“She has a heart condition. She’s supposed to take pills every day, but the refill costs too much. She said she’d wait until Monday… but this morning she got dizzy getting ready for work.”
My chest tightened. “She still went?”
“She had to,” Marcus said. “She cleans rooms at a motel. If she misses another shift, they’ll cut her hours.”
Leo wiped his face. “The pharmacy said they’d hold the refill until noon… if we had enough.”
Enough.
That word hit harder than anything.
Not extra. Not comfortable. Just enough.
They’d gone door to door in freezing weather with broken tools because their mother was rationing heart medication and pretending everything was fine.
I reached into my wallet again and added more.
Marcus shook his head. “No, sir, we can’t—”
“Yes, you can,” I said firmly. “Medicine first. Then food. And tell your mom professionals handled the driveway.”
Leo let out a small laugh through his tears.
Marcus stared at the money like it might disappear, then looked up at me and said quietly, “She kept saying we’d figure something out.”
I nodded. “Looks like you did.”
They ran off down the sidewalk, clutching the money like it meant everything—because it did.