Accidental Love (4 page)

"Mrrow?"

"-a cat?" She finished.

Maria looked down at Veronica's feet to see the orange and white feline rubbing against her. "Oh my. You brought home a cat?"

"It's not a permanent arrangement. He's only going to be here for a few days while his owner is in the hospital."

The housekeeper bent down and picked up the now purring feline. "I hate to tell you, Ronnie, but he is a she. What's her name?"

"I don't know. Call it Cat for now."

"Hi sweetie, what a pretty kitty you are," Maria cooed, holding the happy pet to her ample chest.

"Would you like some tuna?" She carried the cat over to the pantry and pulled out a can. "Hmm, doesn't that sound nice?"

"I don't think he, I mean she's ever had tuna before. I think she's only had dry food."

"Oh…well then." Maria put the can on the counter and set the cat gently on the floor. "It's not good to take her from dry right to canned. It'll be too rich for her. I can mix them together."

"I didn't bring any. I guess we'll have to get her some food."

"Well, I've already been shopping this week but if you want I'll run out now. I can start lunch when I get back." She wiped her hands on her apron and reached for the ties.

"No, that's fine. I'll go out and pick up some food for her. I guess we need a litter box too."

"You took a cat without even getting a litter box? Ronnie, what am I going to do with you?"

"Well, her box was dirty and I wasn't about to touch it." Veronica protested. "Look, just make me a cup of coffee while I go take a shower and change. I'll run out and pick up the things the cat will need."

"I'll make you a list. Knowing you, you'll get the box and forget the litter."

"Funny," came the sarcastic reply, although in fact she didn't think about getting stuff to put in the litter box. "I'll be back down in a little bit. Try and keep fuzzball off the couch and away from the antiques, okay?"

*********

The mall was busy for a Wednesday afternoon and Veronica ended up parking at the far end of a row. A quick press of the button on her keychain and the bright blue Jeep Cherokee's doors locked and a warning light on the dash indicated that the alarm system was armed.

It took her fifteen minutes to navigate her way around the mall until she found the pet store. Once inside, she walked down the isles until she found the cat supplies. Racks and shelves of everything from fake mice and scratching posts to catnip and collars vied for her wallet. Veronica hated shopping and when the teenage clerk offered to help her pick out things for her new pet, the raven haired woman readily agreed. The result was seventy-five dollars worth of litter, toys, food, catnip, and various other items that the young girl insisted were necessary for a happy and healthy cat.

After finishing her shopping, Veronica went to the hospital to check on Rose. She wasn't at all prepared for what she saw. The sheet covering the young woman's legs outlined the full length casts. A nasty looking row of stitches surrounded by an equally nasty looking bruise covered one cheek and dried tear streaks prominently showed on her face. An IV with several bags hung from one side, giving the injured woman the fluids and pain medications she needed. A catheter disappeared under the blanket. Veronica's heart ached for the pain that Rose was in as well as the pain that she would go through as she recovered, knowing deep inside that her recklessness behind the wheel was the only reason the young woman was here. As if sensing her presence, the reddish-blonde head turned and green eyes focused on her. "Hello." she said politely, her voice a bit raspy.

"Hello Rose. How are you feeling?"

"Lucky to be alive I guess," she croaked, her eyes trailing over toward the water pitcher. Veronica immediately walked over and poured some into the yellow plastic cup.

"Here." She handed the cup over but then quickly reclaimed her grip on it when she saw the young woman's hand shake. "Let me help." Together they got half the cup down Rose's throat before Veronica returned it to the small stand. "Do you remember anything about the accident?"

"No, not really. I was running…some men were chasing me…I got out of the park and ran out into the street…that's all I remember before waking up here."

"You don't remember anything about the car that hit you?" Veronica prodded. "The color, the type of car, the driver, anything?"

"No, nothing. I'm sorry. Are you with the police?"

"No." Inwardly Veronica breathed a sigh of relief. Rose couldn't remember what happened. With a little luck she might just be able to pull this off.

