Toxic Compassion

I remembered that Hannah had spent all our savings long ago. She lowered her head and said, "I took it from the pocket of your coat. You always hide your emergency funds there, so I found it as soon as I looked."

My mind went blank.

The money in my coat pocket was what I had saved little by little from taking jobs with Uber and washing dishes after work. It was the money I needed for my cemetery plot, and I had almost saved enough to reach five thousand dollars.

But now, my paycheck was gone, and the money from my part-time jobs was gone too.

My cemetery plot was gone.

My heart went cold, almost freezing solid in that instant. To the point that all the pain had disappeared.

I followed Hannah home in a daze and did not say a word the whole way.

After we got home, Hannah said in a pacifying tone, "Nathan, are you hungry? I can make you some oatmeal."

I ignored her and went straight back to the bedroom to lie down. The pain in my body and the despair in my heart formed a huge net, trapping me so tightly I could barely move.

Hannah said something else outside the door, but I did not hear a word. I only lay there with my eyes open, staring at the ceiling until dark.

That night, the pain in my body was so bad I could not sleep, so I struggled out of bed to look for some painkillers. As soon as I reached the living room, I heard a low voice coming from the balcony.

It was Wyatt.

"Don't worry. That woman is stupid as hell. She gave me all her husband's money... No one will find out I'm a fugitive..."

A fugitive?

All the blood in my body froze, and cold sweat broke out along my back.

Wyatt was actually a fugitive?

What kind of person had Hannah brought home?

I no longer dared to take my medicine. I held my breath and tiptoed back to the bedroom, but I did not notice that Wyatt had already seen me.

-

The next morning, Hannah eagerly made breakfast and called me over to eat.

I ate without tasting anything, but Wyatt suddenly moved closer to me and said, "Nathan, what happened two days ago was my fault. I made you spend a day in a holding cell. I want to treat you to a meal so that you can forgive me."

He was smiling, but a chill ran down my spine. I calmed the panic in my heart and played it cool. "I'm not going. I don't feel well."

Seeing this, Hannah frowned. "Wyatt came to you and apologized on his own, Nathan. Stop acting like this. Go out with Wyatt later."

I still wanted to say no, but Hannah forced me out the door.

Before closing the door, she even said with a bright smile, "Make sure you two have a good time! After this, you'll understand what a good person Wyatt is. Stop being so hostile to him from now on."

I looked at her smiling face, but I felt as if I had fallen into the abyss.

As we walked down the road, my heart pounded wildly, but Wyatt suddenly laughed. "Nathan, why do you seem so nervous?"

"I'm not." I denied it.

But he lowered his voice and said, "It's because you heard what I said last night, isn't it?"

My heart sank hard, but I forced myself to stay calm. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He smiled coldly, the viciousness in his eyes completely unhidden. "Stop the act. I saw you."

As soon as he finished speaking, he reached out and shoved me hard into the road.

I saw a large truck roaring toward me, my ears ringing from the blaring honks.