Chapter Twenty-Nine

Two months later, Jordan finally made good on his promise of filing his uncle’s malpractice case. Noah’s mom, despite her still very obvious misgivings about Jordan, had agreed to represent his uncle, saying that he did indeed have a very strong case.

She took her time studying kidney disease and its treatment, as well as reviewing the hospital’s policy regarding their chemotherapy patients. She talked to various employees about their staffing issues and the overwhelming nature of working at such a large facility. Slowly, with Jordan and Kenny’s help, she wove together an airtight tale of abuse and neglect.

Today, they were taking action and meeting with the hospital’s malpractice adjusters to see if they could settle their claim outside of court. The room they met in was a large boardroom, clearly meant to intimidate smaller parties such as theirs, but Kendra refused to be intimidated.

She sat down and proceeded to essentially rip them all a new one. She presented her case with unparalleled fire and vitriol that left the adjusters shaking in their boots. Jordan had never seen such a small woman pack such a hard emotional punch. The fact that her son had gotten involved to rectify a situation that could have been prevented in the first place most definitely had something to do with it.

There was a bunch of legalese being thrown back and forth that Jordan had a hard time following. All he knew was that Kendra sounded confident in what she was saying. He and Kenny didn’t have to utter a single word.

About forty five minutes into the negotiations, both parties agreed on an hour long adjournment. For the adjustors, that probably gave them the chance to pour over everything that Kendra had presented and check for errors, but for Kenny and Jordan it basically just gave Kendra time to explain to them what was actually happening.

“They are interested in settling,” Kendra told them. “They’re trying to negotiate a lower pay-out because the patient lived.”

“Barely,” Kenny scoffed.

“They’re checking their calculations of the damages against mine. It’ll definitely be significantly lower, because that’s just how insurance companies work, but if they offer us anything more than eighty grand, it would probably be in our best interest to accept it rather than take our chances in front of a judge and jury.”

Eighty thousand dollars. Jordan couldn’t even begin to fathom having that much money. The fact that it was real and possible and dangling in front of him like a juicy carrot made his head spin. Kenny seemed just as baffled by the idea as he was.

The three of them waited around in the lobby of the building, eating some snacks and drinking water and discussing a few possible courses of action they could take if, for some reason, they didn’t settle here today. Before they knew it, it was time to get back in there.

Turns out, the hospital was offering them not eighty thousand dollars. Not even one hundred thousand dollars. They were offering one hundred and nineteen thousand dollars, plus they were waiving Kenny’s treatment fees and providing any incident related care for both him and Noah free of charge. Kenny couldn’t sign the document fast enough.

Leaving the premises, Jordan thought he should feel different somehow. Richer, happier, more at ease. But the truth was, all he was feeling was shock. Kendra didn’t stick around very long after that. She followed them into the parking lot, congratulated them, and told them to give Noah and Lucy her best. And with that, she was gone, leaving Jordan and Kenny alone to decide what they were going to do with that massive sum of money.

“I want you to have most of it,” Kenny said as soon as they had piled into Noah’s car. “You’re the one who saved me. You deserve it.”

Jordan put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot.

“Are you sure you don’t want to use it to buy back your old place? We could go get some of your things out of storage.”

“That place was a shithole. You were right, kid. I like living in your guys’ basement just fine. I’m not getting any younger and it sure as hell beats a retirement home.”

What did he actually want out of life if money wasn’t an issue? Jordan took a moment to consider it, to really and truly give it some serious thought. The first thing he needed to do was get out of debt, that much was obvious, but what else was there? He could get a car. That would be pretty convenient for when he and Noah both had places to be at the same time. He could buy something nice for Lucy, but she already had so many nice things, and honestly her favorite gifts were usually the cheapest ones anyway. He and Noah could take a vacation together, someplace nice and warm, but they didn’t really need that either. Every single day spent with Noah felt like a gift.

The only other thing he could think of was school. He could put some money away for Lucy when/if she wanted to go to college, or he could go back and finish up his own degree. The thing was, after having overcome all the things he’d overcome, he wasn’t sure that he even wanted a degree in business anymore. That didn’t mean he couldn’t apply all those core credits to something else though.

Jordan continued mulling it over on his way home. He still hadn’t figured it out by the time they went inside to tell Noah the good news. Nor had he done so after Noah had made them fancy dinner reservations to celebrate, and he still had not figured it out by the time they got back in the car to pick Lucy up from school. Noah, sensing Jordan’s distractedness, offered to drive. Jordan handed over the keys without a fuss.

He turned his head and stared out the passenger’s side window as they pulled up to Lucy’s school. The sidewalks were wide, the gates were bright red and the building itself stood tall and imposing in the middle of the courtyard. Outside, were kids of all different shapes, sizes, and backgrounds milling about. Some of them were socializing and some of them were searching for their rides. Others still, were walking aimlessly or had their heads bent down in a book. It was amazing how individual they all were. They were all malleable young humans with so much potential stored inside their little bodies. They all had unique dreams and wants and desires, just like Lucy did.

When Lucy entered the car, Jordan stared at her for several long moments in the rearview mirror. She was in a good mood today. She was wearing mismatched socks and pigtails. Her backpack was slung over her body without a care. Upon closer examination, Jordan realized that her hands were moving ever so slightly across the air, almost as if she were practicing on an invisible piano.

Jordan couldn’t help but smile.

He thought of all the time they had spent together and everything she had taught him. The meaningful conversations. The fun and games. The mutual agreements and the compromise. Most importantly he thought of how bright and brilliant her future was, and how he would do anything to keep on stoking those flames.

In this, he finally found his answer.

Jordan decided to sit on his decision until dinner that night. They were at a French place that was overpriced and none of them seemed overly thrilled with. It was one of those eating establishments in which you were paying for the atmosphere unfortunately. Jordan decided he might as well make the atmosphere a little bit livelier by sharing his newfound calling.

“I want to go back to school,” he said suddenly.

Noah, Kenny, and Lucy looked at him confused.

“Um, that’s great love, but why are you telling us now?”

“Because I’ve decided that I don’t want to be a businessman anymore. I want to do something with my life that actually helps people. I just wasn’t sure how. I’ve been mulling it over in my head all day and now I finally know.”

The table was completely silent, waiting for him to continue.

“Well, don’t just leave us hanging like that,” his uncle said finally. “Out with it, boy.”

Jordan took his time meeting each of their eyes.

“I want to work with kids,” Jordan said. “I want to be a guidance counselor.”