"Oh, then I suppose you're here to talk to me about the bill?" Rose asked, deciding that the beautiful, well dressed woman had to be a hospital administrator, despite wearing a jacket. Perhaps she had just on duty, Rose reasoned.

"Actually, I do need to talk to you about that but-"

"I have no money," she interrupted. "I don't have kids, I don't qualify for any programs." She gave a defeated sigh. "I'll give you whatever I can each week but I'm afraid it won't be more than five dollars or so." She resigned herself to giving up her bus fare to help pay for the impossible bill.

"You don't need to do that," Veronica said, amazed that someone with obviously little or no money was so quick to take financial responsibility for the hospital bill. "Perhaps you'd better let me explain." Rose nodded. "My name is Veronica Cartwright. I own Cartwright Corporation. I um…I found you after the accident and brought you here. When I realized that you didn't have insurance, I told them that you worked for me. Cartwright has an excellent benefits package including medical coverage. You won't have to pay a cent for your care, I promise."

"You? But they told me that my boss…" Realization set in. "You told them you were my boss?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Rose seemed to ponder the information. "So instead of owing the hospital, I'll owe you?"

"No no no. By the end of the day your name will be added to the insurance rolls. I'll have it backdated to before the accident and you'll be covered."

"But isn't that fraud?"

"Only if you didn't work for me." Damn, why did she have to be so difficult? Couldn't she just accept that the bill would be covered? Veronica couldn't understand why someone who had nothing was questioning a good thing when it was being offered to her. Maybe she miscalculated just how poor the young woman was. She needed more information. "Tell me, where do you work now?"

"I…" Rose looked down, clearly embarrassed. "I work part-time as a cashier at Money Slasher. I should say I worked part-time. I'm sure they won't hold the job for me until I can walk again."

"Do you have any skills? I mean, can you type or take dictation or anything like that?" The crestfallen look on the young woman's face answered the question. "Well then, I guess you're a clerk. It's an entry level job but it's better than bagging groceries."

"But I can't work." She looked down at the casts covering her legs. "I can't even walk."

"The job will be there when you're ready. Until then, you just concentrate on recovering." It was so simple, why was she making it difficult? Veronica didn't plan on this.

"Mrs. Cartwright?"

"It's Miss, but please call me Veronica."

"Why are you doing this? I mean, you don't know me." After a lifetime of being handed the short end of the stick, an act of such great generosity was too much for her to believe. There had to be something more to it. Everything had a price attached.

The raven haired woman thought quickly, running through the stories she had made up in her mind on the way over, discarding all of them as being lame. "I guess I just wanted to help. I saw you lying there on the street and I reacted. The only way to keep you here at the Med Center was to tell them you had insurance and the only way to give you insurance was to make you an employee. I run a large corporation that operates several smaller ones. Adding you to the rolls isn't a big deal. I'm sorry, I don't have a better explanation." The only other explanation would involve the truth and Veronica couldn't afford that. "Don't worry about why I'm helping. Just let me. Now, is there someone I should contact to let them know you're in the hospital?"

"Um…I guess Kim should know so she can hire someone else for my slot." Rose said quietly, mourning the loss of the job she had worked so hard to get. It was too much for her to believe that she was being offered a job with a company as large as Cartwright Corp. "She's the night manager at Money Slasher on Central. I have to turn in my smock in order to get my last paycheck."

"Would that be the grey thing you were wearing under your jacket?" Rose nodded. "I'm afraid the doctor in the emergency room cut that to pieces when they were treating you."

"Oh." Another crestfallen look. "They charge eight dollars for ruined smocks."

"Don't worry about it," Veronica said, not fully understanding how important the small sum of money was to the young woman. To Rose, that was her weekly allotment for groceries, almost half of which went to cat food. Through her drug filled haze, a thought came to her.

"Tabitha!" She exclaimed. "Oh my god, someone has to take care of Tabitha."

"Would that be your cat?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I found your key in your wallet and went to your apartment hoping to find a name or number of someone to contact for you."

"Did you feed her?" Her concern that someone was in her run down apartment was overshadowed by her worry over the one thing that brought some kind of joy to her life.

