He pulled up at the apartments and walked into Sherry's office. It was nice to have one of her good cups of coffee. He was sure there was going to be a stack of bills in the mailbox, and he was right.
"How is she?" Sherry had been waiting to see Matthew so she could ask. The hospital wouldn't give her information and she didn't want to call and bother him. He had enough to deal with.
"Chloe's going to pull through. They're taking her off the ventilator this afternoon, but she has months of healing in front of her."
"Give my love to her, Matthew. Listen, if you can't make the full rent this month, just give what you can, okay?"
Matthew smiled and kissed her cheek. It wasn't exactly what he wanted to resort to doing, but if he had to, he would.
When he opened the door to his apartment, he was shocked. A big smoke cloud didn't come and hit him in the face.
"Howdy, Matthew, how's Chloe doing?"
"She's getting better. Pops, you're not smoking?"
"Down to four cigarettes a day. I'm feeling a lot better already. You and John have more than done your parts to take care of me, and it's about time I did my part to take care of myself."
Matthew walked over and hugged his father. "I'm proud of you."
"Are you hungry? There's leftover pizza in the freezer you can heat up, and Becky bought a lot of groceries and—"
"What??" Matthew walked to the kitchen to take some calming breaths.
"Oh no you don't! We need the help, son, and you know we do. Things are bad for us right now and it's not like we asked people to dig in their pockets. If anyone should be ashamed, it's me. I'm the one who got us into this mess in the first place."
Matthew paused before speaking. "It's okay, you're right; we need some help right now, and I don't have enough money to pay the bills this month. I've been at the hospital and haven't been working. Someday I'll find a way to repay everyone. Being too full of myself is what caused me and Chloe to break up and her to nearly die." He watched the shame start to grow across his father's face. "I love you. You took care of me my whole life. It's my turn now."
"Look…" Conner slid the check and gift cards over to Matthew. "You don't have to kill yourself trying to come up with money, and you can spend time with Chloe. She needs you there."
"This is too much, Dad, I can't accept this from her."
"She's family. She's just as sweet as Chloe. I tried to reject her offer too, but she wasn't having any part of it. Do you know that Becky didn't hesitate for one second when she wrote out the check, never even asked how much we needed."
"Yeah, the mold was broken when those two women were created. I don't know what I would have done if Becky hadn't been there with me. She's like the sister I never had."
Matthew sat the check back down on the table. "Ask John to stick this in the bank tomorrow. That way your oxygen will keep coming."
"My oxygen was paid for. Chloe not only paid off my medical debt, but a hundred grand was reserved for future medical expenses." Conner watched his son's face redden, and before he could say anything to calm him, he turned and left the room. I wish he'd just talk to me.
He stood in the hot shower letting the water run down his neck and back. Guilt gnawed at him even more. He'd have to find a way to pay her back every dime. Pay her back… How the hell am I supposed to do that? I have nothing to give to anyone. All I had to give Chloe was my love. That was enough for her, but I turned around and stole it back.
Matthew wrapped a towel around his waist and shaved, then walked in his room to get dressed. He smiled at the vision of Becky in his large clothes. The two richest women I've ever met have become the best women I've ever met. Matthew reached up on the top of his closet and took out a small box he'd had since he was little kid. Inside was three hundred and twenty-six dollars in a mix of crinkled up bills. He'd added a dollar here and there over the past six months in case there was an emergency. The last time he saved a few dollars up, it came in handy when he had to replace the starter on his pickup. He closed the lid and placed the box back on the top shelf, grabbed his wallet and keys, and went back out to the kitchen.
"I need to ask you something, Pops, before I head out the door." Matthew pulled up a chair next to Conner. It would be a conversation he never anticipated ever having.
Chapter 12
The doctor had taken Chloe off the ventilator after surgery and allowed her to come back out of anesthesia like a regular surgical patient. She was still very groggy when they brought her back to her room. Her eyes were swollen again, and a cast was on her nose. Becky and Matthew sat at her bedside, unsure of what to do.
"Has she spoken to anyone?" Matthew wanted to hold her hand but thought it best to let her rest.
"She woke up in recovery and spoke to the nurse there. They said she can't open her mouth very wide because of the jaw fracture, so speaking isn't going to be easy. She remembers almost everything and could answer questions. That's a great sign."
"So she remembers what an ass I was and how I nearly got her killed."
"Matthew, Chloe loves you, and you weren't responsible for what happened."
"That was how she felt before all this, Becky. She may wake up and tell me to get the hell out of here. I wouldn't blame her if she did."
"We all had lessons to learn. You were definitely a jerk, Matthew, but I was self-centered and judgmental. I'm not proud of how I was living my life. You wouldn’t have bothered speaking to Chloe past "hello" if you knew she was wealthy, and when you found out, even though you already knew what her heart was like, you threw her away."
Matthew looked her in the eyes. "You're right. It hurts to hear you say those things about me, but you're absolutely right."
"And I wouldn't have had anything to do with you if I met you on the street. If you said hello to me, I wouldn't have acknowledged you. I'd have seen your dirty work clothes, unshaven face, calloused hands, and kept walking. I would've acted like Sylvia did, only less mean about it. But even so, I would have hurt your feelings and not understood why you were upset. Like, you should know your place in the world. There is no pecking order, Matthew. Chloe's accident made me think a lot. Spending all this time together with you, allowed me to meet one of the best guys I've ever known, including his father. Do you know I dressed down for the first time in my life, appeared in public without having my makeup and hair done, and didn't shower or change my clothes for a week? I wouldn't have been caught dead in public like that before. I know I love Chloe twenty times more than I did before, if that's even possible."