My former classmate’s father offered me $500 a day to pretend I loved his daughter after a devastating accident left her refusing to live. I agreed for my daughter’s medical bills. Months later, after he died, Connie called me to the hospital and revealed a secret that changed everything.
The fluorescent lights above the pharmacy counter buzzed like something dying. I stood there counting crumpled bills for the third time, knowing the math would not change.
Lily’s next surgery was eleven days away, and I was $2000 short.
I shoved the money back into my pocket and pushed through the sliding doors into the cold parking lot.
“Daniel, I’ll pay you $500 a day if you visit my daughter and pretend to love her,” a voice said behind me.
Lily’s next surgery was eleven days away, and I was $2000 short.
I turned around.
A stern, silver haired stranger stood there in a perfectly tailored dark coat. It took me a moment to recognize him.
The father of my former classmate, Connie.
I let out a nervous laugh. “That’s a very strange way to scam somebody, sir.”
He did not smile. He just unzipped the leather bag at his side and tilted it toward me.
“That’s a very strange way to scam somebody, sir.”
Inside were stacks of fresh hundred dollar bills, wrapped in clean bank bands.
My throat went dry.
“You know my name,” I said. “How do you know my name?”
“I know more than your name, Daniel. I know about Lily. I know about the hospital bills. I know you graduated three years ago and have been working double shifts ever since.”
I took a step back. “That’s not creepy at all.”
“I know more than your name, Daniel.”
“My daughter hasn’t gotten out of bed since the accident her ex boyfriend caused,” he said quietly. “She won’t eat. She won’t speak to me. I want her to live. You went to school with her. She mentioned you once, kindly. That is enough.”
“Sir, I can’t just walk into a hospital room and lie to a woman who is hurting.”
“You can. And you will.”
“Why me?”
“Because you need the money, and because you are still kind. I checked.”
“My daughter hasn’t gotten out of bed since the accident.”
A car horn blared somewhere on the street. I felt the cold cut through my jacket.
“This is wrong,” I said.
“So is a child going without surgery.”
That sentence landed somewhere I could not defend.
I thought about Lily’s small hands and the way she had stopped asking when she could ride a bike again. I thought about the surgeon’s receptionist who no longer met my eyes.
“How long?” I heard myself ask.
“This is wrong.”
“Until she wants to live again. A week. A month. I do not know.”
“And if she figures it out?”
“She won’t. And if she does, that is my burden, not yours.” He closed the bag. “Room 408. She likes lilies, but bring roses. She will hate them less.”
“Why?”
“Because lilies remind her of her mother’s funeral. Roses just remind her of bad dates.”
“And if she figures it out?”
I almost laughed. “I haven’t said yes.”
“You haven’t said no either.” He looked at me with eyes that were tired in a way I had never seen on a man with that much money. “You are not the only one paying a price here, Daniel. Remember that.”
He walked away before I could answer.
I stood alone in the parking lot. I thought about driving home.
Instead, I started walking toward the hospital entrance across the road.
“You haven’t said no either.”
The elevator dinged on the fourth floor.
I walked toward room 408, not knowing the woman inside was about to rearrange every broken piece of my life.
I knocked once, softly, and pushed the door open.
Connie lay flat on her back, her dark hair spread across the pillow. She did not turn her head.
“Hi,” I said. “Connie. It’s Daniel. From Wilson’s English class. Remember? I heard you were injured…”
Nothing.
The woman inside was about to rearrange every broken piece of my life.
I set the flowers I’d bought at the hospital gift store down on the nightstand. I’d bought daisies because I could not afford roses.
Her hand shot out so fast I flinched. She grabbed the bouquet and threw it at the wall.
Petals scattered across the linoleum like small white insults.
“Get out,” she said.
I left.
By morning, I was back.
“Get out.”
The second day, she cursed at me.
The third day, she turned her face to the wall and pretended to sleep.
Two weeks bled together. I read newspapers aloud while she stared at nothing. I brought coffee she refused. I brought soup she ate three spoonfuls of and pushed away.
Then one rainy afternoon, while I was pretending to read the sports page, she spoke without looking at me.
The second day, she cursed at me.
“Did you ever have Mr. Halloran for history?”
I lowered the paper slowly, careful not to scare the moment away. “Senior year. He used to throw chalk at sleeping students.”
A sound came out of her. It took me a second to recognize it as a laugh.
“He hit me in the forehead once,” she said.
She finally turned her head. Her eyes were tired, but they were on me. That was the first moment the arrangement started changing.
A sound came out of her.
After that, the wall started cracking.
One afternoon she asked about my life now, and I made the mistake of mentioning Lily.
Connie pushed up on her elbows for the first time in days. “You have a daughter? Bring her.”
“She’s seven. Hospitals scare her. She’s sick and thinks hospital visits mean more tests.”
“Please. I’d really like to meet her, and there won;t be any tests involved.”
I brought Lily the next Saturday in her yellow raincoat, clutching a stuffed rabbit by one ear. Connie’s whole face changed when Lily walked in, like somebody had finally turned the lights on inside her.
I made the mistake of mentioning Lily.
“Are you the sick lady?” Lily asked.
“I’m getting better,” Connie said. “Now that you’re here.”
They played cards. Lily taught her a clapping game with a song I did not know.
When Connie laughed, it was wet and surprised, like she had forgotten the muscles.
I stood by the window watching them, and something inside me shifted so completely I had to look away.
“Are you the sick lady?”
