Tall, Dark & Lonely

“Are you sure?” He nodded. He exhaled, slowly releasing the tainted air. His body slowly relaxed.

“Ephraim, what are you doing here? I thought you went back to work.” He opened his eyes. He couldn’t not look at her. It was as simple as that.

He cupped her cheek. “I’m fine. It didn’t hurt. Now I feel better.” He nodded and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

It was starting to become a little uncomfortable not breathing, but he was fine. He didn’t need to breathe. It was just a habit. The longer he held it though the more uncomfortable he would become.

Madison looked at her grandmother and mother. “Oh, I’m sorry everyone rushed down here. I didn’t mean to make anyone worry.”

“Just tell me you’re not pregnant and I’ll be very happy,” Candy whispered.

“I’m not pregnant, Candy. I slipped in the bathroom the other day and let's just say I didn’t land well. There’s internal swelling.”

Both women cringed. “Enough said,” Mrs. Buckman said. “What’s this about you not having health insurance?”

Madison’s cheeks flushed scarlet. “I have to be there for a full year before I’m eligible for that benefit.”

“Oh, what about sick days and vacation?”

She looked away from Ephraim. She missed the last three days and thanks to the doctors note in her pocket she would miss another two, but her job was protected. That was one small favor.

“No, no sick days or vacation days for a year.”

“Honey, you can’t afford to miss work. You’re still paying off your student loans, not to mention car insurance and your other bills. Do you still have your savings? Please tell me you have your savings. I know you didn’t spend it all on that Jeep of yours.”

“Grandma, can we talk about this later?” Her eyes darted to Ephraim. He looked oddly composed. Was he breathing?

“No, do you have savings to cover this?” She gestured to the bill in Madison’s hands.

“No, I put it towards my student loan, but it’s okay, Grandma, they have a payment plan here and it’s really not that much. Don’t worry about it.”

Mrs. Buckman’s eyes narrowed on her. Her mouth twitched as she considered her granddaughter. She wasn’t satisfied with what she saw there so she snatched the bill from Madison’s hands.

“Nineteen hundred dollars for a doctor’s visit?”

Madison grabbed it back. “I had to have a sonogram to see the extent of the damage, blood tests, an x-ray, an exam and then a procedure. It adds up quickly I guess. Don’t worry about this I’ll be fine.”

“How? You’re not going to be able to pay your bills this month. I saw the note on that bill, young lady, it said no work for two more days,” Mrs. Buckman said.

“I’ll be fine.”

“No, you won’t. Even without that bill you’re going to be tight. Oh, sweetie, I wish you had come to me sooner I would have tried to get you on my insurance.”

She quickly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “I’ll be fine. Please stop making a scene.”

Well, the women certainly did his work for him. At least Mrs. Buckman had. He knew enough. Besides his lungs were starting to cramp from not breathing for the last ten minutes. He snatched the bill from her hands.

“What are you doing?” Madison asked.

Without looking back he walked over to the cashier and handed the bill and his bank card over.

“All on this card?” she asked. He nodded. “Sign here….all set. Thank you, Mr. Williams. Have a nice day.”

He nodded.

“Oh, wait here are her prescriptions.” He nodded again, taking the papers and walked back to the woman.

He handed Mrs. Buckman the copy of the paid bill and the prescriptions. He wasn’t stupid. If he gave it to Madison she would go back in there and demand they credit the money back to him. Then she would go and buy the prescriptions and put herself further in debt or worse, she wouldn’t get the medicine because she couldn’t afford it.

“What are you doing? I can take care of myself.” Madison’s voice rose.

He arched a brow in her direction and shook his head as he pulled out his wallet. He pulled out two hundred dollars and pressed it into Mrs. Buckman’s hands.

“We’ll pick up her prescriptions on the way home. Thank you, Ephraim,” Mrs. Buckman said with obvious relief.

He nodded and gave them a small wave on his way out. He held his breath for another twenty minutes, making sure the scent of her blood hadn't lingered on his clothes. He had a bitch of a cramp when took in his first breath.

*******

“Well, I think it’s very sweet,” Grandma said.

“Sweet? He just paid for my doctor’s bill. Sweet would be flowers or candy, not a nineteen hundred bill and my prescriptions.”

“He likes you. He’s trying to help you,” Mrs. Buckman said.

She groaned. “I know…I know. I like him too it’s just that…well, it’s a lot of money. It just doesn’t feel right. I’m going to pay him back. That’s all there is to it.”

“Hey, isn’t that Ephraim?” Candy said from the backseat of Grandma’s station wagon.

“Where?”

“Over there. He just came out of the insurance office.”

“What on earth is he doing there? The police force pays for his insurance.”

A sneaking suspicion was forming in her brain. She groaned again. This was definitely getting out of hand.

Chapter 13

Chris looked over his shoulder and groaned. “Miss. Soloman, can’t you do something? She’s really bringing me down.”

Madison looked past Chris. Jill was still sobbing loudly into the crook of her arm. Frowning, she turned her attention back to Chris. “You’re in detention. It’s not supposed to be fun.”

“It’s usually more fun than this,” he muttered.

Jill continued to cry as if they weren’t talking about her. She had to admit it normally was more fun and today of all days she didn’t need this.

The big two-four and everyone forgot. There was no birthday breakfast, no birthday kisses, not one word, nothing. All she got this morning was frustration from not lying in Ephraim’s arms and this afternoon a sobbing fifteen year old sister and her repeat offender.

“Maybe this will finally be punishment enough for you to stop acting up,” Madison said.

“What it’s making me think about is punching that puke face Seth in his face. It’s all his fault.” He ran a hand over his short brown hair to smooth it down.

“Don’t say his name!” Jill wailed from the comfort of her arm.

“Touchy,” Chris mumbled. He made a big show of looking around the otherwise empty room. “Come on, Miss. Soloman, let us go home. It’s obvious that Jill needs to go home and cry and you need to go apologize to Detective Williams.”

Her eyes shot up from the paper she was grading. “What are you talking about?”

He laughed. “Oh puhlease, I saw you guys yesterday at the pancake social.”

“You were at a church social?” she asked in disbelief.

He waved it off. “Free unlimited pancakes, Miss. Soloman, focus. You wouldn’t give the man the time of day. I saw the way he watched you and the way you treated him every time he tried to talk to you. I also saw the way you reacted every time one of those pretty little things came up batting their eyes in his direction. You were seeing red each and every time.”