Chapter 3

Less than an hour after the IV was started, my condition suddenly took a turn for the worse.

The monitor began shrieking. My oxygen level dropped from the nineties into the eighties, then the seventies. My heart raced wildly before slowing to a terrifying crawl.

The doctor rushed in, glanced at the monitor, and his expression changed.

"She has myocarditis. Her heart is inflamed." He turned to the nurse. "Get her transferred to Riverside. Now."

The nurse ran out to make the call. The only sounds left in the ER were the machines and the dull thud of the doctor pressing on my chest.

Mom stood in the hallway, watching through the glass in the door. She was still clutching the bank card.

When the nurse returned, her expression was grim. "All the ambulances from the city are out on calls. The soonest one can get here is 40 minutes."

"She doesn't have 40 minutes," the doctor said. "Tell her family to take her themselves."

The nurse hurried out to speak to Mom.

Mom froze. "How am I supposed to do that? I can't drive!"

"Call a cab. Get an Uber. It doesn't matter. Just get her there."

Mom pulled out her phone. Her thumb moved across the screen twice, then stopped. "How much will it cost to get to Riverside?"

"Probably 100 dollars."

Mom's finger hovered over the screen. "Can't the hospital take her? Wouldn't that cost less?"

The nurse raised her voice. "Your daughter's heart is about to stop, and you're still worried about money?"

"I'm not just worried about the money!" Mom shouted back. "I only have a little over 2,000 dollars left on my card. If I spend 100 getting her there, what happens if I can't afford the treatment at the other hospital?"

The hallway fell silent.

Then, someone spoke.

"I'll pay for it."

It was Rachel. She was still sitting on the bench, clutching the pen she had used to sign the paperwork.

She stood, pulled a 100-dollar bill from her purse, and pressed it into Mom's hand.

"Is that enough? I can get more if you need it."

Mom stared at the bill. Her lips moved, but no words came out.

Then she closed her fist around the money.

The ride was booked. The app said the car would arrive in five minutes.

During those five minutes, my heart stopped twice.

The doctor brought me back the first time. Then it stopped again, and he brought me back a second time.

The defibrillator charged three times, leaving two angry red marks on my chest.

Mom stood on the other side of the glass, the cash clenched in one hand and the bank card in the other.

Catherine stood beside her, tugging at the hem of her shirt.

"Mom, is Allison going to die?"

Mom didn't answer. She kept staring through the glass at the doctor pressing down on my chest and the jagged line jumping across the monitor.

The car arrived, and the driver called to tell us to hurry.

The nurse rushed my bed toward the elevator. Mom followed, with Catherine close behind her. Rachel came after them.

Just as the elevator doors opened, Mom's phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID and answered. "Hello? Yes, this is Diana Baldwin... Catherine's dance school? The payment is due today?"

The elevator doors slid fully open, and the nurse pushed me inside.

Mom stayed in the hallway with the phone pressed to her ear. "Could you give me two more days? I'm in the middle of…"

The nurse held the doors. "Mrs. Baldwin! Are you coming or not?"

Mom looked at me inside the elevator, then down at her phone.

The person on the other end was still talking.

Catherine's dance classes cost 3,000 dollars. If Mom didn't pay that day, Catherine would lose her spot.

She had spent six months saving that money.

The elevator doors began to close.

Mom stepped back. "You go ahead. I'll finish this call and meet you there."