Page 9 of Pursued By My Grumpy Fiancé
“Good evening, Mr. Gould. What can I do for you?” He picks up almost immediately.
“You know that woman I was with tonight? Hailey Dunn?” I reply.
Bruce is the only man that I trust with everything. I trust him even over my own brothers. He has an unimaginable amount of resources and knowledge.
“You mean your fiancée?” he asks, putting emphasis on the word. I explained the situation to him earlier.
“I want to know everything I can about her. Family, friends, birthday, anything you can find.”
“Understood,” he says, and then the line goes dead.
I sit back on the couch and get lost in my thoughts.
Iawakenthenextmorning to my cellphone ringing. I must have fallen asleep on the couch. I smack my lips—the whiskey has left a bad taste in my mouth.
I pick up my cellphone and glance at the name.
“Bruce? What have you got for me?” I ask groggily.
“Hailey Marilyn Dunn was born to Rebecca and Steven Dunn on December twelfth. She’s twenty-five years old and in her final year of law school at the University of San Francisco. Her younger sister, Emma Dunn, studies English Literature at Stanford. Her mother has stage two leukemia and is in an experimental cancer study at the Oncology Institute. Her father passed away serving in the military when she was seventeen. She’s never been arrested, seems like a good kid,” Bruce says.
I like the way he’s always quick and to the point. There’s never any fuss with Bruce.
I mull over everything that I’ve learned. It’s possible that escorting is what she uses to pay her mother’s hospital bills. That would explain why she’s desperate for the money. I pause and think for a moment.
“Bruce, call Barry and have him make a donation to the Oncology Institute, insisting that a large portion goes to the treatment of Rebecca Dunn? Make sure he puts the company name on it,” I direct him.
Bruce grunts and hangs up the phone. I chuckle to myself at his mannerisms. They say that a man of few words is one of many thoughts. Maybe that’s what it is in Bruce’s case.
My thoughts return to Hailey. It seems that we will be seeing each other again very soon, Ms. Dunn.
Chapter Six
Hailey
“‘Behindeverygreatfortune,lies a great crime.’ These are the well-known words of famed french novelist, Honoré de Balzac, and this is your essay topic for the next class. I want you to explain what you think it means, and whether you agree or disagree. Make it interesting, because it’s worth ten percent of your grade. Class dismissed.” The professor waves us out. I pack up my laptop and head into the corridor.
I exit the law building and take a breath of the sunny San Francisco air. It’s Wednesday, which means that I’m visiting my mother today. I sit outside the bus stop and wait for the 309. When the bus finally shows up, I step on and put some change in the box. I take a seat and get comfortable. It’s a long journey from here to the Oncology Institute.
“Miss?Thisisyourstop.” The bus driver says, and I wake up from my short snooze. The bus drivers know me by this point, from the sheer amount of times that I’ve been riding to and from the Oncology Institute. If I knew them outside of their work, I might even call some of them friends from how often we talk.
I rub my eyes and grab my bag. I thank the driver as I step off the bus. The afternoon sunshine dances across my face.
I trudge up the hill from the bus stop towards the institute. I stop at the parking lot and stare up at the windowed building. It’s almost intimidating with the way it blocks out the sun. The tall, looming exterior conceals its actual purpose: to fill many people’s lives with hope.
I make my way across the parking lot and into the huge glass doors. The woman behind reception smiles at me; everyone's face is a familiar one here.
“Good afternoon, Hailey!” She says.
I walk up to the desk and smile.
“Hi there! Can you sign me into the visitor’s log for floor five?” I ask.
She gives me a puzzled smile.
“Oh, your mother isn’t on floor five anymore. I thought you knew.”
Immediate panic sets in. Floor five is for patients who are stable; who are making headway in their treatment. If she’s been moved, that means she’s taken a turn for the worse.
