Oh my God! Carlyle thought. Her heart thudded in her ears. The nurse’s warning reverberated in her skull: “The bacteria is spread most often via hand contact. Never, never, never touch anyone, including yourself, with your gloves still on!”

Her eyes fell on her father’s gangrenous leg.

What have I just done?

18 - Vancouver, Canada

18

Vancouver, Canada

Kilburn had just entered his car and closed the driver’s-side door when his cell phone rang. He patted his pocket and looked under the seat. By the fourth ring, he narrowed down the source to the glove compartment of his’98 Jeep. He reached a hand in and dug through the papers, before his fingers wrapped around the phone’s vinyl casing. He answered without looking at the call display.

“Graham,” the voice chirped. “It’s me.”

He was tempted to fake cell signal failure and hang up. “Kyra,” he sighed. “Today is not good.”

His little sister giggled. “Oh, honey, you always got to make time for family.”

“I’m on my way to the hospital.”

“Like every single other day, huh?” she said with a slight slur.

His anger stirred. “You’re drunk.”

“I’ve had one lousy drink,” she snapped.

“Damn it, Kyra—”

“Don’t you judge me! You have no idea how hard it is to look after two kids when you’re on your own.”

He grunted a laugh. “That’s precious, Kyra, coming from you.”

“I know, honey,” she said, her tone syrupy-sweet again. “You’ve been a big help with the kids. Given them a good male role model. Unlike that deadbeat son-of-a-bitch father of theirs. But Gray, it’s different. You’re not alone.”

“You do remember that Michelle moved out, right?” he said, feeling the pressure build behind his temples.

“She’ll be back,” Kyra said happily.

“She’s not coming back!” he said through gritted teeth. “She couldn’t handle three kids that weren’t her own.”

“Two kids,” Kyra said. “And that’s a bit selfish—”

“Kyra, you’re the third child! She loves Matt and Shayna. She was happy to have them with us. But you—”

“What about me?” she demanded, her voice quavering.

“Michelle said you drained so much of my emotion there was nothing left for her,” Kilburn said evenly. He felt the pangs of guilt even before he heard his sister start to choke back sobs on the other end of line.

“Oh, Graham, I’m so sorry,” she moaned. “I ruin everything for everyone, don’t I?”

He inhaled a long, slow breath. “That’s not true,” he said in a gentler tone.

“I really am King Midas in reverse,” she sputtered and dissolved into tears.