by Claire Adams
Chapter Fourteen
Catherine
Hot water slid down my body and steam filled the air. The shower felt good. Great even.
I’d been getting a little ripe from my time just sitting at the hospital and sleeping on a cot. I didn’t want to leave Jack’s side, but Mom was there to sit with him while I ran home, showered, and grabbed a few of his toys. I was grateful to her for that, and also grateful that she’d not brought up the health insurance issue again.
A few more minutes passed, and I finished up my shower. After toweling off and putting on some clothes, I walked into Jack’s room and grabbed a backpack. I grabbed a few toys from his shelf and slipped them inside. If he had to be stuck at the hospital, I wanted him as comfortable as he could be.
My son had a lot of toys, but I had to pick things he could have fun with while lying in his bed. That made picking things out harder than I’d guessed at first.
My gaze landed on several toy motorcycles. I sucked in a breath, my stomach doing flops. As much as I hated them, he loved the damn things, and it’d make him feel better to have them. They’d be small and easy to play with. His comfort was more important than my own while he was sick. I picked a few and put them in the bag.
Thinking about the whole thing exhausted me. My son was already supposed to be home.
I took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. Even though the surgery had gone well, his temperature had spiked, and they had to start intense antibiotics. Some sort of post-surgical infection from what they’d explained, a respiratory thing that didn’t have anything to do with the surgery or the appendicitis. They didn’t seem concerned, but they’d also made it clear that it was still a serious issue that was best treated at the hospital.
Now, instead of my baby being able to come home, he’d have to stay in the hospital for God only knew how long. I was done with the photo shoot, so at least I could spend time with him, but I was already on the hook for over thirty grand, and every day in the hospital was adding more thousands more.
Not only was my dream of sending Jack to private school dead, but if this kept up, I’d probably be paying off these medical bills until he went to college. By the time this was all over, I’d probably have to end up selling the house.
I nodded to myself. Maybe that was the way to go. I could pay off the medical bills and then have enough for private school that way. Jack loved the house, and it was filled with memories of my husband for me, but at the rate we were going, it looked like I may have no choice.
Sighing, I slapped my cheek before pushing off the wall. I quickly grabbed a few more toys, including some soldier dolls and dinosaurs. The future didn’t matter for the moment. The important thing was that my son got better and I did everything I could for him. I could figure out the money issues later.
I’d failed him by not being by his side when he was sick and scared before surgery, and I was going to make sure that I was here for him now until he was able to leave the hospital and come home.
Finished packing his bag, I stepped out of Jack’s room, thinking back to Drew.
He’d been so helpful when I needed him. I couldn’t help but wonder if we could have had something together if we’d met under other circumstances. He was handsome, kinder than he let on, and intelligent.
Another sigh escaped my lips. It was pointless to worry about it now. Things would go back to the way they were before. I’d spent my entire life never running into the man, and I suspected I’d never run into him again.
I furrowed my brow. Was it really true that I’d never run into him? Jack and I went to his aunt’s ice cream parlor a lot. If we kept doing that, we might run into him. The question remained whether I wanted that. He was a biker after all.
It didn’t matter, I thought, shaking my head. I didn’t have time to worry about hot, tattooed bosses. I needed to get back to the hospital to support my son.
My phone rang, and I ran to the dining room table where it lay.
My heart raced when I picked it up. I recognized the number as coming from the hospital.
“Yes?” I said.
“Is this Cat Villiane, mother of Jack?” a woman asked over the line.
“Yes. Oh my God. Is he all right?” My breathing picked up.
I’d failed my son again. Something had happened, and I wasn’t there. Why hadn’t Mom called me?
“No, no, no,” the woman said. “Please calm down, Mrs. Villiane. Nothing has happened to your son.”
I took a deep breath and then slowly let it out. “Okay, then. What’s this about?”
“His medical bills.”
“I know I’m not insured, but I’ll call to set up a payment plan or something after he’s out of the hospital. I just—I just really can’t think about that right now while he is so sick.” I teared up. I couldn’t believe they were already calling and pressuring me to pay.
“You don’t understand. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have explained. I’m with the hospital’s billing department. The reason I was calling is that we recently had a large anonymous donation made to the hospital that was specifically earmarked for uninsured families with crisis cases this month.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You son is one of twenty-five patients who have been selected by the hospital to have their medical bills paid for using those donated funds.”
“I—what? So what does that all mean?”
“Well, I can’t guarantee everything will get paid, depending on what happens, but judging from what I’ve been told, unless your son ends up staying in the hospital for several weeks or has more surgery, you’ll likely owe us nothing.”
“Nothing? As in zero dollars?”
The other woman laughed quietly. “Zero dollars and zero cents.”
“Because of an anonymous donation?”
“Yes.”
Tears now ran freely, but from happiness and shock, not from sadness. “You’re kidding me. This kind of thing just doesn’t happen.”
