Then my phone rang.
It was an unknown number.
I almost ignored it, but something told me not to.
So, I answered.
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then an unfamiliar woman’s voice asked, “Are you, Harrison?”
“Yes.”
She took a shaky breath. “Please tell me you haven’t arrived yet.”
I stood up so fast that my envelope fell down.
I picked it up quickly as my heart raced.
“What happened?”
There was a pause, then the woman said, “I’m Margaret’s daughter. My name is Ellen. My mother had a heart attack this morning.”
For a second, the whole bus seemed to go distant around me, as if I had been dropped underwater.
“Is she…” I couldn’t finish.
“She’s alive,” Ellen said quickly. “She’s in the hospital. They stabilized her, but they’re worried. She kept asking whether you’d already arrived. I found your number in her address book.”
I sat down hard in the nearest seat.
