Chapter 2
My mother called at ten.
"Ethan, what's wrong with the Chase card? I tried to take money out and the machine said it was frozen."
"I froze it."
"Why would you do that?"
"Maya's in the hospital. Placenta previa. She may need surgery at any time. I need my money where I can reach it."
She went quiet for one beat, not with fear for Maya, but calculation.
"How much can a hospital stay cost? Why freeze everything? We need money here."
"How much?"
"Don't worry about the amount. Just unfreeze the card first."
"How much is left on it?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
"Because it's my account. How much is left?"
Silence.
"A few hundred thousand, maybe. I don't remember the exact number."
A few hundred thousand.
Nearly two million should have been there.
"Mom, I counted. Salary, bonuses, project awards. At least one point eight million dollars went through that account in three years. You're telling me only a few hundred thousand is left?"
"Why are you calculating against your own mother? Do you think raising you was free?"
"I'm not calculating the cost of being your son. I'm asking where my money went."
"I spent it. So what? I'm your mother."
"On Ryan?"
The silence that followed told me enough. Then Gordon's voice came from somewhere near her. "Stop wasting time. Tell him to unlock it."
My mother's voice hardened when she came back. "Ethan, don't make this ugly. Unlock the card. We need it today."
"How much?"
"One hundred eighty thousand."
The same amount as before.
"Mom," I said, "my wife is lying in a hospital bed. She might not survive the day."
"Don't use that to threaten me. Pregnancy is never as serious as you make it sound."
"It is this serious. Surgery, blood, ICU, neonatal care. At least sixty thousand up front, maybe more."
"Then unlock the card and I'll leave that much for you."
I closed my eyes.
"No."
"What did you say?"
"The card stays frozen. I'll handle the money myself."
I ended the call.
She called again. I rejected it. Six times.
The seventh call came from Ryan.
I answered.
"Ethan, what the hell is wrong with you? Mom says you froze the card."
"Ryan, you know how much you've taken from her over the last three years."
"Taken? We're family. Don't talk like that."
"Fine. Family. Transfer sixty thousand to me now. Maya is in the hospital."
"Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?"
"How much was your Mercedes? How much was the down payment on your condo? How much did Evercrest cost to register? Add it up and tell me if it reaches sixty thousand."
His breathing changed.
"Are you trying to turn against us?"
"I'm saying every number can be checked through bank records. If I'm wrong, sit down with me and we'll go through them one by one."
He had no answer.
"I need to be with my wife," I said, and hung up.
My hand was steady when I set the phone down.
Dying once had cured me of the fear of disappointing them.
That afternoon, Dr. Turner checked Maya again.
"Stable for now," she said. "But I want blood ready. If she bleeds, we can get her into surgery in under fifteen minutes."
"I've already called the blood bank," I said.
Dr. Turner looked at me a little longer this time. "Good."
After she left, Maya woke and found me still in the chair.
"You haven't gone anywhere?"
"No."
"What about work?"
"I took leave."
She looked at me as if she were seeing a new man in my face.
"You feel different," she said.
I almost told her the truth. I almost said, Because I watched you die once.
Instead I said, "I should have been different a long time ago."
