A wealthy family needed a caregiver for an elderly woman recovering from a stroke. The pay was double what I'd ever earned.
When I arrived at the mansion, a woman in a gray uniform led me down a long hallway.
"Miss Eleanor is in the sunroom," she said. "She doesn't speak much since the stroke. We've been reading to her. She likes that."
"And the family?" I asked.
A wealthy family needed a caregiver.
She paused. "You'll meet them. Try not to be in the room when they're arguing."
"Arguing about what?"
"Money," she said flatly. "Always money."
That first week, I learned the players quickly.
Arthur, Eleanor's brother and the man who'd hired me, was 81, widowed, and watched everyone like a hawk. He wasn't bedridden yet, but I heard the staff whispering that he was dying.
His daughter, Vivien, had a honeyed smile and eyes so empty they sent a shiver down my spine.
I learned the players quickly.
Vivien came almost every afternoon, pearls clicking, lawyer in tow.
"Daddy, we just need you to sign these. It's about Eleanor's care plan. We've found a more… affordable facility."
"Eleanor stays here," Arthur said.
"Daddy, be reasonable. She doesn't even know where she is. And after you're gone—"
"She knows where she is, Vivian. She knows more than any of you."
"We've found a more… affordable facility."
One day, Vivien turned and saw me in the doorway with Eleanor's tea tray.
"And who is this?"
"Eleanor's caregiver," Arthur said. "She's been working here for a month already."
"Hm." Her eyes traveled over me like a cat calculating when to pounce. "How nice."
A few weeks later, the hospital called me while I was reading to Eleanor. I excused myself and stepped out into the hallway.
My hands started shaking before I even answered.
Her eyes traveled over me like a cat calculating when to pounce.
"Ma'am, we need Noah back in this afternoon for updated scans and testing."
"Yes. Yes, we'll be there."
I hung up and pressed my forehead to the cool wallpaper.
When I turned around, Arthur was standing at the end of the hallway in his robe, leaning on his cane, watching me.
"Who keeps calling you that makes your hands shake?" he asked quietly.
"We need Noah back in this week for updated scans and testing."
At that moment, I realized that all the months I'd been watching Vivian and her brothers argue over Arthur's money, this dying man had been watching me far more closely than I ever thought.
"The hospital. My son… he urgently needs heart surgery."
"Ah. I'm sorry to hear that." He took one slow step closer and patted his chest. "My heart is also failing. Soon, I'll need a caregiver too."
I smiled. "I'm sorry, sir. If there's anything—"
"Arthur. Please, call me Arthur."
This dying man had been watching me far more closely than I ever thought.
The next morning, the hospital called again.
"Ma'am, Noah's latest test results came back. We need to move the surgery date up and begin pre-op treatment immediately. Can you confirm payment by Friday?"
I gripped the phone so hard my knuckles turned white.
"Friday? I— I need more time."
But there wasn't any more time. I hung up and sank onto the marble floor of Arthur's hallway. He found me there ten minutes later, his cane tapping softly against the tiles.
