Tony and his partner questioned her over and over, but still got nowhere. In the end, they had no choice but to leave.
So Monica was once again left alone, lying in the hospital bed, sobbing nonstop.
She cried for a long time.
Frank, Fiona, Lip—their faces appeared one after another in her mind.
She missed her family. She wanted to go back and be with them again.
Look at that—how shameless can a person be?
Now that she no longer had Roberta to rely on, suddenly she wanted to go home.
Outside the hospital room—
Someone from the finance department stood next to Monica's attending physician, watching her through the glass.
"When can we get her to sign discharge papers?" the finance guy asked. "She's a Gallagher. We can't keep dealing with the Gallaghers."
The doctor looked miserable. He seriously regretted not calling in sick last night and ending up stuck with a Gallagher. "If I sign today and kick her out, she could turn around and sue me."
"If you want her gone, we have to do this carefully. We can switch her to a new attending—preferably that new guy—and talk her into it…"
The doctor paused, then added, "Or we can quietly have a nurse leave a pair of crutches in her room. Based on my experience with the Gallaghers, once she sees those, there's a ninety percent chance she'll bolt."
The finance guy sighed. He was just as fed up.
This isn't a charity hospital.
These damn Gallaghers kept showing up one after another, never paying a cent. It was ridiculous.
"Send in the crutches first," he decided. "Tell the nurse—if she tries to leave, don't stop her."
"If she doesn't run, then we switch doctors."
"Works for me," the doctor said. As long as the liability wasn't on him, he didn't care how they handled it.
And so—
Not long after—
A visibly annoyed nurse brought in a pair of crutches and a cheap bottle of painkillers, left them in the room, then turned around and walked out, pretending she forgot.
Did Monica take the bait?
She absolutely did.
Monica desperately wanted to go back to the Gallagher house…
In fact, just moments earlier, she'd realized that in her current condition, once she got back, Fiona and the others definitely wouldn't kick her out.
And in a few days, she could go with Frank to sign that compensation agreement and get some money, too…
She didn't think long before making her decision.
Run.
Gallaghers never pay medical bills.
---
Dex Restaurant
Carol had already seen with her own eyes how insanely busy the restaurant was. She knew how much money Dexter was making and was now convinced he wasn't scamming Kevin and Veronica. So there wasn't much left to clarify.
It mostly came down to how Dexter planned to revive the Alibi and how profits would be split afterward.
Dexter honestly didn't care much about the details and answered everything straightforwardly.
Carol was very satisfied.
"Veronica, I'll give you twenty thousand dollars," Carol said. "Let's not call it a loan. Consider it a wedding gift for you and Kevin."
"But don't expect me to help with the wedding itself."
Veronica smiled and nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Mom. We'll pay for the wedding ourselves. I'm making pretty good money now."
She wasn't lying. At this pace, she could easily pull in ten grand a month.
That was exactly why she'd decided to let Kevin run the Alibi.
Once you're making real money, even if things go south, it's not that scary.
"One more thing," Carol added firmly. "You two need to give me an exact wedding date. No date, no money."
Veronica looked at Kevin.
Kevin grinned. "Deal, Mom. We'll talk it over and lock down a date as soon as possible."
"Now that's more like it," Carol said happily.
They chatted a bit more.
Then Carol said she needed to get back to the salon.
Kevin didn't waste time and got up to walk her back.
At that point, the Alibi renovation was officially settled and ready to begin immediately.
After Kevin left—
Dexter and Veronica talked things through.
Kevin and Veronica were putting in twenty thousand plus the Alibi itself, which meant Dexter would obviously be investing more than twenty thousand.
They talked it out.
How much was the Alibi actually worth?
The bar itself wasn't worth much, but the land deed had value—it was on a commercial street, even if it was in the South Side.
Veronica felt that since future profits would depend heavily on customers Dexter brought in, the bar and land shouldn't be valued at full market price. They should be discounted.
She genuinely didn't believe Dexter had any bad intentions toward the Alibi.
After some discussion, they finalized the numbers.
Dexter would invest sixty thousand dollars.
The split would be fifty-fifty.
Of course—
Renovations wouldn't cost anywhere near eighty thousand, so there would be plenty left over afterward.
"We can upgrade the Alibi," Dexter suggested. "Add a kitchen, hire a cook, sell fried food."
Veronica had the same idea and nodded in agreement.
After a bit more discussion, that was settled.
---
The wind was brutal that day—cut straight through you.
Fiona had spent almost all of the $120, carrying two heavy grocery bags as she walked out of the store.
They were really heavy.
She thought about Steve.
If what happened that morning hadn't happened, she could've ridden home in his car.
The thought passed quickly.
Fiona shook her head, clenched her teeth, and kept walking into the cold wind, step by step.
Halfway home—
Kevin, who had just dropped Carol off and was driving back toward the Alibi, spotted Fiona. He hesitated, then couldn't bring himself to ignore her. He made a U-turn, pulled over, and hit the brakes.
"Fiona, get in. I'll drive you home."
Fiona froze.
Things had been awkward that morning, and now here he was offering help…
But the bags were really heavy.
"Thanks," she said after a brief hesitation, forcing a smile as she got in.
Soon, they were heading toward the Gallagher house.
One minute passed. Two.
Neither of them spoke.
Finally, Kevin couldn't hold it in. "Fiona, you know V didn't do anything wrong, right?"
The words hit her.
Fiona's heart jolted. She glanced at him, stayed silent for a few seconds, then nodded. "I know."
"You've been best friends for so long," Kevin continued. "If there's a problem, you should at least try to work it out. Don't you think?"
Fiona nodded again, still saying nothing.
Kevin didn't push it. After a moment, he changed the subject. "How's work been lately?"
Fiona answered—she couldn't exactly stay silent.
They chatted on and off until they reached the house.
"Thanks," Fiona said quickly as she got out, not looking back as she headed inside.
Kevin shook his head, sighed quietly, and drove back to the Alibi.
---
There was no way around it.
That's just who Fiona is.
Later in the original story, Veronica put it perfectly—most of the time, Fiona only looked for her when she needed help.
Oh, by the way—it's my birthday today 😄
Put out a bowl, let's celebrate.