Take a Chance
Page 16
She opens her mouth to say something snappy when the house phone rings and saves me from digging into her further.
I move to the cordless phone by the island, and on the second ring I answer.
“Hello?”
“Hello, I’m looking for Harlow Wilholten please,” a gruff female voice says through the line.
“I’m sorry, she’s not home right now. Can I take a message?”
“Yes, will you please let her know that Principal Hagen is calling to inform her that Alex hasn’t been to school in almost three weeks and we’ve grown concerned? I was just checking in to make sure things were okay.”
I cut my eyes over to Alex, and she visibly shrinks from my stare.
“Thank you, Principal Hagen, I will let Harlow know you called.” At the mention of her principal’s name Alex tries to sneak out of the room, but I grab hold of her bicep before she gets a chance to make a break for it.
After I hang up the phone, I plant Alex onto one of the barstools that saddles up to the island and stand in front of her.
“What the hell, Alex? Why are you skipping school?”
She scoffs. “What makes you think I’ve been skipping school?” she asks her fingernails, which have suddenly become ten times more interesting than I have.
“Don’t play this game with me. Your principal said you haven’t been there in almost three weeks, but I know I’ve been dropping you off and picking you up in front of the right school for the past two. Now what the hell is going on?”
She huffs and then shrugs. “I just don’t like school very much, and Harlow isn’t around to care if I go, so why the hell should I care?
My brows shoot up. Does she even understand all of the things that Harlow does to take care of her?
“Are you serious right now? Your sister works her ass off to make sure that you are taken care of. She works three jobs to pay the bills and make sure that you never have to go without. Why in the hell would you think she doesn’t care?”
Alex shrugs again and finally shifts to peek at me. “She’s just never around. I’ve never met my mom, and dad was never present in our lives even when he was around, and I just feel like I’m all by myself. Harlow doesn’t give a shit what I do as long as I don’t dress like a whore when I do it.”
I let out a small, humorless laugh and ignore her comment about her dressing habits before I lay it into her.
“Do you know that just two days ago I was holding your sister while she cried because she doesn’t get to spend enough time with you?”
Alex’s eyes widen, but I’m not finished speaking yet.
“She was crying because she was afraid she won’t make enough money to pay off all of your dad’s debts and still have enough to get you something nice for your birthday. She wasn’t even worried about the fact that she has holes in the bottoms of her work shoes or that she hasn’t been shopping for herself in over two years or that she’s been sick as a fucking dog for the past six days. She was worried about having enough so that you don’t go without.
“She’s been putting money from every paycheck from the diner into a college account for you, but she was scared that it wasn’t enough and was hoping you would get good enough grades to earn a scholarship. Guess we get to break it to her that you haven’t even been going to school, so she can spend all that money she’s been saving on something she wants.”
At this point her eyes are filling with tears, and she keeps shaking her head back and forth.
“Your sister would rather work her fingers to the damn bone to give you everything you’ve ever wanted than to see you go without. Think about that the next time you tell yourself that she doesn’t care,” I say and leave Alex to process this information.
***
Two hours later the front door slams shut, followed by a dry, hoarse cough.
I hang my pool cue on the rack on the basement wall and start toward the stairs to see if Harlow is okay.
“Babe, you doing okay?” I ask as I climb up the stairs. I make it to the top only to watch Harlow crumple to the ground.
I rush to her side and find that she’s unresponsive. I’m lightly slapping her cheeks and calling her name but she’s not reacting to any of it. Her lips are a purplish color and then place my hand on her forehead to find that she’s burning up.
“Alex!” I shout until her bedroom door opens below me.
“What?” she groans, like my tone implies that I want her to do a load of laundry and not that her sister is un-fucking-conscious in the foyer.
“Get up here and call 911 right now!”
That gets her ass in gear. Her heavy footsteps pound up the stairs as she rushes to us and starts shouting Harlow’s name. I have to push her away from us.
“Alex, call 911 and get an ambulance here as soon as you can and get me a cold wash cloth for her forehead, quick.” She nods and bolts into the kitchen for the house phone and a washcloth.
“Harlow, baby, wake up. You need to open those beautiful eyes and look at me, honey. Please wake up.”
I keep repeating the last three words as I wipe her brow with the cold rag that Alex brings me with shaking hands. I’m so scared that she won’t wake up that I don’t notice the EMT’s trying to take her from me.
“Sir, you need to let her go so we can assess her and get her to the hospital,” one of them says.
I release Harlow and spin around to find Alex sitting on the stairs, her face stained with tears. I get up and move to her. When I wrap my arms around her shoulders, she shoves her face into my chest and sobs.
When Harlow is loaded onto the gurney and placed in the back of the ambulance, Alex and I hop into my Hummer and numbly follow to the hospital.
We watch the ambulance workers unload her and rush her lifeless body into the building, and a few seconds later, my brain kicks into gear. I park the truck, and Alex and I rush inside, only to be told that we need to wait for the doctors to examine Harlow before we can see her.
