Ten minutes later, he swerved into her driveway. At least she was home. Her car was sitting at the far end of the driveway and even from where he was sitting in his car, he could see the front door was open. Amy always left her doors open, to Arnie’s chagrin.

He loped up the walkway and onto the small porch. He wrinkled his nose at what he was smelling as he tried to put a name to it. Maybe Amy had called an exterminator. He opened the screen door and walked inside. He stopped short and actually backed up a step to look at the house number on the white pillar on the porch. Was he in the right house?

The smell was coming from everywhere, and it was overpowering. In his life, he’d never seen Amy’s house so clean. Never. He called her name as he walked through the living room, dining room, and then into the kitchen. He was stunned at what he was seeing. He opened the refrigerator and didn’t know why. A gallon of milk.

He called her name again. Where were the kids? Why was it so quiet? Amy usually played the radio. Sometimes it played all night long because she was too lazy to walk into the kitchen to turn it off before going to bed.

He retraced his steps to the living room, where he loped up the steps, shouting his sister’s name. The smell was stronger on the second floor. He found himself gagging. He tried to breathe through his mouth as he looked around. It boggled his mind that the second floor was cleaner than the first floor.

He thought he heard water running. He held his breath as he listened. Amy must be in the shower. He felt the fine hairs on his neck stand on end as he made his way down the hall to Amy’s bedroom. He called out a second and then a third time. His heart kicked up a beat when there was no response. It was the shower he’d heard.

Andy poked his head into the bathroom doorway. “Amy, it’s me, Andy. How long before you’re finished? I need to talk to you.” He frowned when he realized there was no steam coming out of the stall shower. “Come on, Amy, answer me. If you don’t, I’m going to open that damn door. You need to grow up and start acting like the responsible adult you are. Okay, have it your way.” He marched across the tile floor and opened the door a crack.

“Amy!” he shouted hoarsely. “Amy, what’s wrong? Oh, Jesus!” Quickly he turned off the water and grabbed towels off the rack.

“Amy, what happened? Talk to me, damn it!” He wrapped his sister in two towels and led her through the bathroom to the bed. He switched on the light and gasped. “Oh, my God, Amy!” He rolled across the bed and grabbed for the phone. He jabbed in 9-1-1 and waited. “Now! I need an ambulance now! Something’s happened to my sister. She’s blistered from head to toe from a hot shower. I think it’s from a shower. I just got here and found her like this. The water was freezing. I think she’s in shock.” He gave the address, broke the connection, and called his brother-in-law.