“Beth.”
“The nurse?”
“Yes.”
Dad exhaled.
“Okay.”
He paused.
“Did Cynthia really throw your laptop?”
“Yes.”
“Did she tell you to leave?”
“Yes.”
Another silence.
Then Dad said something I never expected.
“She won’t be there when I get home.”
I opened my eyes.
“What?”
“I said she won’t be there.”
“Dad…”
“I need to see the evidence before I say anything else.”
“You don’t have to come home tonight.”
“I’m coming home.”
“Dad, you’re driving.”
“I’m parked.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“I’m parked, Maya.”
I sat down on the curb.
For the first time that night, my hands started shaking.
Not because I was afraid of Cynthia.
Because I realized something.
My father had finally heard me.
Maybe too late.
But he had heard me.
Beth lived fifteen minutes from the house.
She opened the door wearing pajamas and an oversized sweatshirt.
The moment she saw the duffel bag, she stepped aside.
“You can stay here.”
I nodded.
“Thank you.”
“No explanations tonight.”
“I have an anatomy final tomorrow.”
She smiled gently.
“Then that’s what we’re doing.”
I put my bag down.
For the next two hours, we sat at her dining table.
She made tea.
I reviewed skeletal landmarks.
Then muscle groups.
Then cranial nerves.
My mind kept drifting.
Every few minutes, I checked my phone.
No message from Dad.
No message from Brandon.
Nothing from Cynthia.
At 12:48 a.m., I finally stopped studying.
Beth looked at me.
“You need sleep.”
“I know.”
“You’ve done enough.”
I closed my notebook.
“I don’t feel ready.”
“Nobody ever feels ready.”
She stood and gathered the cups.
“You know what separates a good nurse from someone who just memorizes textbooks?”
“What?”
“They know how to keep going when they’re exhausted.”
I smiled faintly.
“That sounds suspiciously like something you’re saying because you want me to sleep.”
“It is.”
I laughed for the first time that night.
Then my phone rang.
Dad.
I answered.
“Dad?”
His voice was quiet.
“I’m home.”
I sat up.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m in the house.”
“What happened?”
“I found your laptop.”
I froze.
“My laptop?”
“The screen is cracked.”
My throat tightened.
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice became heavier.
“I mean I found the file you left open.”
“What file?”
“The one with the timeline.”
I didn’t speak.
“I read it.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“How much?”
“All of it.”
I looked down.
“Dad…”
“I should have known.”
I didn’t answer.
“I should have listened.”
My lips trembled.
“I tried.”
“I know.”
“No, Dad. I really tried.”
“I know.”
He repeated it more quietly.
“I know now.”
I wiped my cheek.
“What about Cynthia?”
“She’s still here.”
My heart sank.
“What?”
“I told her she needs to leave.”
There was a long pause.
“She says you’re lying.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course she did.
“She says you’ve been planning to destroy the family.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I was planning to pass anatomy.”
Dad didn’t laugh.
“She also says the laptop was an accident.”
I looked at Beth.
She was watching me carefully.
“Dad, the laptop wasn’t the worst thing.”
“I know.”
“The worst thing was realizing she could do that because she knew Brandon wouldn’t say anything.”
Another silence.
Then Dad said,
“Brandon is sitting beside me.”
I stiffened.
“Why?”
“He wants to talk to you.”
I didn’t want to.
But I said,
“Okay.”
There was movement.
Then Brandon’s voice came through.
“Maya.”
I stared at the table.
“What?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t know what?”
“That you were keeping records.”
“You didn’t know because you never asked.”
“I should have.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
I closed my eyes.
It was the first time he had ever apologized without adding a justification afterward.
But I wasn’t ready to forgive him.
“I have an exam in the morning.”
“I know.”
“I need to study.”
“I understand.”
“Then let me.”
He was quiet.
“Okay.”
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Beth sat across from me.
“You don’t have to forgive anybody tonight.”
“I know.”
“You don’t even have to decide what happens next.”
I nodded.
“I just need to pass anatomy.”
She smiled.
“Exactly.”
At 6:15 a.m., I walked into the nursing school testing center.
My eyes were tired.
My coffee was terrible.
My notes were covered in frantic last-minute markings.
But I was there.
I placed my bag under the desk.
The instructor handed me the exam.
For the first few minutes, my mind went completely blank.
Then I saw the first question.
Anatomical position.
I smiled.
That one I knew.
Then another.
Then another.
By the time I reached the middle of the exam, I had stopped thinking about Cynthia.
I wasn’t thinking about Dad.
I wasn’t thinking about Brandon.
I was thinking about every night I had stayed awake studying.
Every shift at the clinic.
Every dollar I had saved.
Every time somebody told me I couldn’t do something.
I finished with twelve minutes remaining.
When I handed in the test, my instructor looked at me.
“You okay?”
I nodded.
“For the first time in a long time.”
Outside, I stood beneath the morning sun.
My phone vibrated.
Dad.
Come home when you’re ready.
I stared at the message.
Then another appeared.
Not because you have to. Because I want to talk.
I didn’t go immediately.
Instead, I went back to Beth’s apartment.
I slept for three hours.
When I woke up, there were eleven missed calls.
Seven from Brandon.
