## The Bill Josephine Refused to Pay

Victoria had never imagined begging her younger sister for money.

Growing up, the two sisters had shared dresses, secrets and even the same narrow bed during the hardest years of their childhood.

Their lives had taken different paths.

Josephine married Edward, whose businesses expanded rapidly during their marriage.

Victoria married a schoolteacher.

There was never much money, but the family managed.

Until Victoria became sick.

At first, everyone assumed the weakness would pass.

Then came the tests.

More tests followed.

Within weeks, Victoria’s savings were gone.

The jewelry her husband had bought her during their marriage was sold first.

Then the deep freezer.

Then the generator.

Then a small piece of land that had been in her husband’s family for years.

Still, the treatment bills continued.

When Victoria finally came to Josephine’s house, she looked almost nothing like the sister Josephine remembered.

Her face had become thin.

A scarf covered much of her hair.

She held her handbag tightly against her stomach as she sat in the living room.

Josephine remained standing.

“How much?”

Victoria swallowed.

“Four hundred thousand.”

Josephine stared at her.

“For what?”

“The hospital requires another deposit before they continue the next stage of treatment.”

Josephine walked toward the window.

“You’ve already borrowed money.”

“Yes.”

“You sold your jewelry.”

“Yes.”

“The freezer?”

Victoria nodded.

“And the generator?”

Another nod.

Josephine turned around.

“Then what exactly do you expect me to do?”

Victoria’s eyes filled.

“I don’t know. I’m scared.”

For the first time, her voice broke.

“I have children, Josephine.”

“So do I.”

Victoria stared at her sister.

“I might die.”

The room became silent.

Even Josephine seemed momentarily uncomfortable.

But she quickly recovered.

“We are all going to die someday.”

Victoria looked down.

“I didn’t come here because I think you owe me everything. I’m asking because I have run out of places to turn.”

Josephine folded her arms.

“That is exactly the problem.”

“What?”

“You keep reaching the point where someone else has to rescue you.”

Victoria slowly lifted her head.

“I became ill.”

“You also built a life without enough protection for emergencies.”

Victoria seemed unable to believe what she was hearing.

“You think I planned this?”

“No. But adults make choices. They have children. They buy things. They spend money. Then something goes wrong and suddenly anyone with more than them becomes responsible.”

Victoria wiped her cheek.

“I’m your sister.”

Josephine’s expression remained hard.

“Being related doesn’t change mathematics.”

Edward had been standing quietly near the doorway.

Until then.

“Josephine.”

She turned.

“This doesn’t concern you.”

“It concerns me when you’re speaking to someone dying in our living room as if she’s asking for a vacation.”

Victoria stood.

“Edward, please. I don’t want you fighting because of me.”

But Edward stepped farther into the room.

“Sit down, Victoria.”

Josephine’s eyes hardened.

Edward looked at his wife.

“You can afford this.”

“That’s irrelevant.”

“How can it be irrelevant?”

“Because if I give money every time someone makes poor choices—”

Edward interrupted her.

“She has cancer.”

The word landed differently than everything before it.

Josephine glanced toward her sister.

For half a second, uncertainty appeared.

Then it vanished.

“My answer is still no.”

Victoria closed her eyes.

Edward stepped closer.

“God has given you the ability to help someone who is standing right in front of you.”

Josephine shook her head.

“I am not an emergency fund for adults who failed to prepare their lives.”

Edward stared at her.

“You think strength lasts forever.”

Josephine said nothing.

“You think because you can write a cheque today, you’ll always be the one holding the pen.”

“Enough.”

“No.”

Edward’s voice remained calm.

“Money makes people forget how quickly life changes.”

Josephine picked up her phone.

“I have made my decision.”

Edward looked at Victoria and then at his wife.

“Tomorrow does not ask permission before it arrives.”

Josephine turned away.

But Edward continued.

“My father used to say tomorrow is pregnant. Nobody knows what it will deliver.”

Josephine gave a humorless smile.

“Your father’s proverbs won’t pay everybody’s hospital bills.”

Victoria gathered her handbag.

“I shouldn’t have come.”

Edward tried to stop her.

But she shook her head.

“No.”

She looked at Josephine one final time.

Not with anger.

With grief.

“I hope you never have to understand what it feels like to stand in front of someone who can help you and watch them decide you aren’t worth helping.”

Then she left.

Josephine did not follow.

Daniel, however, had been standing near the staircase.

Listening.

Watching.

Learning.

And months later, when Edward himself became ill, Josephine would finally hear the same warning again.

This time from a man who knew he was running out of tomorrows.

—