“We can try to locate him for you through his employer.”

“No,” I said.

“I’ll keep trying his cell.”

The surgical prep area was completely white and freezing cold.

The monitors above the bed hummed with a low electric vibration.

Lily lay on a narrow bed, wearing a hospital gown with faded yellow ducks printed on the fabric.

She twisted a strand of dark hair around her pinky finger.

“Mommy,” she whispered.