Til' Death Do Us Part

Chapter Eight

    Once I was back in my apartment, I immediately took my medicine, knowing I'd need an extra dosage due to earlier. Afterwards, I put the box of popsicles into the freezer. I turned on the light in the kitchen and preheated a frozen meal and grabbed my phone out of my purse to text Sydney that the outing went fine and that I was home safely.

    When the pizza was ready, I turned the oven off and let it cool. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the water for a shower. As it ran, I recollected the day in my mind and then the night. Even this morning had been hell. I would've canceled, had I attained Rome's number but I hadn't and so I'd gone and surprisingly, I was glad I had.

    The next morning came faster than I would have liked. I was visiting Harper at our parent's house. He'd been calling me nonstop for the past few days and by the time I'd gotten off my shifts, he was already asleep. Or supposed to be.

    His room was a lot different now than it had been months ago. I wondered how much else had changed?

    I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear before looking towards Harper, "Alright, fess up. What did you do?"

    He chuckled nervously, "Not much?" Harper looked at me jokingly before turning away. His face lost all previous joy, "I got a call from Dad's medical company."

    I stayed quiet, nodding my head to urge Harper to continue. He'd always been the most timid sibling out of all of us. Caleb was the most impulsive, I, the most nonchalant, and Harper, the most bashful.

    "He doesn't have any money left for his medical bills. I'd heard him and Mom arguing about it, but I had no idea it was..as bad as it is." He went quieter with each sentence.

    "I see." I thought to myself, "Have they given any hint to what they might do?"

    "They were arguing about divorce. Mom doesn't want to do it." He whispered. For the finances; I already knew. They'd threatened divorce once, but when they'd gotten out of that fighting state, they were closer than they'd ever been. With Dad's accounts emptied, next they would go for Mom's; if they were divorced, they couldn't take the money out of Mom's accounts but married they indefinitely would go into debt. With the divorce, Mom would still be able to pay some of Dad's hospital bills and the house. But Harper? What about him?

    "I have an extra room. If you want to stay while everything's out in the air?" I didn't know what to say-there wasn't much else I could say or do.

   "I don't know.." Harper shifted away from me, "I tried calling Caleb but he won't pick up. You know what's going on with him?"

    "Not at all. I've tried to but I haven't heard from him in a while." Since he and Sydney had broken up. He hadn't really bothered to contact me much after that even though I'd tried to stay in touch. There was only so much I could do with no response.

   "Damn. I figured he would've called you or something."

    "What are you planning to do? About everything?" I leaned back and stretched, looking at Harper studiously. I really didn't think there was anything he could do.

    "You don't wanna know."

    "Bite me." I mocked, "but if you start selling, I won't stand for it."

    "My plan's out the window then." The room was silent for a few minutes, "You talk to Sydney any?"

    "Yeah, I still work with her, why?"

    "I don't know."

    "You know." I responded. And he did.

    "Yep."

    "You're not going to tell me, are you?" I asked, barely kidding.

    "Not a word." He chuckled before falling mute, "You think I should another job? To cover some of the bills."

    "You don't worry about that." I answered, "I'll take care of it, you just focus on your studies. Anything you need for school or just for the hell of it, just tell me and I'll try to get it for you. Try not to worry so much, you're only a sophomore."

    "I don't worry much at school."

    "You're probably not doing it right." I taunted before getting up, "I've got to go but if you need me just give me a call, alright?" I waited for Harper to get up before giving him a hug and vacating to the living room. I sat down with my parents for about an hour before leaving.

    I invited Sydney and Lottie over to my apartment later that evening to help me job search for part time jobs but we worked unsuccessfully for hours, "Oh, I have to schedule an appointment, I'll be right back." I exited my room to go into the living room. I sat in my recliner, waiting for the call to go through.

    "Hello, this is the Health Hospital, would you like to schedule an appointment?"

    "Yes, I would."

    "What concerning?"

    "Uh, I have a heart disorder. It's been getting harder to control and I'd like to see Dr.Harvey to see if there's anything else I can do."

    "Uh-huh. And what's your name ma'am?"

   "Elizabeth Storren."

    "What time would you like your appointment scheduled?"

    "Sometime in the evening if Dr.Harvey has the availability."

    "Is three okay, Ms.Storren?"

    "Yeah, three is okay. Thank you sir." I headed back to my room and joined Sydney and Lottie before they glanced at me quickly.

    Lottie looked to me with a slight grin, "You ain't gonna like this but the only thing we found that's gonna help you without making you quit your job is maybe a stripper. Or a sewage cleaner but I don't think you'd be up for that ladder."

    "Yeah, we're trying to avoid the obstacles." Sydney pitched in.

    "If there's nothing else to go to, I guess I will, but I'm going to spend a little while longer searching for something different first."

    Word Count: 1012