I pray to whoever will listen that she’ll be okay, because I don’t know what the hell I’ll do without her.
Chapter 29
Harlow
I wake up to the smell of antiseptic. Before my eyes even open, I notice that my cough is gone and my throat is no longer on fire, so I think I’m dead. I have to be dead.
I crack one eyelid and am met with clean white walls.
Yep, I’m dead.
“Harlow? Baby, are you awake?” Blake says.
I cock my head to the sound and open the other eye to find Blake in a gray tank top and khaki shorts sitting on the edge of a chair, his face tired and worried.
“Blake? Where am I?” Even though my throat doesn’t burn like the Sun, my voice is still scratchy and hoarse.
He closes his eyes and lets out a relieved sigh when he hears me speak. Then he opens his eyes and answers my question. “You’re at Desert Regional Hospital. You have pneumonia.”
My brows rise while I process this information. I’m more than grateful that my chest doesn’t hurt like it had been for the past few days. I look to the left to find Alex sitting on another chair, her tear filled eyes glued to mine.
“Hey, sweetie,” I mutter and she breaks down. She sobs and throws herself onto the side of my bed, hugging my hips tightly.
I look to Blake again to see a small smile on his face. I run my fingers through her faded red hair in an attempt to calm her down, but it doesn’t work. She’s still in hysterics.
“Alex, I’m okay.”
“I was so scared, Harlow. You’re the only family I have left. You can’t leave me too,” she mumbles against my stomach in between hiccoughs. My heart breaks a little.
“Oh Alex, I’m not going anywhere, okay? Don’t think that you can get rid of me that easily.” She smiles softly and pulls one hand away from my hip to wipe the tears from her cheeks. After a few minutes, she gets herself under control, and Blake tries to distract her.
“Alex, will you run down to the nurse’s sta
tion and tell Ada that she’s awake for me?” She just nods and smiles before she leaves the room.
I turn back to Blake and feel my eyes open wide. Any response other than anger from her is surprising, really.
“Wow. That was unexpected.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, but she was terrified. We both were.” I reach out and grab his hand, giving it a small squeeze.
“Babe, you came in the front door and collapsed. Your lips were blue, and you were burning up. When the doctors finally got to you, you had a fever over one hundred and three degrees. They don’t even know how you were moving around, let alone had gone to work earlier in the day.”
I nod, remembering what happened before my world turned black. “Yeah, my boss at the diner told me I wasn’t fit to be working around food and that I couldn’t come back until my fever had been gone for over twenty-four hours. I was forcing myself to stay awake while I drove home.”
Just then, a beautiful woman with short blonde hair and different-colored eyes saunters into the room, followed by a still upset Alex.
“Hey, Harlow, nice to see you awake,” the woman I assume is Ada says with a smile. “How are you feeling?”
I assess myself before I give her an honest answer. “At the moment I feel okay. There is no pain in my throat or my chest from my cough, I don’t have a headache, and I can take a full breath without struggling.”
She nods as she types all of the info I just gave her onto her tablet and then checks my IV before asking if she can get me anything. I shake my head, feeling sleepy all of a sudden. She tells me that she’ll have the doctor come in as soon as possible so he can examine me and I can go back to sleep.
Not even five minutes later, an older man who calls himself Dr. Miner comes into the room. After listening to my chest and back with his stethoscope for what feels like hours, he lays it all out for me.
“You were quite sick when you arrived, Ms. Wilholten, so we’ve been giving you some pain-killers for your throat and strong antibiotics through your IV that we’ll have you continue for a week after you leave here. You will also be asked to do some breathing treatments to make sure that the pneumonia won’t have a lasting effect on your lungs. You will need to rest your body until you are back to one hundred percent. If you don’t wait and try to push yourself too hard too fast, there is a chance the pneumonia could return.”
After I agree to his terms, the doctor pats my ankle and leaves. My eyes are scratchy and heavy, and I can feel myself drifting off, so I gaze at Blake one more time.
“Hey, you and Alex head home and get some sleep. I’ll be-“
“No, I’m not going anywhere,” Alex interrupts me. She grabs hold of my hand as tightly as she dares with the needle sticking into the back of it.
Blake has a smirk on his face. “I guess we’re both staying, then. Get some sleep, babe.”
I’m shaking my head before I even speak. “You both can’t stay overnight. I don’t think the hospital allows visitors through the night.”
“Well, that’s where having your best friend’s wife as the room nurse comes in quite handy,” he jokes. A small giggle leaves me before my eyelids become too heavy to lift.
“Sleep, baby,” is the last thing I hear before I go under.
***
I wake up a few hours later to the sound of my cell phone. I flip it open and accept it without looking at the number.
“Hello?” My voice is a bit scratchy, but the pain is bearable compared to what it has been.
“Hi, Harlow, it’s Kelly.” It takes me a few seconds to remember who Kelly is. “Kelly Robinson,” she elaborates. Then it clicks that she is the owner of the veterinary hospital, the one whom I spoke to about using some vacation time to get better.
