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He nods. “About what?”

“Parker Watson’s medical expenses.”

“Okay.” With two quick taps on his phone, he’s apparently called her. “Hi. About covering Watson’s expenses. Yeah . . . can you come over for a minute?” He nods. “Okay.” Still holding the phone to his ear, he turns to me. “She’ll be here in a moment.”

Sure enough, it’s only a matter of seconds before Evelyn reappears. Now it’s my turn to point to the room where she and Ricky had disappeared into just minutes ago. “Can we talk for a moment?”

She nods and leads the way.

The room doesn’t look any more spectacular from the inside than it does from the outside. I turn fully toward her. “Parker is receiving the best possible care. If you believe he can’t get that here, tell me what hospital can provide it, and transfer him there.”

“Mr. . . . ”

“Evan.”

“Okay, Evan. Parker doesn’t have insurance. We’re providing him with everything he absolutely needs. However . . . ”

“I’ll cover the costs. All of them. For his entire stay, for every chief physician and specialist. There’s no limit. Forget about the insurance. Just bill me.”

“Um . . . ”

I pull my wallet out of my pants pocket and show her my credit card. “Why don’t we do it this way: You give me an interim bill for everything that’s been incurred so far, for the next two days of top-notch care, and I’ll pay it right away. If you’d like, I can provide my card information, and you can charge the card whenever another payment is due.”

“Evan, we’re not there yet. And I need to make sure you understand what you are really offering. We are talking six figures.”

I should be glad she doesn’t recognize me. “Let’s give it a try.”

She shrugs and eyes me in disbelief. “Okay. I’ll let accounting know . . . Why don’t you wait a moment with your friend, and I’ll bring you the paperwork.”

“Thanks.” I walk back to Ricky, who’s face is still contorted with worry.

“So?”

“Everything’s sorted out. We don’t have to worry about that for now.” As I’m talking, my phone vibrates, and I pull it out of my pocket. I glance at the time. Shit. I’m supposed to be at practice right now. Not surprisingly, it’s Blake calling me. I quickly answer the call. “Hey . . . ” What am I going to tell him?

“Dude. I’m sure there’s a great explanation, but where the hell are you?”

I look around. I’m right where I’m supposed to be. “There was a family emergency; I’m at the hospital right now.”

“Evan, shit, sorry. I didn’t know that. Are you okay? Is something wrong with your mom?”

My mom. “No. She’s okay, and I’m fine.” Fuck. “Blake, I need to talk to the team. I can’t do this over the phone. Um . . . ” My eyes fall on the clock in the waiting room. “If everything goes as planned, I’ll be there tonight and I’ll explain everything.”

Blake is silent. “Evan, you know you can talk to me. Even on the phone. I won’t tell anyone anything if you don’t want me to. I can tell the coach that you’re in the hospital and that you’ll get in touch with him as soon as possible.”

I nod, as if he could see me. “Yes. Please do that.”

“Will you be at the game tomorrow?”

The game. The second round starts tomorrow. “I . . . ” Of course I’d play. If Parker was doing okay. “I guess so, yeah. But I still need to talk to you guys.”

“Okay.”

We fall silent. Should I take a chance? Should I tell Blake everything? I have to talk to the team, anyway. No matter how things turn out with Parker today, I have to explain myself. I want to explain myself.

“Blake.”

“What’s up, man? There’s nothing you could tell me that would make me flinch or change anything about our friendship.”