itch.io

You're certainly correct, I was not particularly happy with how I ended this.  I had originally planned for about an extra chapter's worth, but had to stop between part one and two for nearly two weeks for some emergency home repairs (leaking roof, replacing ceiling) and tried to resolve everything much too quickly to complete it in time.

That, plus poor planning on my end for part two in general, led to an unsatisfactory conclusion.  The sad part is, the work I was supposed to have had done the last two days of the month fell through, and had I realized in advance, I could have spent a bit more time working on the story.  At the point it fell through though, it would take me longer to rewrite and fix the botched ending than I probably had time for. 

Also, in regard to the state of American healthcare, I can tell you this is very much a reality.  When my mother was dying with terminal lung cancer a couple years ago, she got unceremoniously fired from her job, had her health insurance terminated, and had to apply for disability that never came through while she was still alive.  

She then had to apply for COBRA insurance at $850 a month that never paid a single penny on her medical bills, and I and my sister had to fight tooth and nail for her supplemental insurance benefits that she had paid for, which didn't even come through until months after she died.  

It wasn't very much, but it worried her so much that she  had panic attacks several times a day because we were having to take care of her and pay her bills.  (Both of my parents ended up moving in with me around a year before they died.  She was 60 at the time.)

We never got reimbursed from her cancer policy, and because they fired her about a week before she died, they didn't pay her employee life insurance benefits, either.  

The employees at her nursing home collected enough to make her insurance payment for her, while her job itself didn't even bother to send flowers for her funeral, even though she had been employed there for over 28 years.  

Two weeks after she died, it was almost exactly the same thing with my father; he had terminal pancreatic cancer, and he too died less than two months later before we could get the first thing settled.  He had worked for his job for 33 years before retiring just a year before.  Again, no flowers or even a card from his employer, but his coworkers were there to help.

After all of that, I ended up with a lot of severe health issues that left me unable to work.  Long story short, it took me over two and a half years to finally get disability, even with a clear cut case.  

I'm not saying any of this looking for sympathy. All things considered, I'm doing ok, but yes, it is incredibly frustrating!  It's also a lesson, never give your life to a company!

Sorry for the rant, but thank you for your response!