17- It's just about perspectives

-Calm down Hele, you'll get through this, I'm here with you" David comforted Helena, caressing her back gently "Besides, you're not alone in this. Who is the father? I think you should tell him and let him take care of it properly- exclaimed the young man, trying with all his strength not to show the jealousy he felt at that moment when he realized that his friend would probably form a life with another man, another person she had chosen before him.

The redhead was hunched forward, covering her face and shaking her head from side to side shaking her head endlessly, feeling dazed by all the new information David was throwing at her, unable to think that something like this could be solved.

How would she explain to her best friend that she had no idea who the father of that poor child was?

How would he explain to him that this child was not the product of love or desire, but of rape?

She simply couldn't, she wasn't even able to put it into words for herself when she was alone. The very idea of telling anyone else was inconceivable. She felt suffocated every time she tried to say it out loud, she was afraid that if she shouted it out, reality would hit her hard. But the doctor had just given her that dose of reality she was missing to realize that her whole life was going down the drain whether she did anything about it or not.

In any case, someone else had already taken the reins of his life, someone he didn't know and couldn't remember.

-I don't know what I'm going to do, I don't have any more money and even less for this... I just can't..." he exclaimed helplessly in a whisper.

Sebastian, who was at the end of the hallway watching the scene, had come to hear this last and drew his own conclusions. Helena was deep in debt as far as he could imagine, she had already left him hints of it when she had asked him for an advance on her first salary. Now he felt guilty that he had refused her the money, he had plenty to spare and it wasn't a problem for him to do that, but sometimes he couldn't help being a jerk to his employees.

He retraced his steps, feeling extra in that situation, Helena already had someone to comfort her, he couldn't fill that role, though he hated to admit it.

But, if nothing else, he would do something for her, at least to alleviate her momentary distress and also to make amends for her mistake.

-Excuse me," he spoke to the hospital receptionist.

-Good afternoon, sir, how can I help you?

-I want to pay Miss Helena Deluna's consultation bill.

-Oh, yes, of course.

-But please put it as anonymous.

After crying for quite some time, his fountain of tears had been emptied and there were only hiccups coming out of his swollen throat, he wiped the wet traces of the last tears that fell and sniffed his nose with the sleeve of his sweater.

- Are you feeling better? - asked her friend, who had not moved from her side all that time.

-Yes...- answered the redhead in a whisper. She knew it was a lie, she would probably never feel well again, but she had to get on with her life. She looked at the time on her cell phone, it was too late to go back to work, the best thing to do would be to calm down, take a shower, let her face deflate and look for her little brother. Yes, that's what she had to do.

She shuffled over to the hospital counter, leaning like an old, worn-out rag on the counter, and with her voice congested and her nose almost as red as her hair, she spoke to the clerk:

-How much would today's consultation be? My name is Helena Deluna... I don't know if there is any possibility of paying in several installments," she exclaimed, ashamed of always having to ask for extensions.

-Your bill has already been paid, Miss.

Helena opened her red eyes as wide as she could and turned quickly to her friend.

-Did you pay my bill, David?

David looked at her quizzically, but seeing the look of excitement on his friend's face and the sparkle in her big, light blue eyes, now streaked with red, he felt he had to tell a little lie, he didn't want to disappoint her and he really wanted to be the hero of the day, he wanted Helena to know that he was there for her and that he was also the right one for the woman.

-Yes, when you came into the office," he replied with his best fake smile, "I know you're in financial trouble and I couldn't do any less for you.

-David, you shouldn't have...

-But I had to, Hele, we're friends, I would do that and more for you.
If it hadn't been because she had already cried too much, she would have burst into tears again, but this time out of happiness, knowing that she had a great friend with her, and that was something very valuable for someone who had almost nothing in her life.

She opted to hug him tightly, sinking into his beefy chest and let herself be encircled by his strong arms. Yes, David was a man, but to Helena he was more than that, he was a great friend and brother and she had always trusted him and would continue to do so.

-Thank you friend, you are an angel in my path.

David felt his cheeks burn from the touch and affection his friend gave him, still, he felt uncomfortable that all of that was the product of a lie, he had no idea who could have paid Helena's bill, some charitable soul who happened to pass by, he thought. Still, she had done him a big favor too. He enjoyed the hug some more, until they couldn't hold him any longer.

-Thank you... -Helena said when David brought her a cup of tea, since they arrived at his house his friend had ordered her to stay resting on the couch while he made her some tea and set the place up a bit, taking care of the chores.

-I'll leave your dinner in the pot, you eat it all," he exclaimed amused.

-Yes, sir," she answered jokingly, a little fun didn't hurt in such darkness.

David approached her and kissed her forehead affectionately.

-Hele....

-Yes?

-You know I can lend you money....

-Oh David, I really appreciate it, but you already do so much for me every time you take the boy to the hospital, or take care of him, and now you paid one of my bills, that if I had known of your intention I wouldn't have let you- she said smiling.

-Actually," he coughed uncomfortably, "I was referring to something else.

-What? I don't understand you....

Helena watched as her friend shifted in the armchair uncomfortably, looking all around, to finally fix her gaze on her friend's still flat stomach.

The redhead lowered her gaze to her own belly and a shiver ran through her body giving her goosebumps, for a moment she had completely forgotten about it....

-David, are you trying to tell me that...?

-I think it's the best option Helena- He interrupted her- You haven't told me anything about the father, I didn't want to ask again, but I guess it's not going to be a father present....

Helena opened her mouth wide, puzzled that her friend was suggesting this.

-You can pay it back in installments or when you can, don't worry about it, I can get the phone number of a....

-Wait wait, please stop there," she exclaimed hurt, "are you suggesting that..." She lowered her voice as if it was really hard for her to say, "I should abort the baby?

David got up uncomfortably from the couch and moved away from his friend.

-I'm not forcing you to do anything Helena, I'm just being a good friend and I'm offering you the money in case it crossed your mind.

-I didn't ask you for the money, I hadn't even thought about it yet! It's all happened so fast, it's still sinking in. I can't believe you said that," she said in horror.

David grabbed his coat and car keys.

-Do what you want, Hele," he exclaimed trying to hide his annoyance for his friend, feeling that the woman twisted his words making him look like the bad guy in the movie, "The offer still stands if you decide to.

-Please leave," pleaded her friend, who was now hugging herself and facing away from David, unable to look him in the eye.

-Just tell me you'll think about it.

Helena closed her eyes and sighed, she just had to say it, so that he would leave her alone.

-I'll think about it....

The exit door closed and Helena felt like she was breathing again, she didn't remember stopping.

It was impossible to raise a baby, take care of her little brother and his health problems, and also to work every day for 8 hours to pay all her debts. And the new ones that would come if she decided to have that baby!

She pulled her sweater tighter around her stomach and looked at a fixed point in the distance.

She couldn't do what David had suggested either, he had said it as if it were a formality and that made her insides churn, but for Helena it wasn't like that, it was something to think long and hard about and take while being one hundred percent sure.

Helena sank into the armchair, squeezing the hot cup of tea tightly between her two hands, ignoring the welts that the burn would leave on her palms, because her mind was far away there, completely disconnected from her wretched reality.