The Hours We Have

chapter thirty-nine

Finley was alive. 

That was everything I needed to know. 

Ezra touched my shoulder and I jolted back to reality. "Come on," He said, nodding downstairs.

All of the sudden, the simmering anger I had felt towards Roman died in my chest. I wasn't really angry with him. It wasn't his fault that bad people did bad things, but I had been blaming him for Finley's supposed death, even if I never uttered the words. 

"Okay," I was breathless and I was ready to cry tears of relief, but I followed Ezra. He helped me down the stairs and we entered the living room. 

Roman was in the armchair with the recliner popped, and he looked at us through half-lidded eyes when we entered. His gaze lingered on me for a few seconds longer before he finally looked back at the television. 

Mikeal sat on the couch with his attention on his phone. He was texting with someone and I assumed it to be Julian. He didn't even acknowledge our presence. 

Ezra snatched the remote from Roman and turned off the pointless commercials that droned on with annoying background noise. 

"Hey!" Roman protested, "You douche, I was watching that!" 

"Not anymore," Ezra said and I followed him to the couch. Once we were all seated, Ezra shifted his gaze to Roman. "Finley survived."

"What?" Roman blurted, the gloomy cloud that had been sitting upon his features lifted, "You're serious? He's alive?" Those last words were beyond any description I had for hope. 

"Yes," Mikeal spoke up, and it made my heart skip a beat for the fiftieth time. "When Julian found a faint pulse, he said he carried Finley to the nearest veterinary business. They were just opening but they immediately took Finley in, which could very well be the reason he's alive."  

Julian had saved Finley's life. 

"The bullet just missed Finley's ribcage but it didn't go through and stopped in his spleen," Mikeal continued while Roman and I listened with eagerness, "Just a few minutes ago, Julian called to let us know that they're operating on Finley as we speak. They had to give him a blood transfusion and they're going to remove the spleen but Finley has a good fighting chance. They said his heart is strong."

His heart is strong. 

Finley wasn't dead, and his heart hadn't stopped beating. It seemed to be my only thought. For forty-five minutes, I had believed the worst. I had long since stopped believing in childish dreams, but miracles had always been something I never understood. Sometimes they happen, sometimes they don't. Finley had received a miracle, and it was right then I would believe in miracles for the rest of my life. 

However, despite the good news, Mikeal's expression seemed to fall with a shadow of trouble. I furrowed my brows as I stared at him, "Mikeal?" I called out, "Is something wrong?" 

His blue eyes connected with mine. "Not exactly," He answered, almost hesitantly, and I knew he was lying. 

Ezra grunted. For a moment, he seemed to wait for Mikeal to speak, but then he grew impatient and said, "We don't have the money for the surgery." 

My stomach dropped. 

"It's twenty-five hundred," Ezra continued to deliver the flipside of our relief, "We called the bank and they refuse to give us a loan with how little we have in the account. They said we'd be a waste of fucking time to invest in." 

"They didn't exactly say it that crudely," Mikeal gave Ezra a scathing glance, "But yes, the surgery has a high cost and we don't have money to cover it. I asked Julian if the veterinary business offers payment plans but they don't," Mikeal raked a hand down his face, a sign of stress I had learned, "We don't...not even if we pull all our funds out of utilities and insurance. We just don't have money."