Page 15 of Fighting Chance

No hair loss.

No brittle nails.

No swelling.

No circulation issues.

As I move down the list, the tightness in my chest eases.

The first day the medication began to take effect, when they upped my dosage after three months in the trial, I thought it was a fluke. Thought that as I opened my eyes, stretching my body this way and that without pain and stiffness, I was still dreaming. I even snapped up in bed, peering down at my body as if I suddenly transferred into another oneFreaky Fridaystyle, but no. I was still me.

That was the day I began to cling to my health. Began to beg and plead before I closed my eyes at night that I’d wake up and tomorrow would be the same. Especially when my parents not only put their lives on hold and spent hours by my side, championing my case against the doctors who gaslit me, but when they gave up the entirety of their retirement fund in the sheer hope and desperation that a medical trial in Berlin would help me.

Heading back to my childhood bedroom, I’m just sliding into my tracksuit pants when my phone vibrates, lighting up on the dresser in front of me with Bella’s name. Her contact photo is one of us at Totti’s, our eyes bleary and red.

A smile spreads across my cheeks as I quickly answer.

“Do you know how good it feels to finally be able to call each other at a normal time?”

I’m greeted by a snort on the other end. “You’re telling me. Those 3 a.m. phone sessions hit different.”

I still don’t know how to repay her for the sleep she sacrificed. Bella was hellbent on me getting a full night’s sleep while in Berlin so I knew exactly what was working in the trial, which meant that Bella had to wake up in the middle of the night just to talk to me.

“Sorry, B.”

I can tell just by her tone she’s flapping away my concerns. “No apology necessary. However, you could make it up to me,” she sings.

Anything.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Dinner tonight? At mine and Grayson’s?”

I can’t stop my smile from stretching. It feels so good to hear those words, not only because I can just pop over and see my best friend whenever I want and not through a tiny phone screen, but the fact that I was right all along on the chemistry between her and Grayson. I’ve never seen such a perfect match outside of my parents but I knew it the second I saw them together at the charity event.

“Of course! Honestly, anything to distract me from the lack of emails hitting my inbox.”

I knew it would be hard to find a job. I have no experience, never went to college, and barely passed high school. Not from a lack of intelligence, but no one can do well in school when they miss more days than they attend and they have brain fog so bad it makes them forget how to spell their own name. That was an embarrassing moment, to say the least.

I’ve been back for two weeks and I hit the ground running. I applied to over thirty-four jobs the week before I left Berlin, only to land in Colorado with a zero response rate.

“Still nothing?”

I sigh down the line. “Nothing.” Quickly changing the subject, I perk up, moving off my bed to get changed into something other than my tracksuit pants. “Nothing that your amazing cooking can’t distract me from. I’ll be over in twenty!”

I all but fly through getting ready, desperate to leave my childhood bedroom.

I’m mentally reviewing other options I should try for work, because paying back my parents’ retirement fund is my top priority, when I come to a dead stop in the entryway of Bella and Grayson’s home.

There’s a tiny human standing in the middle of the hall blinking up at me with big brown eyes.

Before I can stop myself, I’m frowning down at her.

Is this why Bella invited me over? Did they adopt a child without telling me beforehand?

She sucks on her thumb, her clothes far too small for her body. Jesus, why isn’t she wearing clothes that fit her?

Squatting down so I’m at eye line with her, I smooth out my furrowed brows and smile, clocking how she’s watching my every move. “Hi! I’m a friend of Bella’s. My name’s Layla.” I keep imploring her with my smile as she continues to stare. “Do you have a name?”