Page 34 of Scribe

Chapter Twelve

Henley

I’m screwed.

No other way to describe it.

Sitting in Dr. Powell’s office, I stared at the man who looked more like Santa Claus with his white hair and trimmed beard as he spoke firmly and frankly at me. “I’m sorry, Henley, but it’s time. Your eyes are getting worse by the minute. LASIK will fix all that. Think of the money you’ll save. As it is right now, you get a new prescription every year, and each time it’s stronger than before. At this rate, you will be wearing bottle caps on your eyes before you are thirty.”

“I know,” I muttered, looking down at my hands. “I’m just scared of the surgery. What if something goes wrong?”

“It won’t, Henley,” Dr. Powell assured, wheeling his little chair over to me. Covering my hands with his, he added, “Look. I know you’re scared. It’s not easy trusting someone with something this big, and seeing is a big thing, but honey, I can’t in good conscience keep prescribing you glasses when I can fix the issue all together. I have an opening this Thursday. Can I schedule the appointment?”

Shaking my head, I whispered, “I can’t afford it, Dr. Powell. That’s the reason I haven’t gotten the surgery. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still scared to death, but LASIK is expensive. I don’t have a regular job like Devlyn. I don’t have insurance. That’s why I always pay you in cash.”

“I know, Henley.” He smiled kindly. “We will work out a payment plan. I really want you to have this surgery. Please let me do this for you?”

Sighing, I nodded. “Okay, but I can’t this week. I’m filling in for my sister at the mayor’s office. Any time after that, I will be here. I promise.”

“Good, then I will schedule you for next Monday at nine a.m.. The surgery will only take a few minutes and then you can go home and rest. You’ll need to wear the protective glasses for a few days while your eyes heal, then, sweet girl, I expect to only see you once a year after that.”

I smiled at that.

Dr. Powell and I had a revolving door friendship. He’d been with me since I was a little girl. He knew more about me than anyone, including my sister. He was a kind man and I enjoyed our talks.

I was going to miss our appointments.

“Now, in the meantime, I have a pair of your glasses with the latest prescription in my office. Let me go get them, so you can get back to work.”

Nodding, I leaned my head back on the headrest of the chair and exhaled.

Just great!

How in the hell was I going to pay for this surgery?

I was barely scraping by as it was. Thanks to Devlyn, I wasn’t able to do my live web reads like I wanted to. Which meant I wasn’t making any money. Oh, I knew Devlyn said she would help cover the cost of my bills, but I couldn’t impose on her like that. She had her own life to live. She didn’t need to be burdened with her baby sister as well. The thought of getting a job in town sent my anxiety into overdrive. So that was out because I was barely keeping it together at the mayor’s office as it was.

However, there was another option.

Something where I could make triple what I was making doing the live reads, but never considered because that would mean going against everything I believed in. The money I could make from one private read would cover my bills for a month. If I did three or four of them, I could pay for surgery in no time.

I guess I was just going to have to bite the bullet and do it.

It was my only option.

With my surgery scheduled and my spare pair of glasses on, I headed back to the mayor’s office.

I had just sat down at Devlyn’s desk when the mayor walked out of his office, fuming and frothing at the mouth. Fat bastard looked fit to be tied. But when he looked at me, I cringed.

I really didn’t like the man.

To make matters worse, his bitch of a wife walked out after him, sneering at me as if I was nothing but dirt.

“Where the hell have you been? I’m not paying you to fuck off during work hours.”

Valerie smirked. “You should fire the ugly four-eyed freak. She doesn’t know how to do this job correctly and that cunt Devlyn is nothing more than a fucking pain in the ass. Seriously, honey, I don’t know why you keep them around.”

“I think you’re right, Val.” The mayor nodded. “Maybe a new girl would work better.”

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