The fight with my parents was so big that I didn’t want to go back. Then I met other people who were even worse. I got into big trouble and lost everything,” Kurt explained with a shrug.
Their food had arrived, and both of them started eating.
Kurt went through his burger quickly, like he hadn’t eaten in days, but Ivy was chewing more slowly. “But you could still go back to your parents,” Ivy suggested, cutting a piece of her pancake and putting the fork in her mouth.
“I can’t do it,” Kurt mumbled while chewing.
Ivy put her fork down and pursed her lips in thought. “I’ll make you a deal.
I’ll buy you a ticket back home. Go! Make up with your parents because we all have to admit when we need help,” she advised.
“What do you get in return?” Kurt asked, frowning.
“I don’t know,” Ivy began, crossing her arms on the table.
“I think it’s because Christmas is coming, I want to do my final good deed of the year. Go home, Kurt. Maybe, one day in the future, you’ll pay me back in some form.”
After eating, Kurt accepted her deal, and she bought him a ticket back to Milford, Delaware.
They talked for hours at the train station until Ivy’s friend arrived. She waved goodbye at Kurt, who still had to wait a few hours. But on her way back home, she prayed he would get on that train.
Six years later…
Ivy ran through the doors of the hospital and breathed that icy Cold Spring air as she tried to calm down.
But the tears started flowing and wouldn’t stop, so she rested her back on the wall and slowly bent down until she could cry on her knees. Her heart was breaking because her mother was diagnosed with a complicated disease, and they didn’t have the money to pay for her treatment.
Her family went through a seriously rough patch over the past year. Her father died during the pandemic, and the medical costs were astronomical.
Her mother had always been a stay-at-home parent, and Ivy had been responsible for everything. She still had not paid her late dad’s debt, and now her mother was sick.
But aside from the money, she might now lose her mother. “It’s not fair!” she wailed quietly, still resting her forehead on her knees.
“I can’t do this… I can’t do this….”
“What can’t you do?” a man’s voice asked.
Ivy didn’t have the strength to look up. “I can’t pay for my mother’s treatment. She’s going to die, and I can’t do anything about it.
I swear… this country doesn’t care… the doctors don’t care…” she answered, lifting her head a bit and placing a hand on her forehead.
She saw the shadow of a man moving, and he seemed to be trying to look at her face. Ivy wanted to cover herself because she was probably red, bloated, and snot might be coming out of her mouth. But she didn’t.
“I’ll think it’ll work out, Ivy,” the man said surprisingly.
Ivy looked up, focused on the man’s face, and narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, her brain connected the dots. It was Kurt.
But he looked completely different from what she remembered. He was in a fancy suit and was smiling back at her confidently.
She stood up in a flash and almost jumped on him. “Kurt!
I can’t believe it! This is amazing!” Ivy exclaimed as he hugged her back.
“I finally found you. I’ve been looking for you for a few days, but I only had your name to go on.
Luckily, this place is like a small town. Your neighbor told me you were here, though. Tell me everything,” Kurt insisted when they ended the hug.
Ivy didn’t hold back.
She told him everything that happened with her dad and now her mom. When she finished, Kurt pursed his lips, crossed his arms, and said, “I’ll make you a deal.”
Six months later…
“I’m so glad to be back home, honey. Dr.
Henson said I was going to recover fully. Still, I almost didn’t believe him after being poked and prodded every single day,” Ivy’s mother, Tania, said gladly once they arrived at her house, and Ivy got her settled on the wheelchair. She would be weak for some time, but Tania was going to get better soon enough.
“I love it too, Mom.
But there’s something I haven’t told you yet. I have a surprise for you!” Ivy revealed mysteriously.
“What is it, Ivy?” her mother asked with a slight frown.
“Look,” Ivy exclaimed, pulling her gloves off and showing off her engagement ring.
Tania’s jaw fell. “Is that… is it…” she stuttered while pointing at Ivy’s hand.
“KURT PROPOSED?!”
“Yes! We’re getting married!” Ivy cheered and hugged her mother, who started crying. Suddenly, the front door opened, and Kurt came out to embrace his future mother-in-law as well.
That day back at the hospital, Kurt told Ivy he was going to pay for everything.
She protested at first because his ticket back home had only been a few hundred dollars, whereas her mother’s medical bills would be in the hundreds of thousands. But Kurt insisted. He also finished paying her old debts and was right beside her to offer his support through everything.
Kurt was now a successful lawyer in Manhattan, after making up with his parents and going back to school.
He had been too busy for a while to look for Ivy and repay her kindness, although he didn’t live that far from Cold Springs. However, he took a break and decided to find her. After discovering her predicament, he moved closer to Cold Springs and commuted to his office.
They started dating after Tania’s first successful surgery.
“Are you guys sure?
You’ve only known each for a few months,” Tania wondered after they brought her inside and settled in the living room.
Ivy looked at Kurt with a warm smile and answered. “Yeah, we’re sure. Anyway, life’s too short to wait for happiness.” Kurt smiled back and kissed her cheek.
Source: amomama
