Making Changes
"Medical School? Why?" Richard was incredulous as he looked across the table at her. "I thought you liked being an OB nurse." Abby sighed. He'd arrived home late last night from St. Louis. A day early. He'd told her the convention hadn't really held his interest. How very like him to make a decision based on his likes and dislikes. She thought for a moment. Did she like being an OB nurse?
"I do," she said. "I've just decided that I want to do something else. I've always wanted to be a doctor, Richard. I just got...sidetracked... while you went to med school." Richard stood up and carried his breakfast plate to the sink. His eyes lit on the empty Jack Daniels bottle. He picked it up and waggled it in her direction.
"I see where this is coming from now," he said with a sneer. "Did we drink our weekend away or something?" Abby's blood began to boil.
"Fuck you, Richard," she said as she stood up. "I didn't drink it. I poured it down the sink."
"Uh huh..." he nodded. Abby glared at him.
"What about our plans?" he said quietly after a moment. "Remember? Practice...house...boat...babies?" Abby swayed forward and grasped the back of a chair at the table. Her face was ashen. Her newly emptied uterus began to throb. Babies.
"How are we going to pay for medical school...again?" He set the empty liquor bottle on the counter and folded his arms across his chest. Abby sighed.
"I thought I could use the money we've been saving for a down payment. We could live here for a while longer," she said quietly. "I'll keep working a few shifts at the hospital to put it back. I'll..." Richard shifted uncomfortably.
"That money is gone," he said. Abby's mouth dropped open.
"What?"
"I used it for an investment that didn't pay off," he shrugged.
"Without asking me?" Her shoulders sagged.
"I don't have to ask you, Abby," he said defensively. "That money was mine. I earned it." Her eyes widened.
"What are you saying?" she said. "So this place is mine because my pay checks pay the rent? The cars are both mine?" Richard straightened as she advanced toward him. She twisted a corner of his shirt collar in her fingers.
"This shirt is mine because I paid for it?" Richard pulled a way from her.
"My mother gave me this shirt for my birthday," he said. He shook his head at her.
"We don't have to change anything, Abby," he said. "I like our life just the way it is. We have plans. I want to stick to them."
"Screw your 'plans', Richard," she said angrily. "I am going back to med school next term and you are going to find a way to make that happen." Abby turned on her heel and headed toward their bedroom. Richard watched her go and sighed heavily. He picked up the Jack Daniel's bottle and tossed it absently from one hand to the other.
Okay...spitfire...fine. He could foot the bill for one term. She wasn't going to make it much past that anyway. Abby really didn't have it in her to be a doctor. It was too tough. She'd give up. That's what she did when it came to tough. She always gave up.