BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Her alarm was going off. Ugh, was it really time to get ready for work? She pondered calling in sick, her boss would totally understand. But she didn’t have enough leave for that and she had to pay rent somehow. Especially if she was serious about getting a dog. There was a deposit for that and to buy a dog would cost her a lot of money. After lying in bed for a few minutes, she got up and went to take a shower and get dressed for work. At least today was a shorter day and she only had to work 8 hours versus the normal 10. Kyra loved her job at the animal hospital but 10-hour days were killer. She was really glad only one doctor was on staff today and that they had cut the hours because of it. As a veterinary assistant, she was on her feet for most of the day.

After making pancakes for breakfast, she ate quickly and got ready to go. Sometimes, she wished that work was a little closer and she could walk there instead of having to ride the bus. Bus fare cost her 10 dollars a day which doesn’t seem like much but it added up quickly. It didn’t help that she only made minimum wage which was 11 dollars an hour. Because of it, she had a really junky apartment that was about 300 feet square and ate a lot of ramen. Work gave her benefits, for which she was very grateful because she would not have insurance otherwise. She couldn’t afford the fine for not having insurance. She definitely couldn’t afford a car or car insurance either. At least taking the bus was cheaper than buying a car. Thoughts of her finances brought her back to her dog idea again. Maybe she could find a dog for free? She probably had enough saved for the deposit for the apartment. But what about food for the dog? Or what if the dog got sick? Even with her discount at work, vet bills were expensive. 50% off a 1500-dollar bill was still 750 dollars. That’s what another coworker had to pay when her dog got pancreatitis and was hospitalized at work for 2 days.

Sighing, she left her apartment and locked the door. Hopefully the bus would be on time and she could get to work a little early and clock in a few minutes early. Every minute counted for getting paid. Her boss didn’t mind overtime as long as she was actually working and not messing around or slacking off. As she waited at the bus stop, she overheard a conversation about the attack from the night before. She had actually forgotten all about it. She wondered how the guy was doing. Had he survived and made it through the night? Maybe she could call the hospital to see how he’s doing. They probably would tell her if she told them that she was the one who found him.

The bus pulled up to the stop and she got on. She checked her phone, the bus was actually early for once! It continued to make good time at the other stops and in traffic and so she got to work 5 minutes earlier than usual.

After getting off work late, Kyra headed over to the hospital to see if the guy from the dumpster was awake or if he was doing okay at all. The nurse at the nurse’s station was reluctant to let her visit but after finding out that Kyra had basically saved his life by finding him in the dumpster, she let her past the desk and told her that he was in room 222 and that he might be awake when she got up there. Apparently, he had been awake for short periods of time since noon.

Kyra went up the stairs to the second level. 210, 212, 214, she counted off the rooms on the right side of the hallway until she got to his room. Noticing that the door was partially open, she hesitantly knocked on the door. A surprised nurse opens the door. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“I think so. Is this Edward Thomas’ room?” Kyra had gotten his name from the nurse on duty at the nurse’s station.

“Yes, it is. But we weren’t expecting any visitors for him yet. His family is due to be in until tomorrow and we haven’t found any friends that live nearby. Who are you?”

“Well, I don’t know him really but I’m the one who found him in the dumpster last night. My name is Kyra Wilkinson and I was just wondering how he was doing.”

The nurse looked at her skeptically. “I guess you can come in and say hi. He just woke up again and might be coherent enough for you to talk to him.”

“Thank you so much. I will try to be as quick as I can so as to not tire him out too much. I know that he needs his rest.”