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THEN I REMEMBERED SOMETHING

“My phone.”

Marcus stopped.

“What?”

“Why didn’t anyone call me?”

His expression changed again.

That bothered me.

“You said Adrian was taken to the hospital. Why didn’t someone call?”

“We were told not to.”

Everything inside me went still.

“What?”

Marcus rubbed a hand over his face.

“He asked us not to contact you yet.”

I stared.

“My husband got hurt in a fire and told you not to call me?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“What exactly was it like?”

“Claire.”

“You said he made you promise.”

Marcus looked exhausted.

“He was conscious in the ambulance bay. He kept asking whether you had been contacted.”

“And?”

“When he heard we were about to call you, he told us to wait.”

My anger rose through the fear.

“Why?”

Marcus hesitated.

That was the third hesitation.

I was beginning to hate them.

“Because of what happened inside the house.”

I stared.

“What happened?”

Marcus looked toward the crew.

One of the firefighters lowered his eyes.

Then Marcus said:

“Adrian wasn’t supposed to be where he was when the floor came down.”