Page 5 of Alien Dragon's Bride

Chapter 3

Megan

While she stood in the hospital hallway, Megan’s heart sank to her feet. The paper trembling in her hand. How was she going to pay all of this? What else could she do? She was already doing double-shifts at the cafe and cleaning houses on the weekend but it wasn’t enough. His medical bills and medicine even after insurance was too much.

Tears burned the back of her eyes. She folded the paper up and shoved into her back pocket.

“Visiting hours will be over in twenty minutes,” the robotic voice over the intercom announced.

Cry later. She scrubbed her hand over her face. Now is time to see dad.

She pushed open the door, taking a shaky breath to calm her nerves. “Hey there you, how’s my favorite dad?”

“Pumpkin patch!” he wheezed. “Get over here and give your man a hug.”

She hugged him, inhaling his pine and soap scent underneath the sickly scent of illness. What she wouldn’t give to heal him and get him back home. “So whatcha up to since yesterday? Finished that crossword puzzle yet?”

“One word had me stuck for a while but I figured it out and am ready for the next one.” His eyes lit up.

“Just so happens, I brought two this time.” She opened her bag and pulled out two newspaper copies of the crossword puzzle folded and ready for him.

“Anything else for me?” He placed the newspapers on the nightstand beside his bed, his IV line clinked against the metal bars of his bed.

Her chest caved. “So sorry, Dad. I was in a hurry and running late getting off work that I totally forgot to grab your piece of cake. How about I bring you two desserts tomorrow? Pie and cake?”

For a moment, the disappointment in his gray eyes stole her breath, but then he smiled and winked. “That sounds amazing. The food in this place tastes like cardboard.”

She laughed along with him but her insides churned. How was she going to tell her father that tomorrow, he’d be back at the low-income hospital? Where they did their best but they didn’t have the latest equipment or experts. How many times had she prayed all night for a miracle? For her dad to be healed? She’d give him her kidney and bone marrow or whatever he needed if she could but she wasn’t a match. That news had crushed her when she’d heard the results.

While her dad peeked at the crossword puzzles, her mind drifted to her conversation with Cynthia. She’d never thought about being a surrogate before. Part of her imagined it would be weird to carry another couple’s child. But if it paid as well as her friend claimed…

“Pumpkin patch, you okay?” Her father leaned over and placed his hand over hers. “You’re a million miles away.”

“Sorry, Dad.” She shook herself, putting her smile back on for him. “Just thinking about work and stuff. No big deal. So I was thinking of pumpkin pie tomorrow. It’s almost October but I can convince George to have an early treat.”

His smile widened. “Sounds amazing. But I think you work too hard. How about you take one day this weekend off from entertaining an old man? Go out and have fun. To the beach or something or take a trip to Mexico and live your life.”

She picked at the worn seam on jeans. How could she do any of those things knowing he was hooked up to machines and could…no…she wouldn’t even think like that. “I’m fine Dad, really.”

“You should meet other people. How long’s it been since you had a boyfriend?” He set the crossword puzzles down, staring at her like only her father could like he could read her thoughts.

“Dad, I meet people all the time, every day. Too many if you ask me.”

“That’s not the same.” He coughed for a few minutes. His skin appeared paler than yesterday. Was he eating enough? Maybe they needed to change his medicine. “I’ve seen the way customers treat wait staff—like you’re not even a person. How hard would it be for them to say thank you every once in a while?”

“Comes with the job.” And sometimes there was a pleasant patron, like the guy this evening who had the golden eyes and talked to her like she was his equal despite the vast differences in their social and economic status. “Besides, they aren’t all that bad.”

His gray eyebrows raised.

“All right,” she let out a laugh, “Most of the time they’re horrid.”

“Thought so. When you gonna get out of the foodservice industry and go back to college?” He reached for his water but Megan leapt up and gave it to him.

College. That felt like a lifetime ago. She’d gotten a partial scholarship and started classes in business management. Everything was perfect. Then her mom got diagnosed with breast cancer. Her dad took a leave of absence from his job to stay home and care for her while Megan continued school. Soon the bills mounted but nothing helped and her mom passed away. Another corporation bought out her father’s employer and laid her father and a dozen other works off. Then his health started to deteriorate too and Megan had dropped out of school to work full-time and help pay the bills.

“I’ve looked into some night classes, like you suggested.” She tucked her brown hair behind her ear. He’d wanted her to continue her school and had been bugging her for months to take some courses. One of the many reasons he refused to let her sit up here after visiting hours.

“Looking is one thing, but have you signed up yet?”

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