Chapter 3

The storm raged all night.

Early the next morning, just as Marianne was getting ready to leave, I received a call from the nursing home.

The nurse spoke rapidly, explaining that my grandmother, Edna Lambert, had suddenly suffered severe heart failure and needed to be transferred to a hospital for emergency surgery immediately.

At the same time, a family member had to get there within the hour to sign the consent forms.

All the rideshare services had stopped operating, and even the trains could be suspended at any moment.

But the back of my right hand was so swollen from the burn that I could barely grip my car keys.

I grabbed Marianne by the sleeve and said, "Please take me to the nursing home. I'm begging you."

Her expression softened. "Get in the car."

For the first time in two days, she hadn't mentioned Jeremiah.

The car pulled onto the overpass, rain pounding relentlessly against the windshield. Even with the wipers on their fastest setting, the road ahead remained a blur.

I clenched the paper warning that Grandma was in critical condition in my fist.

Marianne glanced at me and turned on the heater.

"Don't worry. We'll make it in time."

Those few words nearly broke down my defenses.

Seven years ago, when Grandma had first been hospitalized, Marianne had stayed with me outside the emergency room.

Back then, she'd only just graduated. She couldn't afford plane tickets, so she rode with me on a 17-hour train ride back to my hometown.

My eyes had stung with unshed tears the entire journey, and I hadn't said a word.

She'd told me, "From now on, whatever concerns your family concerns me too."

A ringtone shattered the brief silence in the car.

On the other end, Jeremiah sucked in a sharp breath.

"The power tripped because of the storm. I was fumbling around in the dark trying to fix the breaker box when I missed a step and fell down the stairs. I'm not going to die or anything, but I don't think I can move my leg.

"There are shards of glass stuck in my hand too. Don't worry about me. Stay with Mitchell and take care of what you need to do."

Marianne's hands suddenly tightened around the steering wheel.

The exit ramp was just ahead. She began braking hard, slowing the car down.

"Don't take the exit." I grabbed her arm, my voice trembling. "The nursing home gave us only an hour."

Marianne wrenched the steering wheel to the side, her voice sharp with frantic urgency.

"I'll go check on Jerry first, then take you there. He's fallen so badly he can't even stand, and he's still trying to tough it out. Can you seriously not tell what matters most in a situation like this?"

"But Grandma is being resuscitated!"

"There are doctors at the hospital."

By the time she finished speaking, the car had already veered onto the exit ramp on the right.

The smell coming from the air-conditioning vents grew stronger. Suddenly, I caught a powerful scent of aloe vera.

It was the air freshener Jeremiah had left in the car yesterday. It contained aloe vera extract, which I was severely allergic to.

Two years ago, I'd ended up in the emergency room because of the same ingredient. And Jeremiah had been right there with me at the time.

I reached for the vent, but my fingers were too weak to close it.

I could barely breathe, and my words came out as little more than a broken whisper. "Stop… the car."

Marianne turned to look at me.

I was curled up in the passenger seat, both hands gripping the seat belt tightly.

"Where's your medication?" she asked.

"In my bag."

She rummaged through it but couldn't find it.

Jeremiah's call came in again. He let out a low groan, and Marianne immediately slammed on the brakes and pulled into an emergency stopping lane beneath the overpass.

After that, she hurried around to the passenger side and yanked open the door.

Icy rain swept into the car. I thought she was going to help me into the back seat to look for my medication, but she grabbed me and hauled me out of the seat instead.

My knees slammed into standing water. Pain exploded through me, and my vision went black.

Marianne's voice came through the curtain of rain, "Mitchell, are you seriously faking an asthma attack just to fight Jerry for my attention? The doctors are watching Mrs. Dillon Senior. She's not going to die with them looking after her.

"Meanwhile, Jerry's home alone in the dark. How am I supposed to just leave him like that?"

I braced myself against the ground, struggling to reach the car door.

"My medication…"

"Take a cab to the hospital yourself. I'll come back for you once I've picked up Jerry."

The door slammed shut in front of me, and the taillights disappeared into the torrential rain within seconds.

I lay sprawled in the puddle, struggling several times before I finally managed to push myself up.

Water had gotten into my phone, and the screen had gone black.

The water came up past my calves.

Not a single car passed along the overpass.

I inched forward along the guardrail, stopping every few steps to gasp for air. It felt as though countless needles were stabbing through my lungs again and again.

But Grandma was still waiting for me to sign the consent forms.

Two hours later, I finally caught sight of the hospital's emergency department. I'd lost one of my shoes along the way, and my pant legs were caked with mud and water.

The lights in the lobby were glaringly bright. I leaned against the wall and staggered toward the resuscitation room.

A doctor rushed out, clutching a notice in his hand.

"Where's Mrs. Dillon Senior's family? We were unable to save her."

A metallic taste surged up my throat, and I spat out a mouthful of blood.

Just before my vision went completely dark, I saw the notice fall onto the cold tiled floor. Then, alarms blared throughout the lobby.