ines and the hushed, urgent voices of medical

with worry. "It's turned to sepsis. We need to get her into sur

rds hit me like

y voice hoarse. "W

for the emergency procedure. Th

lars that had paid for Ethan's suit. It was empty. I had a few hundred

, the everything. I had to try

en went to voicemail. I

cal. Needs surgery now. I ne

Then, a reply. "Stop scamming me Cal

his time, she answered, but he

want? I'm at

l too! Mom has seps

just rushed in. Kidney failure. She needs a transplan

ic

ends, the guys from the site, begging for a few hundred here, a thousand there. I pleaded with the hospi

d in the surgical wing's sterile, cold waiting area. My head

I saw

he was pacing frantically, her phone pressed to her ear. She wasn't dressed for a ho

the phone, her voice carry

! I want the best surgeons, a private room, eve

e mother

her life because of Gabrielle's casual cruelty, she was here,

s of it all w