HIS STRIPPER, HIS WIFE novel Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Bianca

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The clock on the wall said 6:47 PM, I stared at it like it had personally offended me. Don’t blame me, I have been staring at documents, schedules, legal addendums, and crisis emails since 7 AM, and somehow, somehow, the day had managed to feel even longer than it actually was.

My back hurts, my eyes hurt and the small hopeful part of my brain that had woken up this morning saying you can do this had long since packed its bags and quietly left the building.

I leaned back in my chair and looked at the ceiling, “second official day. This was my second fucking day and It’s not my pleasure at all.”

As I was taught yesterday, I did a quiet, private inventory of everything that had happened. “Arghhhh!” I hit the pen hard on the legal addendum I had to reformat three times because the font kept defaulting wrong, which should have been a small thing and felt big at 4 PM on an empty stomach.

And through all of it I had just kept going, not because I was brave or particularly put together, but because I genuinely could not afford to be anything else.

Around me the floor was beginning to empty. People were logging off, reaching for bags, doing that end-of-day thing where everyone exchanged tired smiles and pretended they weren’t completely finished. Someone turned off the lights at the far end of the room.

I shut my laptop, stacked my folders into a neat pile I would deal with tomorrow and tried not to think about how many of them there were.

I heard a door close somewhere behind me and glanced over my shoulder out of pure instinct. Nobody, just the glass wall of the executive office, dark and still from the inside,

I turned back around.

“Okay,” I said under my breath, picking up my bag. “Time to go home.”

I said home but to me meant the hospital.

St. Catherine’s visiting hours ended at 8:30 PM, which meant I had less than two hours by the time I pushed through the double doors on the third floor and made my way down the corridor to room 311.

I knocked once and pushed the door open, Emma was sitting up. I felt very relieved, three days ago she had gone into surgery and now she was looking much better than she was before.

“You look terrible,” she said, trying to get the TV remote.

I dropped into the chair beside the bed. “Thank you. I just got off work.”

“Your eye circles.” She tilted her head. “They’re actual circles. Like someone sat down and drew them on.”

“I know.”

“You look like a raccoon.”

“Emma”

“A tired raccoon”

I will leave

11:53 Wed, Jul 22 TH

Chapter 14

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She smiled, and even with the attached drip on her left arm, it was the same smile it had always been. I felt the tight knot still sitting in the middle of my chest loosen just a little.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Better than yesterday.” She shifted carefully against the pillow. “They let me have real food this afternoon. Not goodfood, but real food. There’s a difference and it matters.”

“That’s progress.”

“The nurse said maybe two more days and they can talk about discharge.” She looked at me then, properly the smile settling into something quieter and more careful. “Bianca. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong.”

“You have the face.”

“I don’t have a face, Emma.”

“The specific face,” she said, like she was clarifying something obvious. “The one you make when something is wrong and you’ve made a decision that I’m not allowed to know about it.”

I looked at my hands in my lap. “It’s just work,” I said. “Today was a lot.”

She studied me then she settled back. “Okay,” she said. “If you say so.”

She absolutely did not believe me but I was grateful for the temporary mercy, because I wouldn’t want to tell her the reason I kept quiet was because I haven’t paid the balance and she wouldn’t be discharged without that.

We sat quietly for a moment. The TV murmured low in the background. “How did you pay the deposit?” She asked cutting

the silence.

I had been expecting that question, I had known she would ask since I walked through the door and I was still not ready for

“I handled it,” I said.

“Bianca.”

“It’s sorted. Emma, you don’t need to…”

“That is not what I asked.” Her voice was still gentle but there was something firm underneath it now, “How did you pay it? Because I know what our account looked like. I know exactly what was in there.”

I looked out the window. “A loan,” I said trying to avoid her face.

“A loan,” she repeated.

“Yes.”

“From who?”

“It’s handled.”

“Bianca From who?”

Emma, you literally just had surgery, your blood pressure is supposed to stay stable, the doctor said so, I was there when he said it, so if we could just

11:53 Wed, Jul 22 d

Chapter 14

“How are we going to pay it back?”

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There it was, the big question, I turned back from the window. She was looking at me with wide eyes, “You don’t have to worry about any of that,” I said, keeping my voice as level as I could manage.

“Paying it back is my problem and my job. Your job is to sit there, heal and stop asking me”

“Bianca…”

“Emma.”

“If you borrowed money from someone that is dangerous I will discharge myself right now and begin job hunting, I am completely serious, I will get up…”

“You had abdominal surgery three days ago.:.”

“I don’t care. I will get up from this bed…”

“You will not…”

“Watch me…”

“Emma…”

She had her arms crossed, which pulled slightly at the drip line and made her wince, and I reached over quickly to check it was still sitting properly, and then we were just there, me holding her wrist.

“You don’t have to carry everything yourself,” she said quietly.

“I know.” I said.

I did not know. I had never once figured out how to do anything else. She opened her mouth and from the look on her face it was going to be something that made me feel guilty and loved at the exact same time.

The nurse came in, carrying a small tray. I recognized the items on it immediately because I had read Emma’s care plan three times. Those were supplements listed under restricted, pending full payment clearance.

Something moved in my stomach, Emma noticed too. She frowned at the tray.

The nurse set it down on the bedside table, made a quick note on her clipboard, and looked up at me. “You’re Miss Emma’s sister?”

“Yes,” I said carefully.

“I just wanted to let you know that the remaining balance on the account has been cleared.” She said it smiling.

“The full outstanding amount has been covered this evening, so everything restricted on the care plan is now available.” She nodded once at the tray, gave Emma a brief professional smile, and moved toward the door. “Let us know if you need anything.”

The door swung shut and I stared at the door. My brain was moving very fast and arriving at absolutely nothing. The remaining balance. Cleared? That was definitely not me because I had been losing sleep over that exact number for three days straight.

“Bianca, Emma said slowly.

I turned to look at her. “What just happened?” she asked.

I opened my mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “I have no idea,” I said.

11:53 Wed, Jul 22 T