refusing to talk to him, but at the time it had seemed like a good idea to give myself a chance to lick my wounds.