“It happens more often than you’d think. So don’t stress about the medical bills. Just concentrate on your son getting better.”
“Okay, I will.”
“You have a good day, Mrs. Villiane.”
“Thank you,” I said softly, as the line went dead.
I stared at the phone for a moment, still processing the conversation I’d just had. I dropped into a nearby chair and shook my head.
I couldn’t believe it. How lucky could I be? I let out a cry of joy. Jack would still be able to go to private school, and I wouldn’t have to sell the house.
Worry about Jack getting better still weighed me down, but now I didn’t feel like I’d burst into tears when I saw him next.
I gasped at a sudden memory. Drew had said something at the hospital about taking care of it. I’d thought he was just joking around, but the timing was too coincidental, and he had more than enough money for something like that.
My knees weak, I forced myself to stand. It didn’t matter who did it for now. I needed to get to the hospital and visit my son.
* * *
I sat in a chair, watching Jack push his motorcycles across the folding bed table. For once, seeing him do that didn’t fill me with unease. The fact he even could made me feel wonderful.
He was still pale, and I didn’t like having to see my boy with an IV running into him, but he didn’t seem like he was getting worse, and that’s all I really cared about.
“I want a toy like Drew’s bike,” he said, all of a sudden.
I managed not to wince. “I’m sure we can find a Stroker toy.”
Jack smiled and went back to playing. He didn’t say much else for the next fifteen minutes until closing his eyes and falling asleep. The infection and surgery had taken a lot out of him, and I noticed he didn’t stay awake long between naps.
I grabbed the motorcycles and put them back in the backpack.
> A light knock came at the door.
“Come in,” I called.
Confusion struck, because the first thing I saw was a giant stuffed bear, as if a bear itself had opened the door. For a few seconds, I wondered if it was someone in a costume, and then I saw a huge bouquet of flowers and some expensive pumps behind the bear.
The flowers and the bear shifted to the side, revealing Daniella’s face. “Hello,” she said, wearing a cheerful smile.
“Daniella? I—what are you doing here?”
She laughed at me and rolled her eyes. “Delivering flowers and a giant bear, obviously.” She moved over to a corner table and set the flowers down. Then she moved to the side of the bed to set the bear down.
“I see that,” I said, after a moment. “It’s just—I don’t work for you anymore.”
“Most people don’t work for their friends,” she said with a wink.
“Friends?” I echoed.
Daniella offered me another warm smile. “Yeah, friends.” She looked down at the bed and sighed. “Poor little guy.”
“They tell me his condition is stable, but the infection’s just hard to treat, so he’ll have to stay longer, but at least it shouldn’t get worse. Things are still pretty tough, and he’s spending more time asleep than awake, but between the medicine and the antibiotics, he’s not completely miserable.” I sighed. “I just hope he can go home soon.”
She nodded slowly. “And how are you holding up?”
“Me? I don’t feel sick at all, and I’m still running with my appendix,” I shrugged.
Daniella snorted and tapped above her heart. “I meant here.”
“I’ve been really worried, but things have changed.”
A curious look settled over her face, “Oh?”
“I don’t have insurance, so I thought I was going to have to pay a lot of money.”
“And you aren’t?”
I shook my head. “Right before I got here, the hospital called to me that because of some big anonymous donation, I wouldn’t have to pay a dime.” I stared at her. “But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you? Or your brother?”
Daniella shrugged, her face a mask of perfect innocence. “You know what they say about gift horses and mouths.” She glanced up at the clock. “Sorry, just wanted to stop by and drop that off. Unfortunately, I still have a lot to get done with the ad campaign, even though the modeling portion is done for all three of you.” She turned to leave.
“I’m sorry, you know,” I said. “About having to leave early.”
She shook her head. “It’s not a big deal. You did more than enough, and I’m sure this campaign will be great because of you.” She looked over her shoulder. “If you need anything, give me a call.” With that, she waved and headed out.
Daniella had blown in and out like a whirlwind, and not only that, but she’d called me her friend.
I liked her. She was smart, confident, and very kind.
I frowned. She also could be a bit tricky. She’d managed to dodge my question about whether Drew had paid the medical bill.
Maybe Daniella was right, and I should just be happy that it’d been taken care of.
Chapter Fifteen
Drew
I looked up from my computer as Daniella sat in the chair in front of my desk. I’d been so engrossed in reading reports from the PR department, I didn’t even notice her come in. It didn’t help that she was one of the few who could come and go from my office as she pleased.
Daniella didn’t always abuse that privilege, but it’s not like she never did.
“Need something?” I said. Usually, if it was just minor business crap, she’d text me. So I figured whatever she had to say was at least semi-important.
“I forget to tell you something,” she said. “So I decided to tell you now.”
“You forgot to tell me what exactly?” I clicked my mouse on a table in the report, still only half-listening.
“I went to the hospital and visited Jack and Cat yesterday,” Daniella said.
