Page 136 of Breaking Point
With short, clipped steps, Bella hurries down the oncology hall, making a sharp right turn before stepping through her mother’s hospital room. Trailing behind her, I’m soon greeted by a sight that utterly devastates me.
It also makes me suddenly understand why Bella assumed I would look at her with pity.
Mrs. Stratford is extremely ill, so ill I want to track down her oncologist and figure out what the fuck he’s doing to heal this woman.
She sits propped up in her hospital bed, her skin a gray, waxy sheen. Her eyes are sunken, her body is fragile and thin, and she’s lost all her hair. By the deep unending sadness in her eyes, I swear I’m watching the fight to live drain from her body.
Bella is exhausted emotionally and mentally, but Trisha is exhausted trying to fight her body's attack against itself.
Cancer is a horrible thing.
One that tears people from this world in such devastating, agonized ways.
Who would have thought our bodies would kill themselves from the inside out?
Trisha tries to sit up higher, her arms shaking as her brown eyes—so similar to Bella’s—clock my presence.
Bella walks closer, taking a seat on her bed. “Mom, this is Grayson Crawford…my boss.” It looks like Bella finally feels how odd that term is between us.
Moving through the room, I hold out my hand, gently clasping her frail one as I give her a heartfelt smile. “It’s nice to meet you. Bella has told me so much about you.”
Trisha smiles as she scoffs slightly. “I highly doubt she has, but I appreciate the kindness.”
Heat singes my cheeks. “Well, at least we can agree on how stubborn your daughter is.”
Trisha’s smile widens. “That we can, Mr. Crawford.”
“Please, call me Grayson.”
Those brown eyes track over my body—searching. “Thank you again for the odd arrangement. It has gotten us out of a…predicament.”
My head cocks to the side. “Bella still hasn’t told me why she suddenly changed her mind.”
Trisha’s attention slides to Bella, her eyes narrowing. She quirks a brow as she says to me, “Bella has gotten very good at keeping secrets as of late. The new treatment plan I’m on is a drug they’ve just introduced to the market?—”
“And your insurance isn’t covering it,” I cut in, finally understanding where this is going.
Her smile is tight. “Yes, and well…my health, as I’m guessing you have noticed, is not the best.”
“That’s an understatement,” Bella mumbles under her breath before turning to me. “This new drug is her last stop before the gates above.”
“Bella!” Trisha scolds.
Bella simply waves her hand in my direction. “What? No point sugarcoating it. He knows everything now.”
As Trisha’s eyes pinch, I jump in, drawing her focus. “I’m terribly sorry your daughter had to enter into an agreement to pay for everything, but I am endlessly grateful to her. She’s hopefully saving something that is very near and dear to my heart.”
Trisha hums under her breath.
Quickly changing the subject, I go on to explain why I’mhere, and all the while, Bella bites her bottom lip, her hands wringing nervously in her lap. “Is that okay, Mom? If not I can discharge myself?—”
She waves her daughter off. “Nonsense, I’m sure Grayson is more than capable of driving me home. I want you to stay and rest.” She turns her head. “Besides, it gives me a chance to get to know your…boss.”
“Mom,” Bella whisper-hisses, trying to convey something silently, but her mom ignores her.
My stomach bottoms out as Trisha gets a gleam in her eye that tells me I should be afraid of the questions she’s no doubt going to hurl my way.
Hours later, after Trisha forced Bella back to her hospital room, giving her daughter a stern scolding to rest and recover, she is nestled in bed, her blankets covering her frail body.