“Hi, Kelly, how are you?”
“I’m fine, thanks. Listen, Harlow, I have a few questions for you about your job here. Can we get together for coffee in about half an hour?”
I furrow my brow as I try to decipher her tone. “I’m sorry, but I’m in the hospital with pneumonia at the moment, so I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere for a day or two.” That comment earns me a narrow-eyed stare from Blake.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry to hear about that. Wel,l can I just talk to you about it now?”
“Okay, shoot.”
“Dr. Tim told me some things that I wanted to talk to you about. He tells me that you are constantly late to work and that when you do come in to the office you don’t do much. I’m not quite sure I believe it because I’ve checked the times you have clocked in on the computer, and I only show that you’ve been late one time since you started working here two years ago. I brought that up, and Tim tells me that you ask him to clock you in on time before you even get into the office.”
I’m seething before she even finishes speaking.
“That isn’t true, Kelly. I’ve been on time and clocked myself in every day since I started there. The one time that I was late I got into an accident on my way into work and my car was totaled. Tim also called and ripped me a new one for being late that day.”
Then something snaps in my mind. “If you don’t believe me then please call Tim and ask him what my password is to sign onto the computer. He has no idea what it is, so how could he clock me in?” My voice has taken on a hint of panic at the thought that Kelly might believe Tim over me, so I stop talking before I say something I’ll regret.
“Okay, I believe you, Harlow. I also don’t believe it when he tells me that you don’t do anything when you’re on shift. That office is always organized and set up for the day shift when you work the night before, and I know that couldn’t have been from Tim. That man doesn’t clean a thing. I’ve seen it firsthand. I just wanted to ask you one more thing before I let you go, dear.”
“Sure,” I answer but am nervous as to what else she could ask after the things that Tim accused me of. I want to find him and slap him across the face.
“Has Dr. Tim ever made you uncomfortable? Anything he’s ever done to make things awkward for you?”
I want to tell her about the many times he’s come onto me and how he treats me like dirt after Blake comes over or texts me, but then I wonder if I should say anything. Tim is a doctor and I’m just a lowly veterinary assistant. Who would Kelly side with?
“It’s okay, Harlow. You can tell me.”
I decide to tell her, keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t lose my job when I say it all out loud. “He likes to hit on me. He tries to touch my back or my rear end a lot, but I evade him most times and have told him on more than one occasion that I’m uncomfortable with it. I also started dating someone recently, and Tim has taken it upon himself to give my boyfriend dirty glares when he comes to pick me up for lunch. Tim has even told me that it’s against company policy for me to go to lunch with my boyfriend during my lunch hour and that I need to stay at the office to eat.”
“Wow. He did that?” She sounds surprised.
“Um, yeah he did. I don’t want to make things uncomfortable between Tim and I since we have to work together every night, so I hope you don’t let him know I told you this stuff, but I couldn’t lie to you. I also wanted to let you know that I’m in the hospital right now and won’t be in to work for a few days. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about work for a week or so. Just call me when you get out of the hospital and give me an update on your condition. Also, don’t worry about anything concerning Tim. I’ll get it all sorted out. Talk to you soon, Harlow.”
I put the phone down and need to take her at her word. I push it from my thoughts and focus on my health. I need to get better so I can get back to work and keep paying off my dad’s loan. Hopefully, I can return to my life soon.
Chapter 30
Blake
Harlow is getting released from the hospital after three days, and she’s more than ready. She’s polite to the nurses and doctors that come in to check on her, but I can tell she’s been antsy and itching to get out of here.
“Is there anything else I can do for you before you go, Miss Wilholten?” the nurse asks.
“Nope, I’m just ready to head home, but thank you, Susie. I appreciate it,” Harlow tells her, smiling while she backs away from the wheelchair. I chuckle and help her into the truck, ready to get my girl home.
She’s silent on the drive home because her throat is still pretty raw from her cough, but her silence doesn’t stop me from reaching over and grabbing her hand.
We pull into the driveway, and Harlow finally speaks, her voice sounding small and scratchy. “Where’s Alex?”
“She’s at school for another couple of hours. I have to run out for a bit after we get you up in bed, and then I’ll pick her up on my way home.”
“What do you have to do?” she whispers.
Shit, I don’t want to bring her into this situation. Today is Heaven’s doctor appointment where we find out if she’s really pregnant. I want to keep Harlow out of this as much as I possibly can because she’s dealing with enough as it is. Adding extra stress to her shoulders when she’s panicked about missing work at the diner and the vet and the payment that she doesn’t have this week won’t help to get her back to one hundred percent.
“Uh, it’s just something for work. I have some paperwork down at the gym that can’t wait until tomorrow.”
I’m an asshole. I’m a shit for lying to her, and I promise myself after everything with Heaven is over I’ll never lie to her again; but it’s better if she just focuses on getting well.