The Beautiful Monster

Once she gathered herself, she walked back into the clinic and over to the receptionist.

"I'm not on the policy. How much would it be to get an x-ray done?" Alyssa asked her. Maybe the price wouldn't be as bad she thought it would be.

"Around $300 for the entire visit," the receptionist replied with a sheepish look.

Alyssa lowered her eyes as she nodded. That seemed about right. She hated how expensive healthcare was.

It was one of the biggest flaws of the healthcare system, and she would be knee deep in the system soon.

She hoped that someone found a way to fix all the issues. They would save a lot of lives too.

"Oh," she said as she started to step back. She gasped lightly when her back hit a body.

She turned around to see Elias behind her. She hadn't even heard him or noticed that he got out of his chair. "My mom kicked me off our insurance. I can't pay $300 for an x-ray."

Elias frowned.

"That's sickening of her," he said as he narrowed his eyes.

Alyssa shrugged. Honestly, she should've expected her mom to pull something like this. She thought that the distance from her family for all these years would've kept them from negatively affecting her life, but that didn't seem to be the case. Her mom still found a way to hurt her.

"Let's go," she said. She didn't know what she was going to do now, but she couldn't afford to be seen here.

Elias shook his head as he gently took her good arm, keeping her from walking away.

"I'll pay for the visit. You need to have your arm looked at," he told her.

Alyssa's eyes widened in shock.

"It's a lot of money, Elias. This isn't lunch money. I can't let you do that," she replied. She couldn't ask him to do that for her. It was way too much.

Elias gave her a gentle smile before stepping closer to the counter and grabbing his wallet. He pulled out a few hundred-dollar bills, which weren't the only ones in his wallet, and handed them over to the receptionist.

"Please, tell the doctor that she's in pain," he said before leading Alyssa back to their seats in the waiting room.

"I can pay you back when I get my paycheck," Alyssa told him once they sat down. She couldn't let him pay for all of that and not return the favor or pay him back somehow. She wouldn't feel right.

Elias shook his head as he took her hand.

"I promise you that it's okay. I just want to check on you," he said.

Alyssa felt warmth flush across her cheeks. It was nice of him to be so protective over her. It made her feel safe, even if the only person coming after her was her own mom and hours away.

She didn't feel alone and helpless, and that meant the world to her.

"I love you," she told him.

Elias smiled at her.

"I love you."

Alyssa could've kissed him, but the doctor called her back before she could. She squeezed Elias' hand before standing and heading into the back with the doctor, letting him lead her to an exam room.

She let him check out her arm and run an x-ray, eliminating the possibility of her arm being broken.

It was relieving news because she knew that she couldn't afford getting a cast put on. Instead, she received a black sling for her arm.

"Make sure to rest it," the doctor told her as they walked toward the front of the clinic.

"Rest. No strenuous activity," Alyssa noted with a nod. It sucked that she would be limited for another week, but at least her arm wasn't broken.

Then, she would be limited for a month or more. That sounded like a nightmare.

Elias immediately stood up when Alyssa walked back through the door and over to him.

"Is it broken?" he asked her.

Alyssa shook her head.

"Just a bad sprain. It'll be fine in about a week or so," she told him. She got lucky. If it was a break, that was a longer period of recovery and more money.

She didn't have much time or money to spare as the semester started to approach the end.

Elias nodded and placed his hand on her back, leading her out of the clinic and to his car.

"Take it easy until then," he said.

Alyssa sighed as she nodded. She didn't know how she was going to handle work this week, but she certainly wasn't going to sit it out and let the other students working at the hospital get so far ahead of her.

"I'll try."

****************

Luckily, Dr. Shields still let Alyssa work that week, even while wearing a brace. She wasn't allowed to do much touching when it came to patients, but she could still watch and learn when he did examinations.

It was good enough for her since she was still able to learn something. In the meantime, she did paperwork.

Her arm was gradually healing, but it was a slow process. She took a hard fall, and the blunt force hadn't been kind to her.

Twisting her arm ached, so even typing or writing with her right hand was uncomfortable. She stocked up on Tylenol to get her through the week.

Elias had been nice enough to offer to drive her wherever she needed to go if he wasn't in class. She assured him that he didn't have to go out of his way to do that for her, but he was insistent.

She felt like they were over the worst of their issues after finally talking. Hopefully, the rest of her life simmered down too.

"Alyssa, come join us," Dr. Shields' voice sounded ahead of Alyssa.

Alyssa looked up from the receptionist desk that she sat behind, spotting Dr. Shields and Jackson looking over at her.

She hurriedly stood and moved out from behind the desk to join them, feeling relieved to finally get in on some action. Hanging out with the receptionist was nice, but dealing with patients was thrilling.

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