Color Blind (BWWM Interracial Billionaire Single Mom Steamy Romance Novel) (19 page)

“
Just answer any questions he has and see if she needs to be
seen,
” I said as I filled her in on Nevaeh’s most recent doses of medication and her latest symptoms.
 

“
Will do. I’ll keep the little monster entertained, and I’ll call you once I hear from the doctor.”

“
Thanks,” I said, slipping on my tan winter boots before heading to work.
 

Anxiously waiting while I served and bussed tables, I wondered how Nevaeh was doing and when the doctor would finally call back. Every chance I got, I pulled my cell phone out of my waitress apron to see if there were any missed calls. By the time my lunch break rolled around, I had
called
to check on Nevaeh and see if the doctor had called.
 

“
How’s she doing?” I asked Lorraine.
 

“
She’s been complaining a lot
about
how much pain she’s in and how stiff she is. I feel
sorry
that I can’t give her more medicine.”
 

“
I know,” I agreed. “Has the doctor called back yet?”
 

“
Nope, not yet. How’s work been?”

“
Busy! But I’m glad. With Christmas right around the corner, I need to finish up my shopping for Nevaeh. I was
actually
hoping to get her at least one of her
significant
items on her wish list.”
 

“
I’m sure you will.”

“
Listen, I have to get back out there. We’ve been so busy that I think every Christmas shopper from here to Cape
is
coming in for lunch today. I’ll talk to you later.”
 

That was the last time I would get to call Lorraine for the day. The lunch rush was overwhelming as guests waited in the front lobby to be seated at the next available table. I was relieved when I had a missed call on my phone from Lorraine. I checked to see if she had
messaged me since I was unable to talk, and she had. Anxious to see what she had to say, I snuck into the bathroom to read the message.
 

“
The doctor said that he will need to see her. He scheduled her an appointment for December 23
rd
and 11 AM. I hope that’s okay.”
 

Crap,
that’s right in the middle of my work shift!
I have to take her to that appointment. Kevin’s going to see red if I miss more work. Maybe I’ll see if Rachel will trade with me again so I don’t accrue any more points. I’ll have to ask her tomorrow.
 

On my way home, I called Lorraine to get the scoop on exactly what the doctor said.
 

“
He said that he definitely wants to see her, especially when he learned how severe her pain, swelling, and stiffness was.”

“
I figured he would,” I sighed.
 

“
There’s more. He said that he wants to do more testing.”

“
What kind of
testing
?” I interrupted her.
 

“
Another MRI and more X-rays, as well as labs.”

“
Good God, I can’t keep affording this. If they want a damn co-pay every time, there’s no way I can swing that.”

“
Well, how are you on her other bills? It might not be so bad if you budget it in.” Lorraine suggested.
 

“
Right. Let’s see. How am I on her other bills? Um, well, I owe the hospital around nineteen hundred dollars for her last MRI and set of X-rays and I still owe the lab for her original set of blood tests from when her pediatrician saw her. There’s also the two specialist visits that I owe for. That was only four hundred and fifty bucks, but thanks to my nifty insurance, I only have to pay three hundred.”

Lorraine could hear the frustration in Kimberly’s voice. She wished her and her husband could help her financially, but they couldn’t since Lorraine had bills of her own.
 

“
I’m sorry Kimberly,” I wish there was more that I could do.
 

Tears began welling up in my eyes, “You already do so much for me! You babysit for free, you come to my house at the drop of a dime anytime I ask you to and you help me out in so many ways. Don’t ever think that you should or could do more. I don’t know where we’d be without you.”
 

“
I know, but I love you guys so much. We’ve been like sisters since the day we became friends. Do you remember that? Back in middle school when I was the new kid and you saved me from that fat pimply dork on the bus who always tried to hit on me?” Lorraine said.
 

We both had a good laugh. “I remember. You told me to sit with you,” I said.
 

“
Yeah, I
told you
that you could come sit with me. I’ll never forget. Every day after school, he’d pat his seat and
say
that you could come sit with him. You rolled your eyes every time,” Lorraine laughed.
 

“
Yep, I sure did. You saved me big time,” I agreed.
 

“
You came and sat with me that day when I asked you
to,
” Lorraine said.
 

“
I know! I remembered that you were the cool kid, and you were asking
me
to come sit with
you
. I was so shocked.” I said.
 

“
But he tried to hit on all the girls. He was such a dork. Nobody ever wanted to sit with him. And ever since that day, we’d go riding bikes together or walk to 7-11 for a snack or go roller skating,” she said, reminiscing down memory lane. “What happened to those days? What happened to us being young and carefree? When did life get so complicated?”

“
I don’t know. Somewhere along the lines of when I had a kid.” I said.
 

“
Yeah, I’d say that’s about right.”

“
No shit. I’m almost home so I’ll be there in a few minutes,” I told her.
 

After Nevaeh was neatly tucked into bed and fast asleep, I called Dale to fill him in on what was going on. During our conversation, he—once again—offered to help pay for Nevaeh’s medical bills.
 

“
Dale, I can’t take your money.  You understand that right?” I said, too proud to take his money.
 

