In the depths of sleep, John heard a soft ringing, growing steadily until his eyes opened. He lay a second in the dark, coming to himself, then groped for the phone on the nightstand beside his bed. Something hit the floor in the process, click-clacking as it rolled away. Blinking at the blurred number flashing on the screen, he answered.
“John, it’s Peg,” his sister said. Her voice was jittery and rushed.
“Yeah, I see that.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the time. 2:00 a.m. “You know I’m twelve hours ahead of you, right?”
“John, listen to me. It’s Mom. She’s had a stroke.”
It took a moment for the words to register. He’d just spoken with his mother not two days ago, enduring fifty minutes of the latest gossip about Oak Creek’s mucky-mucks. He sat up. “Stroke? Wha
