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out, it wouldn’t be fair to them.

There were other people at the company who had parents who probably

weren’t well. She could possibly offer Arabella some sort of advance to pay

for insurance for her parents going forward, and it could be taken out of her

paychecks for the coming however many months, but that wasn’t going to

help her now.

Arabella shook herself out of her trance, some of her determination

coming back. “I shouldn’t be standing here. I should get to the hospital. I

guess I can do all my worrying there.”

“Let me drive you.” The words popped out, stunning them both.

Arabella’s head turned around so fast that she could have given herself

whiplash. “You’re frustrated and worried,” June quickly explained. “It’s

safer if I drive. That way, you don’t have to shell out more money for a

cab.”

“But, but the meeting…”

“Beth’s got it.”

“Are you sure? I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” June told her. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t choose to

have any of this happen.”

Arabella nodded. “You’re right. I really wish that none of it had.”

“You can worry about it in the car. If you grab your stuff, I’ll take you

and I can drop you off at home when you’re ready to go.”

“Oh, no, you’d have to wait. I might be there for hours.”

“That’s fine.” June knew she should be bailing, not entrenching herself

into an extremely emotional situation. “I can wait at the hospital, but we

should get there as fast as we can.”

“Yeah.” Arabella seemed to stare right through June. She was even

whiter, her skin so pale that June could almost see the vein running along

her temple that leaped beneath her skin, pounding in time with her

quickened heartbeat. Arabella shook her head and her gaze returned to