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She'd been expecting a high number, but when she found the cost at the bottom of the second page, her jaw dropped. "Two thousand per pill?"

"There's more," Arabelle said, her voice uncharacteristically dull.

Jennifer kept reading.

For Arabelle's lung cancer treatment, the recommended care plan was fifty pills administered once every three days. The papers went on to explain the phases of treatment, the monthly payment plan, the significance of the number chosen, but the words blurred on the page as Jennifer's mind focused on that exorbitant number. Two thousand per pill. Fifty pills.

Jennifer lost grip of the papers, and they scattered to the floor. "A hundred thousand dollars ... where am I going to get money like that?"

Even as a monthly plan, that was $20,000 per month. Even if she got a third job, and a fourth, she couldn't afford that. There weren't enough hours in the day for her to work and ever come up with that number.

"You're not, Jenny. We're going to let this go. I can't let you go off the rails trying to make up that impossible amount of money."

Tears pooled in her eyes again. "Fuck no. I'm not giving up."

"Watch your tongue, dear."

Jennifer scowled, mostly because her mom was the one who usually swore like a sailor, but the cancer had calmed her fiery attitude and filthy mouth. But the reaction was also to hide how she felt sweat dripping down her back, her body heating up, her head started to spin. Another job wasn't going to cut it, not if she needed to pay such a high amount each month. Maybe there was a way to spread out the payments over a longer period, or another way for her to get the funds besides a regular job.

Blood pounded in her ears, keeping her from thinking straight.

"I'll take out a loan. I'll find a way." She crouched to pick up the papers she'd dropped, putting them back into their neat little stack.

"No. You have to let me be, Jenny. My time has come, and God knows it's my fault." Arabelle sighed. "Never should have let your father talk me into smokes. Never could go a day without one after the first."

Jennifer's father had died five years ago in a bad car accident. If he'd lived longer, he might have developed lung cancer, too, for all they knew. He'd been smoking since he turned 13 but died before it could develop. They didn't talk about her dad much. The topic was too painful for them both.

"I'm not giving up, and neither are you." Jennifer flipped to the page that required her and Arabelle's signature. "I'm going to find a way, and you're going to let me."

Arabelle shook her head and pushed the papers away. "I can't let you do that."

"Mom,please.You're all I have left, and you're worth way more than any amount of money can buy. I just need some time to think. Please just sign the papers so we can get this started before it's too late."

Arabelle looked doubtful, and then she yawned, resting her head back in a sleeping position. "I'm tired, Jenny. I'll sign the papers, but only if you promise not to submit them to Dr. Carlton until you find a way to make sure you can afford it."

Jennifer pushed the papers closer to her mom. "I promise. Please, sign them."

Arabelle shook her head, took the papers and pen from Jennifer's outstretched hand, and signed her name on the dotted line in her elegant cursive. "If you're lucky, I'll live to regret this."

Once Arabelle's name was signed, Jennifer hugged her again. "I love you, mom. I won't let you down."

"I know, Jenny." She sighed. "It's me who let you down, letting you even think about paying this much money for some pills ... but when have I ever been able to turn you down?"

"Never." Jennifer smiled, trying to let the thought of spending more time with her mom, happy and healthy again, brighten the prospect of finding a way to pay the medical bills. "But now that we're on that point, mom, I really think it's time you quit smoking."

"If this works, I suppose it's the least I can do." Arabelle chuckled. "Now, you have your answer, let me get some sleep."

Jennifer held Arabelle's hand until her breathing evened out and she was dead asleep. With each second that passed in silence, Jennifer's stress levels spiked now that she had her head all to herself. How in the world was she going to pay for her mom's treatment?

She had to find a way. Lack of money wasn't going to be what killed her mom. Jenniferrefusedto let that happen. Even if she had to go into an incredible amount of debt to make it happen, she would find a way to afford the pills. It just required some creative thinking and hard work ... or so she hoped.

Once she knew for sure that Arabelle was asleep, she peeled her fingers out of her mother's and pulled her tablet out of her travel bag. A quick web search of 'how to make money fast' resulted in an assortment of suggestions: various obvious scams, casino ads suggesting she try to make it big at the slots, a website talking about how hot chicks made several hundred bucks or more a night at strip clubs.

The last one, unfortunately, seemed the most legitimate. Although Jennifer had never considered doing that herself, she knew other girls who did the same thing and made it big. They said she had the body for it, too, since she was athletic and would get a lot of attention.

But ... that really wasn't the sort of work she ever wanted to do. The thought of putting her body on display like that terrified her.

What if it was her only option?