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