Page 573 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

“This liver got the green light,

“or somebody still gotta get eyes on it?”

“No, I understand.”

“I’m not sayin’ no.

“I’m askin’ what I’m walkin’ her into.”

“So we get there, labs, EKG, chest X-ray, anesthesia, then wait.” His throat works. “I know it can still fall through.”

He glances at me,

then back to the road.

“Yeah, I know all of it.”

“If anything changes,

“call me before you call anybody else.”

Andrew hangs up and drops his phone into the cupholder, eyes ahead as the blurred headlights of the Lincoln Tunnel approach, hands white-knuckling the steering wheel as the car falls silent.

His mother’s getting a liver.

It’s the kind of phone call people drop to their knees over.

But he doesn’t seem happy,

hasn’t smiled once.

I keep waiting for it to hit him.

A tear. A laugh.

A fucking sigh of relief.

But no, he flinches,

then frantically pats down his pockets,

his jeans,

his jacket.

“Son of a bitch,” he groans,

his fist coming down on the wheel.

I glance over at him. “What?”

“My wallet.

“Left my fuckin’ wallet on the counter.”

He curses under his breath.

“We gotta turn around.”