Karen smiled at the memory of yesterday; Matt and Rose had gotten back to the bookshop all smiles. He had to go, taking his camera with him but promising to come back soon. Rose was returned safely to Donna and the rest of her day was happy, despite the small amount of customers.

Karen got out of bed and downstairs to the kitchen. She stayed at her parents' last night, due to their request. Karen's parents had an okay life, it was just her who never wanted their help. She insisted that she had to live life on her own, and after graduating from university, she wanted no financial aid from her parents. 

"Hi, momma.", she said, walking past her mother's chair and pecking her on the cheek.

"Karen, you're leaving today?"

"I said I'd only be here one night, remember? Besides, your house isn't far from Trafalgar's. I'll stop by during lunch break.", she promised.

"Okay."

She walked to the living room where her aunt sat, watching the Telly.

"Bye, Aunt May.", she said.

"Just a minute, darling. Where you headed to?"

"I'm going to the hospital, then to work."

Her aunt nodded in understanding.

"See you soon."

Karen walked out of the house and stared back at her parents' house. It was old, paint started to crack and wear off. Her parents only moved there last year, but they couldn't afford a new house, so they took an old one instead. Life went downhill from there.

Karen walked toward the busy street and hailed a cab.

"St. Bartholomew's Hospital, please."

The driver nodded and drove straight on. Karen kept her eyes on the road, wishing they could arrive faster. When they arrived, she paid the driver quickly and practically ran to the elevator.

Upon entering, she stood near the door and pressed floor number 5. When she finally arrived, she ran to room 502. She knocked and walked in.

"Hi, dad.", she said to the man on the hospital bed, ignoring her uncle on the couch.

"Hey, sweetie. How you doing?", he said weakly.

"Good. I'm good. You?"

"You know me, always here."

She walked towards her dad.

"Get well soon, dad. I have to go in a while. I'll see you soon."

She walked towards her uncle.

"Hey, uncle Rob, you alright?", she asked.

The tall man smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm alright."

"Can I talk to you outside?", she asked.

They both walked outside, closing the door silently.

"How is he?", she asked.

"Chemo is alright, it works so far. Apparently they think he'll last till Christmas, which isn't long."

Karen held back tears. "How long have you known?"

"A while. Your mom and May didn't want me to tell you."

"Why?", she asked hoarsely.

"Come here. It's okay.", he said, pulling her into a hug.

She tried not to cry and pulled away quickly, wiping her tears.

"Do you need money? I can pay. How's the financial condition at home?", she asked.

"Since your dad had to quit work, the company won't send money to him at all. Me and May are trying our best, we can always help out."

She nodded understandingly, saying "Thank you."

"If anything, I'm trying to convince your mum to move to our house and sell the old one. Kensington will be a nice change for her."

Karen's uncle, unlike her parents, lives a quite privileged life. Having lived in Kensington for so many years, he's always offered help to the family at any time they want. It had always been Karen who politely declined, however this time she's considering it.

"I..really couldn't.", she said.

"Karen, just let us help you this one time. Please."

She sighed. "Ask mum."

Her uncle nodded and told her that he had to come back to accompany her dad. She agreed and walked back in the direction of the elevators, having to go home before going to work.

~*~

Karen walked in her apartment, knocking on her roommate, Jenna's door.

"Jen, you in there?"

The door unlocked and Jenna walked out with her hair wrapped up in a towel.

"Hey, rent's due next week.", Jenna said.

Karen sighed quietly.

"You want me to cover for you? I know it's been hard.", Jenna offered.

She shook her head. "No, I could never. Besides, I'm fine. Completely fine."

"Really? I swear, you should get a side job someday soon."

"I'm thinking. Somewhere near Trafalgar should be good. I'm not sure yet."

"Well, how's work?"

"It's great! Lovely. Hopefully during Christmas the store will flood with parents looking for presents."

"And right now?"

"Great, we're doing great, really. More and more customers are coming along.", she lied.

"Really? That's great, I'm so proud of you! Well, I better get to work in a bit, too. Say hi to that cutie, Matt, if you see him!", Jenna said, walking back in her room. 

~*~

What she said to Jenna is far from the truth. The store is once again empty except for the occasional passers-by. Matt didn't come today, though they agreed that he'll come back tomorrow. He'd asked for her number and promised to call this morning, and Karen patiently waited for a call.

There was nothing but silence in the shop, empty as always, and this is one of the days where Karen considered closing down the shop and finding a better job. The thing is, she stays here because this is the closest place to the hospital. 

She can get a side job if she likes, but that would mean having to close the shop earlier, or take a night shift at the side-job, meaning she'd go home later. Either way, she'll have to make some sort of sacrifice. 

The shop phone rang and she picked it up.

"Gillan's Gorgeous Books and Stationaries, Karen Gillan speaking."

"Hello, Miss Gillan. This is Clara Oswald from the tax office. We'd like to remind you that you must pay your dues for this building next week, or else we will be forced to take away your property due to late payment for three consecutive weeks."

Karen sighed. "Right, thank you, Ms. Oswald. I'll keep that in mind."

"I'm sure you will. Have a nice day.", said the lady on the other end, swiftly hanging up afterwards.

Karen buried her head in her hands. Could this day get any worse?

Kind of short, I know, but what do you guys think? Some trouble in Karen's life. See what I did with the Clara there? ;) I forgot to upload this last Friday so you'll be getting two chapters today, three and four. Expect the next one in an hour or less.