"Yes I did," Veronica replied as Rose turned away, letting a long silence form between them. A lone tear made its way down the young woman's cheek. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you in pain?

Do you need me to call the nurse?" Veronica's hand was already reaching for the call button.

"No," the young woman sniffed, wiping away the errant tear. "It's just that…" She sniffled again,

"…if I'm not there to take care of Tabitha, they're going to take her away."

"No no no. No one's going to take Tabitha away from you. I promise. In fact, she's at my house right now. She can stay with me until you're all settled." Veronica's heart lurched with the thought of how easily she had destroyed Rose's life. In one move she had cost the young woman her job, her home, and far more pain than anyone deserved to have. Now she was sitting there, lying to her in order to protect herself. "I swear no one will take Tabitha away."

"I…I can write you a check for her food. She doesn't eat much. She's very friendly." The words rolled out of Rose's mouth and there was no way that the older woman could miss the desperation in her voice.

"Don't worry about it. Please, I want you to concentrate on getting better. Tabitha will be fine with me. I live alone, I'm sure I'll enjoy the company."

The dark haired woman was about to say something else when a firm knock on the door caused them to turn. Veronica's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the blue uniform and shiny badge.

"Excuse me ladies. I'm here to take a report on the hit and run last night?" He stepped in and pulled a small notebook out of his shirt pocket. "You're Rose Grayson, right?" He continued on without waiting for an answer. "Now I understand this happened on Madison Ave. around midnight?"

"I think it was more like twelve thirty," Rose said.

"Yes, twelve thirty," he repeated. "Now is there anything you can tell me, like the make and model of the car that hit you, the license number, the color?"

"No, I never saw it." She turned her head toward Veronica. "Do you remember?"

"You were there too?" The officer queried. No one had told him there were any witnesses.

"I um…I must have come upon her just after the accident. I didn't see anyone."

"That sure was a hell of a storm last night. What were you doing out so late, Miss…?"

"Cartwright, Veronica Cartwright. I had a business dinner with Commissioner Grace at Sam's and was heading home."

"Cartwright, as in the car wash Cartwrights?"

"Yes, among other holdings," she replied, annoyed that after all her hard work the most well known part of her company was the cousin's stupid car washes.

"Well then…" He turned his attention back to the victim lying in bed. "I guess you're pretty lucky to have had her come up on you. Looks like they hit you pretty good. Probably a drunk driver. Hard to believe the bastard didn't have the guts to stick around and make sure you got help but I guess all that matters is that you're alive."

"Yes, I was very lucky that Miss Cartwright came along when she did. Who knows how long I was lying there."

"Well, if I could just get your address and phone number for the report, we'll be all set. I have to tell you that there isn't much to go on so don't get your hopes up. Unless this guy is stupid enough to be driving around with a lot of front end damage and admits to being on Madison last night, there's not really much we can do."

"I understand," Rose said quietly. She didn't expect them to find the man that hit her. "I don't have a phone but my address is 98 Morris Street." Veronica's emotions alternated between relief at having such a disinterested cop investigating the accident and guilt at the fact that she was lying to protect her own skin at the expense of Rose's peace of mind.

"Well, I guess if there's anything I missed, we can find you here. From the looks of your legs I don't think you'll be going anywhere for a while." Veronica bristled at the comment but Rose appeared unaffected.

"Thank you," the young woman said. The cop turned toward the door and noticed a friend of his walking down the hall.

"Hey John, wait up. Ladies, thank you. I'm sure I have all I need right now." He was gone before either could respond.

"They're not going to find him, you know," Rose said quietly. "I know life isn't like television. They don't even know what kind of car to look for." She shifted slightly, grimacing at the pain that was now her constant companion. "Doesn't matter anyway," she sighed. "The damage is done. Even if they did find him it wouldn't make my legs heal any faster."

Veronica didn't know what to say and was grateful when the television vendor walked in. "Good afternoon Miss…" She looked down at her clipboard. "Grayson. Would you like your TV turned on?"