Chapter 4

That afternoon, Cassidy received a call from Zoe. Zoe sounded extremely excited. "Cass, my flight lands at Jervia Northern Airport at 9:00 pm on January 4th! Are you coming to pick me up? It's been so long! I miss you so much!" Cassidy was silent for a moment before saying, "I might not be able to, Zoe. I need to stay at the hospital to take care of my mom." The excitement in Zoe's voice instantly died down. "Is Ms. Sherman sick? Is it serious?" she asked with concern. Cassidy hid nothing from her. She replied sadly, "She has stage three stomach cancer." Zoe's mood took a nosedive upon hearing that. There were a few seconds of silence on her end before she spoke again. "Cass… I'm so sorry. I had no idea. And to think I even asked you to come pick me up like that." "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong," Cassidy replied gently. Zoe quickly said, "I'll help you contact the best doctors for stomach cancer. Stage three cancer can still be treated. Don't worry too much." Cassidy knew what she said was true, but how could she not worry? At the mention of Kate's illness, her eyes grew hot. She sniffed and said, "Okay. Thank you, Zoe." "I'll contact the doctors right away. Take care of yourself while you're taking care of Ms. Sherman, Cass. Don't wear yourself out, got it?" Zoe reminded. Cassidy hummed softly in agreement. After hanging up, she went to the woods on campus alone. At this hour, there was no one there. She sat on a stone bench and buried her face in her hands. Finally, she broke down and sobbed uncontrollably. … Zoe called Stefan right away after ending her call with Cassidy. "Stefan, do you remember my best friend from high school? Cassidy?" Zoe asked. "I brought her to our house a few times." Upon hearing Cassidy's name, Stefan lifted his gaze from the computer screen. "What's the matter?" Zoe got straight to the point. "Her mom is sick. She has stage three stomach cancer. Use your connections and resources to help find the most experienced doctor for treating stomach cancer. It's urgent!" Stefan's breathing hitched. He was taken aback to learn that Cassidy's mother had stomach cancer. Although the driver had reported that Cassidy and Kate had gone to the hospital that morning, he had assumed it was something minor or just a checkup. He hadn't expected it to be something so serious. He fell silent for several seconds. "Hello? Are you listening, Stefan? I'm asking you for a favor. Cass is my best friend. You have to help me," Zoe urged anxiously. Stefan returned to his senses and replied evenly, "Alright." … Cassidy's shift at the food truck started at 5:00 pm. In order to have dinner with Kate, she called her boss, Shawn Zink, to ask for two hours off. Shawn wasn't happy with her request. "We have a pre-order today. Five tables booked, starting exactly at 7:00 pm. We're already short-staffed, and you want time off? You really know how to pick the busiest time to ask for leave, don't you? If you're not here by 5:00 pm, you're fired!" After cursing her out, he hung up. Cassidy sighed and checked the time. It was already 4:00 pm. If she didn't want to get fired, she had to head to the food truck right now. She desperately needed the money. Even though the pay was low, it was better than nothing. Cassidy went back to the hospital room to tell Kate, then hurried off to catch the bus. On the swaying bus, she endured the discomfort from motion sickness while scrolling through messages in the college part-time job group chat. Most of the listings were tutoring jobs or jobs at nearby restaurants and cafes. The pay was similar to her current three jobs. Tutoring paid slightly better by the hour, but the rest were pure physical labor that paid only 20 to 30 dollars an hour. They were nowhere near enough to solve her urgent financial crisis. Just as she was at her wits' end, Zoe called again. Cassidy answered and heard Zoe say, "Cass, the best hospital in the country is Haven Hospital in Norville. I've contacted the best doctor for stomach cancer. I can help you get an appointment. Time is of the essence given Ms. Sherman's condition. You should transfer hospitals as soon as possible." "Thank you, Zoe," Cassidy replied. "I'll talk to my mom about it tomorrow." "Okay. Do make a decision quickly. If you go to Norville, you'll probably be there for a long time. My family has a place there. You and your mom can stay there. But first, take care of things at your college," Zoe advised. "Alright. Thank you for everything, Zoe." … The food truck stayed open until 4:00 am. Cassidy's college enforced a curfew. So, she couldn't swipe her card to enter campus after 11:00 pm. Luckily, there was a secret entrance behind the woods near the north gate. The iron fence in that area was old and rusted. Some students had bent two bars far apart, leaving a much wider gap. Anyone could squeeze through sideways. This secret entrance even had a very down-to-earth nickname. It was known as "the crawl hole". Whenever Cassidy got off work late, she would crawl through to get back to her dorm. Cassidy lived in a four-person dorm with bunk beds above desks. Yvette had been staying at a hotel with her boyfriend these past few days. Another roommate lived in Jervia proper and had gone home that day. That meant only Cassidy and one other roommate, Eva Wright, remained in the dorm. Eva usually slept like a log. Once she was asleep, even a storm wouldn't wake her. Cassidy opened the door and turned on her phone flashlight. She changed her clothes and shoes as quietly as possible. At this hour, there was no hot water supply. So, Cassidy decided she would shower the next day. After washing up and lying down on her bed, Cassidy checked her phone out of habit. There were several missed calls from Isaac. When she opened WhatsApp, she saw over a dozen unread messages from him. She skimmed through them briefly and found that he was still sticking to the same routine. He kept insisting how poor he was and apologized nonstop to beg for forgiveness. Cassidy typed "Let's break up" into the chat box and was just about to send it when something occurred to her, and she changed her mind. That night in the private room, Isaac had said he wasn't done playing with her yet. If she brought up a breakup now, there was a high chance he would cling to her relentlessly. She didn't have the time or energy to deal with him right now. In a few days, it would be exam week. After the finals, she would take Kate to Norville for her treatment. If Isaac refused to give up and chased after them all the way to Norville, what then? After thinking it through, Cassidy decided not to mention breaking up for now. She would pretend she knew nothing and continue going along with Isaac's little game. Then, she would leave Jervia and cut things off completely. That would be more straightforward than breaking up in person. It would also eliminate any chance of him begging for forgiveness. By then, she would block all contact and change her phone number. Even if Isaac wanted to harass her, he wouldn't be able to find her. That would be a form of revenge. With that in mind, Cassidy replied to Isaac's messages. "I didn't look at my phone while I was working, so I wasn't ignoring you on purpose. I just got back to the dorm. I'm so tired. I'm going to sleep first." It was already 4:30 am. Isaac didn't reply because he was probably asleep. Cassidy didn't bother with it. She tossed her phone aside and fell into a deep slumber.