A Clawing Fear

"Wake up, Nora." Someone said, shaking her awake. She groaned and opened her eyes, closing them right back when the bright light almost blinded her. She tried again after a few moments and it wasn't as bad as the first time. She heard a beeping sound around, and some people talking.

It was sounding so near and so distant at the same time. Where was she at? She asked herself as she stared at the white ceiling and the light filled room she was in. She was probably dead and in heaven, she thought, only that wasn't possible. It wasn't possible because she wasn't even feeling dead. She was more alive than ever.

She realized she was in the hospital at that moment.

Sighing, she looked to her left where she could feel someone's hand shaking her and she saw Ms. Teddy sitting on the chair there. She had a gloomy expression on her face, and she wondered why she was sad, then she saw the landlord standing behind her against the wall with his head bowed, and it all came crashing back down on her.

"Hey, how are you?" she heard Ms. Teddy's voice, but she was concentrated on what had happened.

She remembered she had fainted after she heard about her debt, right after she knew her roommate had taken away all that belonged to her, leaving nothing to make do with.

Damn!

Nora hated herself for a split second for allowing herself to be deceived like that, robbed even, and now, she was homeless, because she didn't have money for anything at all, much less an apartment. Maybe she could sleep at a motel for a couple of nights with the money she earned from cleaning and cooking for Ryan, but that was it.

Oh, no! Now she had to pay for the hospital bill. Damn, she was so stupid. How could she faint in a situation like this when she had no money? She wasn't that frail or anything. She was a strong woman, and a no nonsense person.

"Oh, please. Shut up! Saying that when you were used sounds so irritating." Her mind said to her.

She looked at Ms. Teddy again and asked. "What happened? I mean I know what happened, but why was I brought to the hospital?"

There was no reason to bring her to the hospital when she had only fainted from the shock of everything. They could have woken her up with water splashed on her.

"We had no choice, you fainted and we couldn't get you to wake up. Even the cops had to take our statement after the ambulance took us. The doctors said you needed at least three days rest because you've been under a lot of stress." Ms. Teddy answered her in one breath. She could see that the woman had been scared by what happened.

The fear was still right there in her eyes and she hoped that she wouldn't let it stay there for long. Well, considering everything she had been doing lately, working like she was some machine built by aliens to eliminate poverty, she could tell she might have fainted more from the stress than the shock, but she knew it was the latter that definitely triggered it.

Her chest was still in agony to show for it, and she could feel how weak she was still. Losing her things like that made her rethink her options and she thought of going back home, but that shouldn't even be an option. Even if her father didn't bring back up the topic of her getting married, she knew she would still have to keep providing for them, only more this time. Besides, the fact that her mother would apologize over and over for saying she was only not getting married because she wasn't beautiful enough to marry a man like that would piss her off even more.

She knew she had said that only to hurt her because refusing to get married to Damien Petrov; the mafia boss, a handsome man if she was telling the truth. She only refused to get married to him because she wasn't attracted to him, and she had heard of all those crimes his people use to commit all the time.

Going back home should definitely never be an option. It shouldn't.

Closing her eyes for a minute, her mind went back to what Ms. Teddy said the doctor had said. "Huh, sorry. Did you say the doctor said I have to rest for three days?" she asked.

Ms. Teddy nodded. "Yes!"

"But I can't even afford to do that. I don't even have a house to sleep in." She wanted to say, but it got stuck in her throat. She wasn't surely saying that wouldn't put the woman and the landlord in a spot. They would probably feel like they were responsible for her or something, and that was the last thing she wanted.

"I would go get the doctor to sign your discharge, then I'll drive you to the station to give your statement and we can go home." It was the landlord that spoke, saying something since she woke up.

Home? Where was that? She wanted to ask, but she didn't. Instead, she said. "Okay. If I could have my phone, I need to call someone." She said.

She needed to let Ryan know she wouldn't be able to come to his place to clean or cook for the next two days. First, she was going to have to find a cheap motel to stay, then she would have to think and strategies her life. She was going to need all the strength she could get for that, so she might as well take all the help she was being offered. After all, she wasn't asking for any of them.

Once the landlord was gone, she looked at Ms. Teddy and said. "Thank you so much, Ms. Teddy. You've been a great help." She thanked her.

Ms. Teddy shook her head. "It's really nothing. You've been a greater help to me in the past, cooking for me when I couldn't even remember I haven't eaten, cleaner when I couldn't be bothered, and writing that book that got me a huge deal. Thank you, too." She said.

Oh, yeah! The book. Nora forgot to mention Ms. Teddy was rich. She had written a book on something that had to do with the brain. She was a psychology professor and the book had gotten her a huge deal, and now she was a best seller. But, Nora wasn't the type that did things for people because she expected them to do something good for her in return.

She would accept this help only because she was down, she desperately needed it, and she had no other means. She would only accept it for a week, and after that, she would stand on her own, and strive herself back to being comfortable, if not rich.

After she was discharged, she asked about the hospital bill, and Ms. Teddy said the landlord paid. Wow, now that was a help she wouldn't refuse. The man had collected so much damaged money from her she lost count. If a faucet becomes faulty and she complains, he would have her pay for it. If it was the shower, he would do the same. Even the door that wasn't that great when she started to live there, he had done the same.

Grateful this wasn't something to add to the list of things she would pay back, she sighed and rested her head against the back seat of the car. She closed her eyes, and before she knew it, she fell asleep. It wasn't until they got to the police station that they woke her up.

After giving her a statement about everything she knew about Firefly, which wasn't much if she was telling the truth, they went home and Ms. Teddy told her to stay with her for as long as she wanted.

A week, that was all she needed.