n't s

every time I closed my eyes, I saw the same things. A bat on m

of De

d to myself. "A stress dream

hand on my waist was t

ust 5 minutes past 1

ugh my coffee when

Now."then

ected him to avoid me, or maybe to fire me. I had

k a deep breath, and kno

me

Alex stood behind his desk in a dark suit, his back to me, hands in his pockets. In the

hed at how no

d for me,

anded on the desk betwe

e," he said

I had typed up and reviewed three times before sending i

wrong. A zero was missing. Ten

I stammered. "I checked thi

shouted. "If this had gone out, my company would have lost nine million dollars.

ir. I'll fix it

nd the desk. "Last night, I saved you from a fall. This morning, you almo

d. "That's no

't argue. You

ide. "It was my mistake, and I take full

nough that I could smell his cologne, cedar and som

oman turn into a bat, and my bo

eep well," I

that

r, my phone began to

d, and then it started

it," A

, sir, it

li

me made me pull the phone out. The s

ry's H

y thumb pressed the green butto

machine beeping, a distant alarm, people shouting. "I'm calling about you

oom t

what ha

managed to revive her, but she's in critical

dn't b

my head again and again. My legs fe

alive? Please te

need to come in. The doctor w

. I'm comin

. I hadn't felt the tears start. They slid down my

gotten wh

ing, I was sure of it. For a long moment, he didn't speak.

t my voice cracked. "

nod. Just one a

o

nother word. I grab

the hospital doors. I only remember the white corridor, the smell

ght of the man outside my mother's

ed the bridge of his nose, and in that small ge

. A nurse stood quietly in

ondition has deteriorated much faster than we expected. The med

ething stronger. W

e. It would stabilize her heart and give her a real chance of reco

t. "How much?" My voice

tly, as if he already hate

ry and the medicine afterward, comes

it came out broken. "Doctor, my salary isn't even close to that. I would

t, the hospital may arrange a payment plan, but

ew

dn't think of anything else to

th the nurse. The door clicked shut

ed, and I knelt on the cold floor, covering my

inally pulled myself together, I washed my fac

ubes running into her arms. She was uncon

k her hand. It was so th

. "I'm here. I'm n

st her hand and cried quietly, so I wouldn't

. "I don't know how yet, but I wi

li

ned a

we were children, her coat still half buttoned an

," she said, out of

lled me into a hug, and I f

out the doctor, the treatment, and the

ings," she s

en,

it's something. I ca

y. "That money is for your

his is yo

fees, your only way out of this life. If you use it, you'll be stuck in the same plac

ars. "You are the most stub

kno

me. I could see her thinking hard, the way she alw

ital for the evening visit. My phon

, starting tomorrow. You'll hate it at first,

kind

linked for what

came, and my

Olive... it's a stripper job.

beeped softly, steady and fragile,

dy working

o sell the rest of m