“Paul, stay on the line,” he muttered, his knuckles white against the black plastic.

He took two long steps toward Dr. Rao.

“Is she awake?” Ethan asked.

Dr. Rao shook her head slowly.

“No, Mr. Caldwell, she isn’t,” Dr. Rao said, keeping her voice low.

“We managed to stabilize her blood pressure, but she is still unresponsive.”

I squeezed Lauren a little closer, feeling the steady, warm rise and fall of her chest.

“What about the tests?” I asked, speaking up for the first time in an hour.

Dr. Rao turned her gaze to me, her expression softening just a fraction.

“We are waiting on the toxicology report, Mrs. Higgins.”

“But she is fighting,” the doctor added, looking back at Ethan.

Ethan looked like he had been struck.

He looked down at his phone, then put it back to his ear.

“Paul,” he said, turning slightly away from us.

“I need a name. Who signed the rejection notice five years ago?”

I could hear the faint, tinny sound of Paul’s voice coming through the receiver.

Ethan’s shoulders went rigid.