Out of Time: The Family That Lost Me novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Paid in Full

Mal writes herself a ninety-day rule, turns down Abram's payroll advance, and calls the hospital to pay her father's deposit, only to learn it was paid in March and refunded to her mother last Thursday.

"Let him die," my mother had said, smiling, in front of a hamster.

Abram took her by the elbow, very politely, and walked her out the front door.

She went without a fight.

She had gotten what she came for.

The waiting room stayed silent.

The receptionist handed me a tissue I did not need.

I went into the break room and shut the door.

My hands would not stay still, so I got out my phone and did the math.

Checking account: $3,114.

Credit card I had never used: limit $9,000.

Deposit due on the 7th: $8,200.

I stared at the numbers until a text came in.

It was from Dad.

"I'm sorry about last night. Your mother has my phone. I'm using Colt's. Don't tell her."

I read it three times.

Then I typed: "Dad, did you know about the surgery deposit?"

The dots appeared, vanished, and appeared again.

"She said it was handled," he wrote.

Then: "I have to go."

The break room door opened.

Abram came in and shut it behind him.

"She's gone. The beagle man says if you need a character witness, he's available."

I laughed, and it came out wrong.

He sat down across from me and waited.

"My father needs heart surgery," I said. "The 14th. They want eight thousand dollars up front."

"Okay."

"My mother says I have to pay it."

"Do you have to?"

"If I don't, he doesn't get the surgery."

He thought about that.

"I can advance you three months of pay," he said. "Tonight. No paperwork."

"No."

It came out sharp, and he did not flinch.

"I'm not offering a favor. I'm offering a payroll advance."

"I know what you're offering."

"Then why say no?"

"Because every time somebody helps me, I owe them," I said. "And I'm done owing people."

He looked at me for a long moment.

"That's a bad rule, Mal."

"It's the one I've got."

I took a yellow sticky note off the pad on the table and a pen from his pocket.

I wrote: "NINETY DAYS. NO FAMILY REQUEST GETS A YES UNTIL I'VE SLEPT ON IT."

I stuck it to the inside of my locker.

Abram read it over my shoulder.

"A rule I like better," he said.

"Dad's surgery is the one exception," I said. "He gets his surgery. I'm just not paying through her."

"How do you pay a hospital without paying through her?"

"I call them."

My mother had left a pre-surgery sheet on the front desk with the hospital's billing number printed at the bottom.

The receptionist had carried it back to me.

I dialed it on speaker, and Abram stayed where he was.

Billing answered on the third ring.

A tired woman with a nasal voice asked for the patient's name and date of birth.

I gave her Dad's.

"And you are?"

"His daughter. I want to pay the surgical deposit myself. Tonight, by card."

"One moment."

Keys clicked.

"Ma'am, I'm not showing a balance on the deposit."

I frowned at Abram.

"That's not possible. My mother says it's $8,200."

"The deposit amount is $8,200, yes."

"So where's the balance?"

"There isn't one. It says paid in full."

My heart started going very fast.

"Paid by whom?"

"Diane VanCott. In March, by check."

March.

Eight months ago.

"So it's covered," I said, and my voice shook with relief. "It's covered, thank God."

"Ma'am, I'm sorry. I should have said it first."

The keys clicked again.

"The deposit was refunded in full last Thursday, to Diane VanCott, at her request. The account is zero."

I stood up so fast the chair hit the wall.

"She asked for the money back?"

"She signed the form herself. And she told us the family would resubmit before the 7th."

Abram was on his feet.

He put one hand flat on the table.

"There's one more thing on the notes," the woman said, lower. "The patient hasn't been told. The refund form says Mrs. VanCott is the only family contact we're allowed to speak to."

"My father doesn't know the money is gone."

"I couldn't say, ma'am. I only know it's gone."

"Can you send me a copy of the refund form?"

"Only to Mrs. VanCott. I'm sorry."

"Then tell me this. If I pay the deposit today, where does a refund go?"

"Back to whoever paid it, ma'am. The original card."

"Then I'm paying it," I said. "Tonight. On my card, in my name."

"I'll note the account."

"Note that my father is not to be told it's gone until I tell him."

She was quiet for a second.

"I can't promise that," she said. "But I'll make a note."

I hung up and held the phone against my chest.

My mother had been paid back $8,200 for my father's heart.

Before I could set the phone down, it buzzed with a text from her.

"The 7th, Mallory. Don't make me say it twice."

She still thought I would pay it twice.

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