Chapter 3

It was eleven at night. Claire sat alone on a bench in the hospital hallway, her phone gripped tight in her hand, staring blankly ahead.

The screen kept lighting up and going dark, over and over, as she hesitated.

In the end, she finally dialed that number, the one she'd saved four months ago but never had the guts to call.

"Hey?" James answered, a bit of surprise in his voice.

"My dad's in the hospital. I need 100 thousand." Claire's voice was barely above a whisper. "Could you lend me some money?"

There was a brief silence on the…