do?

Two months rent on the apartment is due now and the medical bills are a long way from being paid. There's no money left and I can't get a job, much less go to college. You've been so good to me these past weeks with all your advise and moral support and I thank you for everything, but what am I to do now?" He sobbed profusely in her

arms.

"My dear Chris," she soothed. "I know how much you wanted to attend college and I'm sorry I can't help you there, and all financial aids for this Fall are already awarded, I checked.

But,"

she held his tearful face in her soft warm hands. She smelled wonderful and Chris saw hope in her clear blue eyes. "I might be able to do something about getting you a job. Let me see what I can find out and you call me tomorrow evening. Okay?" Chris nodded his tear-stained face eagerly. He was depending more and more on the beautiful doctor's help and advice, and he realized that she had very rapidly become his emotional support just as his parents had been before their deaths.

The following evening he excitedly called and was invited over to Dr. Smith's home to discuss what she had turned up. He jumped in his car and was there in record time. Luckily no cops had their radar aimed at him.

door.

"Well, Doc, whatcha got?" he blurted at the

"You may be a bit disappointed, my dear," she warned. "Make yourself comfortable and we'll talk."

She indicated a plush sofa and Chris plopped into it, anxious for her news. She sat beside him and took his hands in hers, just as she had done at their first meeting in the hospital that fateful night. "I can offer you two options, Chris. One is at Delmar General, which you know so well by now, the other is at a private

hospital-type clinic. The Delmar position is custodial work at minimum wage. You would start on the night shift and promotions and pay raises are slow since almost all the turnover of personnel is in the low seniority group of which you will be one. The position at the private hospital would involve office work to begin with, but, if you perform well, they will move you into the patient care areas. However, this hospital is on a remote island with limited transportation and you would be required to sign a contract which will obligate you for a minimum employment term of two and a half years. In return, room, board, and even uniforms would be furnished, so, except for personal expenses, your salary, which would be well above minimum wage, could go straight to the bank."

She paused a moment to let him think. "Well?" "Uh, that private place sounds best," he conceded, "but wouldn't that contract prevent me from attending college? And what would I do with all the stuff in the apartment, mine and my parents? And what about the unpaid medical bills?"

"Whatever your choice, you should probably sell everything you don't really want in the apartment to help pay off some of your debts. Except for jewelry and some personal Keepsakes to remember them by, your parents things are mostly of little use to you."

Chris reluctantly agreed.

"If you stay here and take the Delmar job you would certainly have to get a smaller place anyway, then pay those bills as best you can. If you take the clinic job you will have to put off college for almost three years since you will have to sign that contract in advance. But they also have an excellent acredited training program for nurses and medical technicians if you decide