“I can’t breathe very well.”
Robert’s heart broke as he looked at his sick daughter. He knew she needed medicine right away, but he had already spent his last $20 on groceries the day before. The pharmacy wouldn’t let him buy medicine without money, and the hospital would ask for insurance papers he didn’t have. He called his boss, Mr. Peterson, and begged for an advance on his paycheck.
“Robert, I wish I could help you,”
Mr. Peterson said over the phone.
“But company policy doesn’t allow advances. You know that.”
Robert fell to his knees beside Lily’s bed, watching his daughter struggle to breathe. Her lips were turning slightly blue and her small hands were shaking. He knew that without medicine, Lily might not make it through the night. That evening, after Lily had fallen into a restless sleep, Robert made the hardest decision of his life. He put on his old jacket, kissed his daughter’s forehead, and walked into the cold night air.
The pharmacy on Elm Street was busy, even at 8:00 in the evening. Families were buying medicine for their children. Elderly people were picking up their prescriptions, and teenagers were buying cough drops for winter colds. Robert stood outside the glass doors for 10 minutes, his hands shaking not from the cold, but from fear. He had never stolen anything in his entire life. He was a good man who worked hard and always tried to do the right thing. But watching his daughter suffer had pushed him to a breaking point. He pulled his baseball cap low over his eyes and walked into the bright pharmacy.
The shelves were filled with bottles and boxes of medicine that could save Lily’s life. Robert found the children’s fever medicine and the special breathing treatment that Lily needed. Together, they cost more than he made in two days of work. Robert looked around the store. The pharmacist was busy helping an elderly woman, and the cashier was counting money in her register. His heart pounded so loud he was sure everyone could hear it. He slipped the medicine into his jacket pocket and walked toward the door as calmly as he could. Just as he was about to leave, a strong hand grabbed his shoulder.
“Excuse me, sir,”
said a security guard with kind eyes, but a serious voice.
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