Page 27 of The Monster’s Weakness

Work always kept her busy. She enjoyed it, and it was easy, and she was rarely exhausted at the end of the day. However, today she struggled because she’d been able to slip into the pharmacy and get her prescription early.

That niggling feeling about who was paying for her medication kept eating away at her. She knew she shouldn’t really be concerned. Someone or some company was paying for her medication, and it was a welcome relief, seeing as even her own family had wanted her out of their lives so they didn’t have to pay anymore.

For the first time since her diagnosis, her life was actually on track. She had been able to save a little money, which never happened. All of her medical bills were completely paid for. She had an attentive boyfriend. Life was good. She should trust it.

Only, she knew life was never like this. Life never went this smoothly without a catch. She pulled out her cell phone, and she couldn’t help but scroll through the list of contacts, and right there was the Pembroke HR department number. She had to call it so many times when she was there for follow-ups.

The company had laid off a lot of people, herself included, but she had heard that Pembroke’s wife came out on top after the sale. Everything went to his wife.

Gemma thought about that day. She had witnessed the man responsible for killing her boss. She had a gun and had planned to threaten him to give her back the health insurance she would need to keep her medication. At the time, she didn’t know what the hell she was going to do, but she had been desperate. That masked man didn’t hurt her. He hadn’t come hunting for her. In some odd twist of fate, her life had turned around.

Clicking on the number, she put her cell phone to her ear. She expected to be told it was a disconnected number, but it actually connected to a woman she recognized as Jill Jones, who was the manager of the department she worked in at Pembroke. The woman was in her late fifties, with what felt like six hundred grandchildren and more were constantly being born. Jill had liked her because Gemma didn’t mind listening to the many tales, and also looking at all the photos Jill had taken of the grandkids. There had been so many, she hadn’t been able to remember them all, but every time she saw her, she would ask about the kids.

“Hi, Jill, it’s Gemma Miller. I used to work at Pembroke?” she asked it as kind of a question as she didn’t want to assume the other woman would remember her.

“Gemma, honey, how are you doing? I was just thinking about you the other day. Do you remember Scotty, well, he is just the cutest little boy, and we think he is going to be a world soccer player as he scored the most amazing goal. I mean, it was in an open net, but that has to account for something, seeing as the boy is only three.”

“That sounds amazing.”

Jill gasped. “I totally forgot, you lost your job here, didn’t you? In the first wave of cuts?”

“First wave?”

“We are down to skeleton staff right now. I tell you, it’s not going well, and just between us, you and I, I already have a brand-new job lined up, and I’ll be handing in my resignation. I haven’t been fired in all my fifty years, and I’m not about to let that happen. Anyway, what can I do for you, honey?” Jill asked.

“It’s just a little thing. You know how Pembroke used to handle medical bills and offered free prescriptions?”

“Yes, I do.” Jill tutted. “I remember when I got the email to have it removed from the system as the company was not going to be wasting any more money.” Another tut and a huff. “I absolutely hated doing that to you, honey. I waited as long as possible, so that you could get the most out of what was left.”

Gemma didn’t know that. “Uh, do you know if they’re still ... paying for my prescriptions?”

“They’re not, I’m afraid. Haven’t been for months. I know as I had to stop it. I tried to even look into allowing you to get a raise, but that wasn’t going to happen either. This place was amazing once upon a time, and now it’s completely gone to the dogs. I don’t know where the money has gone.”

“So, there’s no way.”

“Sweetheart, you’re not even on the system anymore. Honestly, I’ve been told to wipe all employee records as they’re fired. Look, now that I think about this, I’m going to hand my resignation in, because no one fires me. We should really meet for coffee.”

Gemma didn’t get a chance to respond as Jill terminated the call and frowned as she looked at her cell phone.

Who was paying for her medications? It made no sense, and there didn’t seem to be a clear answer. She honestly didn’t know what to do. If she made waves, they might completely remove her from insurance. With her job now, she still wouldn’t be able to afford her medication or her medical bills. MS meds were notoriously high priced. Gemma put her cell phone away and figured however it had come to be, she needed to accept it.

****

Caleb held Gemma in his arms as they got to her apartment.

“What is all this?” Gemma asked, but he heard the smile in her voice. He’d gone to a lot of trouble tonight as he wanted this to be special for her.

So far, everything was going fine at work. He hadn’t accepted any more contracts, and all was quiet. He didn’t like the hit out on Bastian, but his friend had told him not to worry about it. He promised to keep an eye on things, as he was not going to allow his friend to die.

Everything seemed to be running smoothly. Usually, this meant trouble was brewing, but seeing as he also had a new passion now in the form of Gemma Miller, he was not going to rock the boat. When it was this quiet, he liked to make noise, because that way he could handle whatever shit was coming his way.

Opening her apartment door, he quickly covered Gemma’s eyes and walked her into the main apartment. “No peeking,” he said.

“What is all of this about?”

He’d taken her keys at lunch and worked his ass off to prepare a romantic meal. This had entailed bribing his favorite chef at the restaurant he loved to prepare the best beef Wellington he’d ever tasted. Everything was perfect.

He had already picked up the food and was keeping it warm in the oven. The chef had told him exactly what to do and what temperature to keep the food at, in order for it to be absolutely perfect.