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“Please come with me,” she says in a tone that brooks no argument.

“Evan can come along if it’s about Parker.”

She eyes me appraisingly. “Since this concerns Parker, I can’t speak with you. Privacy laws. You understand. What you do with the information afterward is none of my business.” She glances at me. “Mr. Townsend, let’s go.” She points to the luggage in his hand. “As long as Parker doesn’t have a room yet, you won’t need that.” Ricky gives me an apologetic look, hands me back my duffel bag, and follows her.

I stand there. Left behind. The two of them disappear into a staff room that’s completely visible through a large glass wall.

Evelyn shows Ricky something on the tablet. He furrows his brow. He taps the tablet himself. Evelyn watches him calmly, as if she’s had this conversation a million times before. That’s probably exactly the case. Ricky’s expression grows increasingly tense. He gestures again.

My heart is racing, and I’m shifting from foot to foot. Something’s happening here. Nothing good. And there’s nothing I can do about it.

Instinctively, I walk toward the room and stop.

I have to intervene.

Evelyn shakes her head, and Ricky’s shoulders slump.

The two of them come out of the room, and Ricky walks toward me with a tight-lipped expression.

“What’s going on?” I whisper to Ricky. Impatiently and far too rudely.

“It’s . . . ” He runs his fingers through his hair and sinks into one of the visitor chairs. Two seats away, a woman is crying. Her shoulders are shaking and her face is streaked with tears, but not a sound can be heard from her. “The surgery’s over.”

“So? What happened? Why?” The helplessness chokes me. My hands are shaking. I want to scream, to rage.

“Parker’s okay. They say everything went well. But . . . ”

“But? Ricky, I swear to you . . . ”

He snorts, not particularly amused. “Fuck. I’m not cut out for this.”

“Ricky.” I squint and try to mentally coax the information out of him.

“They admitted Parker after the accident. I gave them the missing information they couldn’t find in his wallet. Health insurance and stuff . . . We have the same plan. Same employer.” He exhales heavily. “Had the same plan. Parker was fired, and Simon apparently sent all the paperwork to the health insurance company last night, and they immediately canceled all coverage.”

I stare at him. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah. They were trying to get the insurances sorted for the post-surgery-costs. Only to discover the insurance is no longer valid.”

“But what does that mean?”

Ricky shrugs his shoulders in a helpless gesture. “He’ll have to cover the costs incurred out of pocket. She wants to know now how they’re supposed to proceed with his postoperative care. The terms of the insurance policy no longer apply. He is in the ICU now. She’s discussing with the doctors the further proceedings.” Ricky groans and curses. “I have to let his father know. I doubt he has managed to save up that much money with his little farm. Dammit. I can’t decide this on my own. Parker’s dad is planning to come here. But it won’t happen that quickly. They want an answer right now.”

And they’ll get one. “I’ll talk to them.” I stand up and check the area.

“Evan, you know I’m listed in the advance directive.”

“Yeah, as an emergency contact. But not as the person who pays his bills.”

“And are you?” He eyes me, raising his eyebrows.

“In this case, yes. I may not be able to do anything else, but I’m the reason Parker is here in the first place. Why he had that accident, why he was fired. The only thing I can take care of without batting an eye is a bill. No matter how high it is.”

He nods hesitantly. “Yeah. You’re probably right. I’m not sure how Parker sees it.”

Now I raise my hands. “He’s welcome to tear my head off once he’s back on his feet. But I think we should give him the chance to do that. For that to happen, he has to get well first.”

I turn around completely and walk over to Ted. “I need to talk to Evelyn Dreyer for a moment.”