“
I know, I know. You’ve given me the speech before. Let me see, how does it go? Something like you’ve always worked for everything you’ve ever had and you’re not about to take handouts? Is that how it goes?” he half-heartedly teased me.
 

“
Right, that’s exactly how it goes. Dale, you’ve got to realize something. I’m very proud of everything I’ve accomplished. I’m a hard-working mom who does things on her own. I’ve never relied on someone before so I don’t want to do it now. My mom always taught me that if you want things in life, you’ll work for them.”
 

After hanging up with him, I began to think that maybe I should take him up on his offer. I really could use the help, and it’s not like he couldn’t afford it. He’s a billionaire! But still, it wouldn’t be right to take his money. I’d hate to feel indebted to him. What if we didn’t work out? Would he expect me to pay him back?
With my credit card maxed and single digits in my bank account, I counted the meager amount of cash from today’s shift, knowing it wasn’t nearly enough to cover the large stack of bills on my kitchen table.
Geez, when will things get better?  
 

Chapter Ten

“
Rachel, I was wondering if you could trade shifts with me next week. Nevaeh’s symptoms have flared up again and I have to take her to see the specialist two days before Christmas, but I can’t miss any more work.”
 

“
I’ll have to check, but if I can, I will.”

This is going to drive me crazy
. I can’t keep asking everyone to trade with me, come to my house and bend over
backward
. Things have to get better, right? Oh, please, Nevaeh get better.
 

The next morning when I returned to work, Rachel agreed to switch shifts with me on the twenty-third. Nevaeh’s condition hadn’t improved a bit, despite the NSAIDS and methotrexate. I hopelessly scanned information on the internet to see what the next steps were. Dr. Herber said that these medications were only the beginning and had hoped to keep her symptoms at bay for quite a while. Overwhelmed by the wealth of information provided by my searches, I developed a pounding headache.
 

On the eve
of
the appointment, Dale offered to go with us.
 

“
No, you have to work,” I reasoned with him.
 

“
I own my company, I can take off whenever I want,” he explained.

“
It’s just that I don’t want our problem to become your problem. Know what I’m saying?”

“
Kimberly, don’t ever think like that. You and Nevaeh are my world. I want to be there for you guys. I’m coming whether you like it or not, and that’s final.”
 

I sighed. “Okay, if you want to. Do you want to come pick us up or meet us there?”
 

“
I’ll come pick you up. If she missed most of school last week, I think it would be hard trying to lift her into and out of your car. I’ll bring my SUV and carry her myself.”

“
Thanks,” I said relieved that he was going to do that for us.
 

The next morning, Dale showed up right on time and helped get Nevaeh ready before carrying her to the vehicle. Along the way to the doctor
appointment, he tried to make small talk
to ease
my mind.
 

“
It
's a shame
Nevaeh doesn’t feel well. I would’ve suggested we hit the mall and do a little Christmas shopping,” he smiled in the rear view mirror at the
small
girl before glancing over to her mom.
 

“
Yeah, that would’ve been nice,” I agreed. All I could think of was how few gifts Nevaeh would get this year due to my financial situation. And Dale, I hadn’t even bought him a gift. What do you buy a billionaire who already has everything? A tree for the island he owns off the Florida coast?
 

This was the first year in a long time that I was dreading the holiday. Normally, Christmas was my favorite holiday. I’d deck the house out in tiny snowmen with a nativity scene planted on top of the table near the front door and colored lights inside and out. This year, I barely managed to get a plainly decorated tree up in the living room and wrapped a few strands of garland along the door frame going into the kitchen. The tree had hardly any presents under it, but that was okay. That was normal, especially since Santa brought most of everything anyway.
Boy, Santa sure is going to look pathetic this year.
 

Pulling up at the doctor’s office, Dale parked at the front door and turned on his hazard lights as he climbed out of the SUV to carry Nevaeh inside for me. Once we were inside the warm building, he headed back out in the cold and parked the car. Dusting the cold winter chill off of himself as he re-entered the building, the medical assistant was calling Nevaeh back for her appointment. He headed back to the private room with us. Surprisingly, Dr. Newton didn’t keep us waiting this time.
 

“
So I hear Nevaeh’s symptoms have gotten much worse than they initially were. What has changed?”
 

“
She’s still experiencing the severe pain and stiffening even with the medications she’s on. It’s almost as if her
body does not recognize
the medicine.”
 

“
Mmhmm, I see,” he mumbled, glancing through her chart at the last set of tests. “I think we’ll need to do another MRI and maybe a few more X-rays before we decide on the next step.”

“
More testing?” I could feel my heart drop. This wasn’t something I was going to be able to afford.
 

“
Yes, I can get them scheduled right after Christmas and I’ll have you come back in right after the first of the year. With the holidays, I can only work so much magic in rushing the tests.”

“
Dale, can you go ahead and start taking Nevaeh back out to the car for me?” I wanted to speak to the doctor alone.
 

After he and Nevaeh
had left
, I turned my attention to the doctor.
“Look,
Dr. Newton, I really like you. You’re a great
physician
, but I can’t afford to keep doing all of this testing. I’m a single mom who lives on an extremely meager income.”