Brainstorming

Audrey

Joe wrinkled his nose. “Sounds pretty gross,” he said. “She’s refusing to see a doctor about it?”

“She says she’s got an appointment, but I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I don’t understand why she scheduled it for so far out.”

“Maybe she’s just hoping it will be out of her system before she has to see a doctor,” Joe suggested. “Does she even have health insurance over here?”

“I hadn’t thought about that,” I admitted. That could be it. She had just lost her job in France, and she probably didn’t know what she was going to do for money. Her family had never exactly been rich. Most families in Aberdeen weren’t any better than comfortably middle class, and doctor visits could be expensive.

I wanted to believe that was the case. If it was, though, I wished that she would just talk to me about it. We could have figured something out. Nothing, especially not some amount of money, was worth her poor health and unhappiness.

“Or maybe she’s doing drugs,” Chance piped up.

I stared blankl