Brack had me call the hospital to check on Mack during our drive back to the apartment. They'd moved him to a private room and his mother answered with her surname.

Guilt over the reason she was at the hospital with her son swamped me. "Uhh, umm, this is Olivia Stradmore, a friend of Brack's. He's, ah, driving and he wanted me to check on Mack."

"Hi, Mom," Brack belted out from the driver's seat.

"Mom?" I mouthed. "I call her mom," he mouthed back.

I could ...