“Dr. Matthews,” Sunny said, walking over to them. “You have a call. From some hospital.”
She reached out her arm holding the satellite phone and Ford’s stomach sank.Oh God, no. No... please don’t tell me...
He stopped himself from thinking the worst, but everything else around him faded to the back of his mind. Winning. The dig. Corrie. Nothing else mattered but his mom. He jumped up from the ground, snagged the phone, and took off for some privacy.
“Hello?” he asked once he’d reached the safety of his tent.
“This is Dr. Lee at Lakeview. Sorry for calling at such a late hour—”
“That’s okay. Is everything all right? Is... is my mom okay?” He held his breath, waiting for Dr. Lee’s response.
“Yes, she’s... stable...” Stable? That didn’t sound like a good thing. “But the transfer from the hospital to Lakeview didn’t go as smoothly as we would have liked. I’d like to start her on the new treatment right away, tomorrow if possible.”
“Okay...”
Where was the catch?
“But I wanted to talk to you about some... maybe... less expensive options we could try first.”
The catch.
“Oh.”
“Your mother explained that insurance has been covering most of her treatments thus far, and she was concerned about the cost of the treatment I’m recommending because it’s...well, the out-of-pocket expense will be significantly greater than what you’ve been covering, so she asked that I call you. There are several additional options for treatment, though they’re not as aggressive as the one I originally recommended. But as her doctor, I would be comfortable with any of them at this point. She just wanted to make sure you are okay with the selection.”
His mother wanted to make surehewas okay? As if his checking account mattered more than her health. It was official—he was a terrible son.
Although, in some respects, it didn’t matter if he couldn’t actuallypayfor the treatment.
“Tell me... if the other treatments don’t work, does that mean you’ll eventually recommend the more expensive treatment anyway?” he asked.
“Most likely.”
“And if that happens, then it would end up costing even more money in the end?”
“Sure. It’s a definite possibility.”
“Then do whatever is most likely to make her better.” Making sure she was better, or even simply comfortable, was the only thing he cared about.
“She knew you were going to say that.”
“Well, she could have called me herself, and I would have told her that. I’m sorry to make you call to deliver the same answer she already knew.”
“She said she’d tried to call but hadn’t been able to get ahold of you...” A sickening gut punch hit Ford deep in the stomach.
“Can I talk to her now?” To assuage some of his guilt.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Matthews, but that won’t be possible. Your mother is very weak, and the treatments take a lot out of her. I’m surprised she was even awake when she tried calling lastFriday, but she said it’s the highlight of her week. The only thing she has to look forward to.”
The phone dropped a half inch from his ear as he clutched it to keep from crying. The only thing she had to look forward to and he’d gone and forgotten after deciding instead to stay late at the dig site. He wasn’t a terrible son. He was ashittyson.
“Well, can you tell her I love her?” he managed to choke out. Barely.
“Of course, Dr. Matthews. And she asked me to tell you the same. I’ll follow up later this week with any updates. Take care, now.”
The minute he hung up the phone, Ford crumpled onto his bed. What was he doing here? He didn’t need to risk everything on this dig. There were other ways he could get the money. Pick up some additional lectures. Maybe that speaker series at the museum they’d been asking him to do. Sure, those things didn’t pay much, but at least he’d be there with her and she wouldn’t be alone. He could visit her in person, giving her something more than a thirty-minute phone call each week to look forward to.
Hell, he could pick up gambling. Though, with the way his luck had been going the last couple of years, that perhaps wasn’t the best option.
