"I'm not being smart," Liz said as she took a slice of apple from Alex and bit into it. Quietly, she said, "I'm sorry, Alex."
"It's okay, sweetie," Alex said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I know you're stressed out. I'm just worried about you, and I can't figure out how to help."
"I know," Liz said as she leaned over and gave Alex a hug. Her voice dropped to a sad whisper. "I really don't know what's wrong with me, Alex."
"I know, Liz," Alex said, patting her best friend's back. "But we're going to find out. Don't you worry, Liz. We will."
#
At Alex's insistence, I left her at the hospital with Liz while I went home to check on Tesla. I knew couldn't pay the tuition bill until the university offices opened back up on Monday morning, but I could find Alex's landl
ord and take care of that, so the next morning I drove over and paid her rent through the end of the term.
"Who are you?" the landlord asked suspiciously. "Does Miss Pierce know you're doing this?"
"Look, you're getting your money, aren't you?" I said as I handed him the cash. "Why ask questions? Now give me a receipt and send a receipt to Ms. Pierce so that she knows she's paid through to the end of the term."
"She's not going to like this," he said as he went to his computer and printed a receipt for me. "And what am I supposed to tell her when she comes asking who paid this?"
"I don't care how you explain it, so long as you don't say a word about me," I said as I walked toward the door. I turned and added, "And if you do, rest assured that you will regret it."
I called Alex to see if I could bring dinner to the hospital for her and Liz, but her phone went directly to voicemail, so I ordered dinner to be delivered and headed home to call Leo.
Leo and I arranged to meet at O'Neil's to discuss our plan for Metzler's announcement. When I arrived, Leo was entertaining a group of attractive young women who were skimpily dressed.
"Cam, I want you to meet the girls," Leo said, holding a glass of whiskey in one hand and gesturing to his companions with the other. "Girls, this is Cam."
"Hi, Cam," the pretty young things said in unison. I smiled and waved, then turned to Leo and tipped my head toward a back table.
"Sorry, girls," Leo said with the proper amount of regret, then turning to the bartender said, "Billy, buy these beautiful ladies a drink on me."
We moved to the back table and sat down before I could order a drink, so Billy had the waitress bring me a beer and a shot. I downed the shot and then said, "Okay, so what's our plan for Metzler's announcement?"
"Well, we both need to be there with the security team," Leo said. "He's requesting extra security for the first couple of weeks, so I've hired two more guys to work into the rotation."
"What the hell, Leo?" I said, looking at him. "We never talked about these guys! How do we know they can be trusted? Jesus!"
"Hey, I've been doing this for almost ten years," Leo said defensively. "I know what the fuck I'm doing, Cam, so back off."
"But you never run anything by me anymore," I protested as I took a swig of my beer and slammed the glass down on the table. "If we're going to do this together, then you have to treat me like I'm actually a part of the team, Leo."
"My bad," he said, holding up his hands in a show of surrender. "I'm used to flying solo, I screwed up. It won't happen again."
"Make sure it doesn't," I grumbled as I took another swig.
"What's got your boxers in a bunch tonight?" Leo asked as he signaled to the waitress for another round.
"I just...nah, forget it," I said, waving him off. I wanted to tell Leo about what had happened with Alex, but since I hadn't gotten an entirely positive response from her, I didn't want to jinx it by spilling the beans prematurely. What if she decided to walk away? I didn't want to have to deal with the pity Leo would feel.
"What's wrong, Cam?" Leo pressed.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Alex
I stayed with Liz in her room all night, and then before the sun rose, I got up and went downstairs to see if Leslie could find me a pair of scrubs for my shift. I was tired, but I knew that if I was going to be able to keep things on track, I would have to adhere to my schedule and finish my internship. The only thing that was distressing me was how I would pay for rent and tuition if they didn't settle the cheating case soon.
I had nothing to worry about, and I knew it. I hadn't cheated, but the question was whether they would figure that out in time to allow me to pay my tuition and keep from getting evicted from my apartment. I was worried about Liz, too.