Ever looked back at the public housing building. It painted broad brush strokes of chilled shadow right over the top of him, almost as if it were in a hurry to finish the job before the winter sun set behind it.

  Estrella’s reading had been useful; he was happier that he had seen it than if he hadn’t. However, it still wasn’t clear to him just exactly what Zoe’s colleagues had been hiding. Roman’s serious face breached the surface of his memory. In the clinic earlier, he had been just about to tell Ever something. Maybe I’ll give him a call.

  Ever took his phone out, turned on the screen and immediately frowned.

  “Seven missed calls…” from two different numbers, no less. Three from a cell phone and four from a land line that looked extremely familiar. The times of each call showed that they came in all around the same time, earlier in the afternoon when he happened to be reaping Estrella.

  Just as his thumb hovered over the call button for the landline, a new call came through from that exact number. He swiped across right away.

  “Hello?”

  “Ever! Oh thank God you finally picked up.” The woman’s voice shuddered as she breathed heavily into her phone.

  Ever frowned, walking back towards the public housing away from the noise of the traffic. “Carol? Is that you?”

  “I’ve got him,” her voice was quieter but still frantic, as if she was holding the receiver away while talking to someone else, “hello? Are you still there?”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Yes Carol, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s Zoe,” Carol said, voice shuddering. “She’s had to go to hospital.”

  “What? Carol!” He pressed the phone into his ear as he jogged back towards the road. There were sounds of the phone receiver changing hands; Carol’s wails were now in the background.

  “Ever?”

  “Roman?”

  “Yeah, hi.” His voice was tight and controlled. “Where have you been?”

  “I’ve been…" Ever wrestled with the truth. "I was…”

  “Zoe’s had an episode.”

  “An episode?”

  “She’s had a seizure.”

  “What’s a seizure?”

  There was silence on the other line, punctuated by Carol sobbing in the background.

  “Has Zoe told you anything about her condition?”

  “No. I was hoping you could tell me.”

  “I – we can’t. Look, the best thing for you is to head over to St Vincent’s Hospital. Go to their emergency department. I’m going to bring Jin and Carol over now too. We’ll see you there.” The call ended.

  “Maps… Maps…” Ever swiped through the phone. All the apps appeared jumbled. “St Vincent's Hospital…” he tapped the location into the phone and zoomed right out. Not too far from here.

  He turned into reaper form on the spot; there were people around, but right now he didn't care. He zoomed straight up, as high as he could go, settling just below the cloud cover. Taking one last look at the setting sun to verify the direction, he launched himself towards the hospital.