Color Blind (BWWM Interracial Billionaire Single Mom Steamy Romance Novel) (22 page)

“
They’re in the hallway. Do you want me to get them for you?”

“
Yes,” she answered.

The attendant came out and asked us slipped into the room to encourage and support Nevaeh.
 

“
What’s wrong baby? Do are you scared again?” I asked her.

“
No, I just wanted a kiss and a hug before they got started. You don’t have to wait in here with me. I’m not scared anymore.”

After our hugs and kisses, we joined the radiologist in the adjoining glass room and talked to her as she traveled through the scanner. The technician turned off the microphone momentarily
before telling me
, “You’ve got one brave girl out there. I bet you’re a proud momma! She’s so tiny, yet so strong.”
 

“
Thanks,” I replied. “I prayed to my dad and asked him to be with Nevaeh today and to help us make her better.”
 

Dale smiled down at me; he had no idea that I’d spoke to my father. I’d never mentioned it before.
 

The technician turned the microphone back on. “Are you still doing okay in
there
honey?” she called out to Nevaeh.
 

“
Yes,” she replied, still holding very still to allow the images to remain clear while she spoke.

“
Good, you’re almost finished. Just a few more minutes and then we’ll get you over to have you X-rays taken.”

When the scan was complete, the motorized table retracted from the unit and slid Nevaeh out into the open room. The radiologist escorted us into the room with a
wheelchair
and hauled her over to X-ray. Once we were out of X-ray, we had to make one more pit stop along the way: the lab. Nevaeh hated needles and having her blood
drawn,
but she knew that it was necessary to find out more about her condition.
 

A few days later, Dale came over to pick us up to go to the benefit. He noticed that I was wearing the
lovely
cashmere sweater he had given me for Christmas and smiled as he commented on it.
 

He drove us to an enormous hotel. One of the
valets
walked over and offered to park our vehicle. Once Dale picked her up out of the backseat, she began whispering to him.
 

“
Who is that man?”

“
Oh, that’s the valet. They park our cars for us.”
 

“
Why?” she whispered.

“
So we don’t have to walk back and forth.” Nevaeh stared at him as if he were making it up. “Seriously, it’s their job,” he added.
 

“
They have a job to park cars all day? That sounds fun!”

Laughing as we walked into the hotel, Nevaeh was greeted by many guests who came to enjoy her benefit. She was amazed when she walked into the large conference room that was brightly decorated in honor of her. Balloons and streamers hung from the ceiling while glitter sprinkled along the tops of tables and surrounded miniature fishbowls which contained a single lit candle. As I made my way into the room, I was proud to see my family there. Dale had invited them without my knowledge; it meant so much to me.
 

“
Wow!” she gasped, “All of this is for me?” Nevaeh asked.
 

“
It sure is,” Dale answered her. “Come. Let me introduce you to some people.”
 

For the first time in our almost six-month relationship, Nevaeh and I were getting to meet Dale’s family, including his parents who made a special trip to St. Louis for the benefit.
 

“
It’s so
good
to meet you,” Rose, Dale’s mom, said. “We’ve heard so much about you,” she said, hugging all of us.
 

“
Yes, it’s nice to put a face with the name,” his dad, Stephen, said.

“
I’ve heard a lot about the both of you, too,” I said, shaking his dad’s hand.
 

“
You and Nevaeh will sit with me at the front table. Since she’s our guest of honor, she will sit in the middle.”
 

Throughout the night, Nevaeh smiled and laughed as she
relished
in all of the attention she was receiving. I sat back, admiring my beautiful daughter and her
incredible
social skills.
She really knows how to light up a room, I thought.
Near the end of the benefit, Nevaeh began getting sleepy.
 

“
I think we should get her home,” I whispered to Dale. “But I don’t want to be rude and have her leave. All of this was held in her honor.”
 

“
Do you think she can make it until the ball drops at midnight?”

“
I don’t know,” I glanced over at her. “She looks so sleepy. I’ll try to keep her awake.”
 

When the ball dropped, I began gathering all of our things to head home. They wouldn’t know how
lucky
the Nevaeh Fund was until all of the donations were counted. A couple of days after the
fundraiser
, Nevaeh had her next appointment with the specialist. Once again, Dale drove us to the
office
and helped us inside.
 

“
Hello Nevaeh,” Dr. Newton greeted her, closing the door behind him.
 

He faced Dale and me, “Good morning.”
 

“
Good morning,
” I replied. “So what did her tests show?” I wasn’t wasting any time, I was all business today.
 

Dr. Newton thumbed through her chart, read it over and began going over the results. “It looks like her spine has gotten much worse. It appears that the methotrexate alone is not treating her as we’d hoped.”
 

“
What’s the next step?” Dale asked, worried about her.
 

“
What I’d like to do next is try her on a stronger drug. But I must warn you, it can have some severe side effects.”