I turned, giving my sister my full attention. I furrowed my brow. “He’s still at the hospital? I thought he was only supposed to be there for one more day.”
Daniella sighed. “There was some sort of infection complication. From what I understand, Jack will be okay; he’s just going to have to stay a bit longer still. Serious, but not life-threatening, I guess you could say.”
I nodded slowly, sucking in a breath. Poor little guy was having to deal with a lot of crap at once, as was his mother. I felt sorry for Cat. I knew from first-hand experience how it felt to lose people you love, and I imagined that even thinking about the chance of it had given her sleepless nights.
“Anything else?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Daniella smirked. “Cat asked me about the donation.”
I figured she might get around to that eventually. “And what did you say?”
Daniella shrugged. “Nothing, really. I figure that’s something for you to tell her if you want to.”
I sighed. “Maybe. Not going to have time to worry about it for a while. Now that the models are gone, I’ve got a lot of real work to catch up on. I probably shouldn’t be worrying about Cat.”
“The world’s not going to end if you stop off at the hospital for a visit, and there’s nothing wrong with worrying about her.”
“Still, I’ve got things to do.”
“Yeah, whatever.” She waved a hand dismissively.
A tense silence fell between us.
“By the way,” Daniella finally said, breaking the silence, “you never told me how things went with the board. What did they have to say about the donation?”
“You’d be surprised.” I chuckled. “They really liked the idea of an annual donation. They’re even approving one for this year.”
She laughed. “So you could have not even had to pay out of your own pocket.”
I shrugged. “Does it really matter? Not like I was doing anything better with that money, and the double donation will really help a lot of people at the hospital. Not only a nice tax break, but it’s the right thing to do, and it will also generate goodwill for the company. The ultimate win-win.” I shook my head. “Still, I was surprised.”
Daniella looked confused. “About what?”
“The board and their reaction.”
Daniella leaned forward, “Why, exactly?”
“It’s just that those guys always seem to have a stick up their asses. I didn’t think they’d agree to be so philanthropic so easily. I thought they’d run on about quarterly profits and that kind of thing or give me a lot of heat like they have with my other ideas.”
My sister chuckled, “They might have a stick up their asses, but they aren’t monsters or anything.” She sighed, “Look, I get it. It’s been a hard transition this last year. Even though you’ve done a fantastic job, I understand how weird it must have been for you to go from spending most of your time riding, to running this company, especially when dealing with a lot of those guys. And I don’t think it’s a secret that more than a few of them figured they were next in line for the job.” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why, given the way Dad always ran the company, but ambition and envy are everywhere.”
I stared at her for a second. “I still don’t understand why you aren’t running the company. It would have made the most sense for you to take over after Dad died. I know you said you like being more in a background support role, but I think you would have done a great job.”
Daniella gave me a soft smile. “The only thing I think Dad ever really wanted when we were growing up was for all of us to work together, but when Mom died—” she shook her head. “Both of you lost it in your own ways, and it’s like the family almost died with Mom.”
I grunted and looked away.
“I’m not blaming you,” she said softly, holding up a hand. “I understand. She was my mom, too, you know. The point is that it messed up the plan. If Mom hadn’t died early, you w
ould have come here to work with Dad; you wouldn’t have run off. You would have naturally been in a position to take over when he died.”
I forced myself to look at her. There was no accusation in my sister’s eyes or her tone, just love.
“You think I was selfish?” I said. “To do what I did? Decide to live my life dedicated to the road?”
Daniella shook her head. “I think that because you were the son of a wealthy man, you could spend a lot of time exploring the road.” She shrugged, “I could have done my own thing as well. I just didn’t want to.”
“Maybe you felt forced.”
“Nah. This is what I wanted to do, so I did it.”
“While I was off riding.”
Daniella nodded. “Yeah, I suppose so. And then you had all your little weird short-term jobs. I think it’s funny that you even bothered. It’s not like you needed the money.”
I could see where she was coming from. More than a few people I met throughout the years had asked me the same thing. It’s just something I usually didn’t bother to answer, but now that we were being so honest with each other, I figured it was time I made things clear to my sister.
“Look, part of riding was about finding myself. Part of it was about understanding other people. You can’t do that if you don’t know what it’s like to do their jobs. I don’t think I would be as good of a CEO as I am now if I’d not seen everything from the working man’s side of things.”
Daniella nodded slowly, a serious look on her face again. “Anyway, the point is that when Dad died, I saw an opportunity to salvage his dream. You were always meant to be here. So was I. This isn’t about who is running the company. It was always supposed to be both of us. So, yeah, I did everything I could to get you here, including browbeating the board.” She grinned. “Oh, you should have seen that mess. It was a good time, not had by all, mostly me.”
I chuckled. “That bad?”
“I think they thought I was crazy. They were convinced the company would be bankrupt within six months.”
