Page 99 of Roar & Lizzy: A Forever Kind of Love

Lizzy locked the front door, turned off the kitchen light, and went to the garage. Taking Coco's car would save time.

An hour and a half later, full from the taco salad, she hurried out of the hospital and slid into the car. "You're not going to believe this."

"What?" Coco turned down the stereo.

Lizzy pressed a hand to her chest, lightheaded and woozy. "I went in to pay the bill, and the lady wouldn't take my money. She kept insisting I don't owe anything."

"What? How can that be?"

"I don't know." She put her head down to her knees. "I'm going to pass out."

"Oh, my God." Coco leaned against the steering wheel. "How much was your balance?"

"Twenty-six thousand, three hundred, fifty-four dollars, and seventeen cents. I called yesterday so I could write it down in my notebook where I keep track of my payments." She cradled her head in her hands. "This is a terrible mistake. I feel like the police or... or a credit company is going to come and handcuff me."

Coco smiled sweetly. "They don't do that."

"I don't know what's going on." She moaned. "What am I going to do?"

"What did the lady say exactly?"

She sat up, feeling sick to her stomach. "I went in and handed her cash—because I went in person, there was no reason to get a money order. She pulled my account up on the screen and said..." She made air quotes with her fingers. "You have zero balance."

"And?"

"I asked her to check again that there must be a mistake. I can't remember, but I think I even told her the balance I was quoted yesterday when I called. I even had her print out a current account balance." She swallowed. Her heart was going to pound out of her chest. "The lady handed the pile of money back to me and told me to have a good day."

"Do you have the paper she gave you?"

She shifted on the seat and pulled the folded paper out of her pocket and handed it to Coco.

Lizzy closed her eyes as Coco studied the medical account. "Okay, they'll probably find that it was a computer glitch tomorrow and the charges will be back. I'll just come back in and pay it. Everything will be okay. I still have one more day until the monthly payment is due, so I have time to straighten this all out. God, I should've just mailed them the money order like I normally do instead of dealing with their accounting office."

"Uh, something is definitely wrong," said Coco softly.

She opened her eyes. "I knew it. I'm probably going to get charged interest and—"

"Look." Coco pointed at the paper, putting it in front of her. "It says it was paid off with cash today at two-thirty."

"But that was..." Her heart pounded. "While we were running errands."

Coco set the paper on the dashboard. Lizzy stared out the window. Only one other person knew she was running errands and had planned to come to the hospital and pay down her bill.

"I need to..." Her eyes burned and heaviness settled on her chest. "I need to go home."

Coco squeezed Lizzy's arm and then started the car. She stared at the paper flapping on the dash from the fan of the air conditioner running. No one had to tell her Roar paid off her debt. He was the only one who knew, besides Coco.

By the time Coco pulled into the garage, Lizzy was out of the car and walking across the street. Using her key for the bar, she let herself in the front and walked out the backdoor to the alley.

Slag members milled around outside. She searched for Roar. Not finding him, she went inside the clubhouse and almost ran into Viktor.

"Where's Roar?" she asked.

"All get him." Viktor tipped his head back and yelled, "Prez?"

"Ja?" shouted Roar.

She followed the voice and spotted him on the other side of the room talking with members. Storming across the floor, she caught the softening of his gaze when he spotted her. The moment he stepped toward her, he aimed his happiness at her coming to see him on her.

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