The Beautiful Monster

"You need to make sure you don't have a fracture," Elias told her as he rubbed her back gently.

Alyssa sighed as she hung her head. Thankfully, it was the weekend, so she didn't have to worry about missing class or work.

But she didn't exactly want to spend her weekend like this. She hadn't gone to the doctor's office in a while. She was usually more careful than this.

"I guess you're right," she said. She gave him a faint smile. "Look at you. Giving me medical advice."

Elias smirked before kissing her on the cheek.

"Come on, Doctor. I'll drive you to the urgent care," he told her before getting out of bed.

"Thank you," Alyssa said sincerely as she followed him to get dressed. She knew that driving in her condition probably wouldn't be the smartest thing right now.

She pulled on her clothes, slipping her hurt arm through the sleeve of her t-shirt carefully. Even little things were difficult to do.

Elias shook his head dismissively.

"Don't thank me. I want to make sure you're okay," he replied as he smoothed down his collared shirt.

He grabbed his phone and walked out of the bedroom with her. "Need to pick up anything from the door?"

Alyssa grabbed her purse and rifled around inside of it until she found her insurance card. She turned to him and shook her head.

"I have everything I need," she told him. At least she didn't have to worry about a hefty payment when she went to the urgent care clinic.

Once they left his apartment and got in his car, Elias drove her to the closest urgent care clinic, which happened to be a mile down the road from the campus.

He walked into the clinic with her before placing his hand on her back and leaning close to her.

"I'm going to take a seat," he told her.

Alyssa nodded, watching him walk off to find a seat in the waiting room. Luckily, there were only a few other people there. She hoped that she wouldn't have to wait for that long.

Her arm felt so uncomfortable. She couldn't go on like this for too much longer. She needed to be able to move around well for work.

"Hi, I fell and hurt my arm last night. I just want to make sure that it's not broken," she told the woman at the front desk.

The receptionist nodded before handing her a clipboard with a few papers clipped on top.

"Fill these out, and then the doctor will see you," she replied.

Alyssa walked over to sit near Elias, sighing when she read over all the information that she had to fill out about herself.

Being an adult never seemed to get any easier or less tedious, but things were worse when she was younger and stuck in her parents' house. She would take this over that any day.

"You don't have to stay here and wait. I'm sure you have better things to do than sit in a waiting room," Alyssa said as she gingerly picked up the pen off the top of the clipboard. She winced a little as she started to write down her information.

Elias shook his head as he leaned his shoulder against hers.

"I'll be waiting right here when you get out," he promised her.

Alyssa hoped that he would always be there waiting for her. Her life would be taken up by medical school and residency for a while.

She hoped that he would be okay with getting through these hard years with her until she finally became a doctor.

Then, things would be easier for them. She hoped that he stuck around for her.

"Hopefully, they get me in soon," she replied before finishing up the paperwork and putting down her insurance information.

She still hardly knew how any of it worked, but one day she would. She would have to figure out almost everything that confused her about adulthood eventually.

Alyssa took the clipboard up to the front desk and handed it over to the receptionist.

"Let me just run your insurance information," the receptionist replied before turning to her computer.

Alyssa nodded and lingered at the counter, figuring that she would have to pay at least $25 or something for the visit.

She had just over $100 in her bank account until her next paycheck, so she was covered.

"You're not part of this policy," the receptionist told her.

Alyssa gave her a confused look, not understanding what she was saying.

"It's my family's policy. I'm on it until I'm 26," she said.

The receptionist shook her head with a shrug.

"You were dropped from the policy. You could talk to whoever is the policyholder and see if that was an error," she suggested.

"Just a second," Alyssa replied before turning away from the desk. She lifted a finger to signal to Elias that she would be gone for a minute before walking out of the clinic.

She lingered on the sidewalk as she dialed her mom's number. She hadn't spoken to her since the funeral, and she didn't want to talk to her now, but she had to.

She couldn't afford the urgent care bill without insurance.

"Hello?" her mom answered after a few rings.

Alyssa felt her throat tighten slightly at the sound of her mom's voice. It still made her uneasy to this day, but she pushed past the feeling.

"It's Alyssa," she said, pushing out the words as loud and clearly as she could. She had grown a lot in the last few years, and the biggest thing that she tried to work on was not letting people push her around or step all over her. She had to be stronger than that.

"What do you want?" her mom questioned with a sharp tone.

Alyssa clenched her jaw briefly as she glanced around the parking lot in front of the clinic. She wished that she could handle this insurance issue without having to call her mom.

"I'm at the clinic, and they're telling me that I'm not on your insurance. Is that a mistake on their end?" she asked, figuring that had to be it.

"No, I removed you from my policy," her mom replied with a slight sneer to her voice.

Alyssa's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe that her mom actually dropped her from the policy. Her mom knew that Alyssa couldn't afford her own insurance.

"What? Why? You know that I need it!" Alyssa replied with a voice full of disbelief. It was a low blow, and it was one that she didn't even consider her mom being capable of.

"You don't deserve anything from me, you ungrateful little brat," her mom spat before hanging up the phone.

Alyssa lowered her phone and stared at it for a few seconds, trying to wrap her mind around everything. She had no health insurance, and it was a requirement to have it before she started medical school.

She had no idea what she was going to do now. Once again, her family had figured out a way to ruin things for her.

If Elias' parents pulled the same thing, she didn't blame him for not wanting her to meet them.