“
What drug and what type of side effects?” I asked, alarmed at the information we were receiving.
 

“
It’s called Humira, and it’s an injectable drug. She’ll take one injection every two weeks, or twice per month. It can increase her risk of developing infections and certain cancers, such as lymphoma, as well as cause skin, heart and liver problems.”

“
Is it worth her taking it if that much could go wrong?” I asked, desperately worried about my little girl.
 

“
Most of these side effects are rare, but they are possible. Based on Nevaeh’s labs and her previous health history, I don’t see it being a problem. We’ll keep a close eye on her to determine if and when she begins to develop any issues to the medication. The key factor is communication. If something doesn’t seem right or seems a little off, you call us right away so we can get her back in here.”
 

Suddenly, I was relieved that Dale had agreed to pay for things. This was beginning to become too much for me to handle.
 

“
When will she have her first injection?”

“
I’ll write the prescription for it and chances are, you’ll have to have it filled by a mail-order pharmacy. I assume you already do that with her methotrexate, is that correct?”

“
Yes,” I nodded.
 

“
As soon as you receive the Humira in the mail, you’ll call our office to schedule an appointment. She has to have her initial loading dose in our office, under doctor supervision. After we’ve established that she won’t have any type of reaction to the medication, we’ll go over injection training and after that, she can take them at home. You’ll have to help
her,
of course, at least until she gets a bit older,” he smiled at Nevaeh.
 

“
Do you really think this will work?” I
asked,
paranoid that it would be like the methotrexate.
 

“
I do. This is different than the other medication she’s already on because it blocks the TNF, which causes inflammation.”

“
I think you should do it,” Dale said, encouraging me.
 

I thought about it for a moment and looked at Nevaeh, who was in so much pain. “How long until it will work?”
 

“
She could see the
relief
in as little as two weeks, or it could be three months. Each patient responds differently; it’s hard to tell.”
 

“
All right, let’s do it.”

Once we were home, I called MaxCare and gave them the information from the prescription. As the pharmacist processed it on the other line, he alerted my attention to the cost of the drug.
 

“
Miss Harris, are you aware that this medication cost almost five thousand dollars?”
 

“
What?!” I exclaimed. “It cost how much?”
 

“
The total for this medication will be four thousand, sixty-three dollars,” he explained to me.
 

“
For how much? Is that for a one-year supply?” I gasped.
 

“
Unfortunately, it’s for a three-month supply.”

He waited for me to respond, but the line was nothing more than dead air.
 

“
Miss Harris? Are you still there?”
 

“
Yes, I’m still here. I have to level with you; I don’t know how I’m going to pay for that. I never dreamt that it would cost that much. Let me figure something out and I’ll call you back.”

“
You can put it on your credit card,” the pharmacist offered.
 

“
No, I can’t. My available balance is only about thirty dollars right now. I’ll call her doctor’s office real fast before the close and
I’ll call
you back.”
 

I hung up the phone and began
dialing
Dr. Newton’s
office
as I glanced up at the clock, I realized it was three minutes before closing.
Answering machine, damn it!
They must have shut their lines off before they actually closed. As much as I hated to, I choked on my pride and called Dale. Maybe he’d lend me the money.
 

“
Dale?” I asked as he answered his cell during his ride home.
 

“
Yes?”

“
I hate to ask you this. I really do, but I need a favor.”

“
Name it,” he said.

“
I just called in Nevaeh’s prescription and the pharmacist said it’ll be almost five thousand dollars for a 90 day supply,” I paused.
“And I was wondering….”
 

“
Kimberly, I told you, I’ll pay for everything. I’ll turn around and come back to your house. We’ll get this all sorted out,” he said, making a U-turn.
 

“
Dale, I don’t want you to pay for her medicine too. It was nice enough that you paid for all of her testing and everything, but you’re my boyfriend, not my sugar daddy.”
 

“
I wish you’d understand that I can afford this and it’s no problem to help you out in any way possible. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he said as we hung up.
 

Within minutes, he was pulling up to the house. As he came inside, he saw Nevaeh playing on her tablet. “Where’s your mom at
Munchkin
?”
 

“
She’s in the kitchen,” she said, pointing him in the direction.

When he walked into the kitchen, he saw my head buried
in
my hands. He walked behind me and began rubbing my shoulders.
 

“
It’s going to be okay. Everything. I promise,” he said trying to reassure me.
 

“
You keep saying that, yet she keeps getting worse.”

“
Sometimes you have to have faith that things will work out in your favor.”

“
I wish they would,” I said, patting his hand.
 

“
You call the pharmacy and get them on the phone. I’ll take care of the rest.”

I called MaxCare back and got the same gentleman back on the phone. After explaining the nature of our relationship and that Dale was willing to pay for the medication, the pharmacist asked to speak to him.