“What?” said Raymond.

“Hang on. I’m getting another call,” I said when the beeps continued.

“Go ahead and take it,” said Raymond.

“I’ll call you back.” I pressed the button to answer the other line. It was Hal. He was agitated, flustered. He may have been crying. I heard a woman’s voice in the background, shrieking. “Is that Audrey?”

“Yes,” Hal sobbed, but it also sounded like an order.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?” I sat down, bracing myself.

“Jake’s been in a . . . car accident.” Hal’s voice was low and gravelly. Then, before sobbing, he barely choked out the words, “He’s in a coma.”

“Oh, no,” I said. “Jesus. Hal, I’m so sorry.”

Hal sniffled and made noises that weren’t words. Sitting on the edge of my motel bed, I pressed the receiver as hard as I could to my ear, as if this would help me understand why this had happened.

“Honey, it’s gonna be okay, okay?” I said, not knowing anything about anything. “What happened? Can you tell me?”

Hal explained that Jake had been at the snowboarding event in Lutsen, which was almost two hours north of Duluth. I knew, because this was the competition that was going to keep him from attending the transfer ceremony. “Yes, I remember, but I thought it ended on Sunday?”

“It did.” Hal could barely get the words out. He choked and whimpered, and when he composed himself again, he added, painfully, “But he asked . . . if he could stay up there . . . with friends . . . for another night.”

“Oh, honey, yeah, I remember that now.”

“And they were driving back . . . tonight . . . and his friend Tommy was driving, you know Tommy?”

“No, but that’s okay,” I said.

“I thought you’d met him,” said Hal, sniffling and blowing his nose. “They hit a patch of . . . ice and slid sideways, the officers said, and . . . they got hit by a . . . semi . . .” Hal gasped, and I thought he might hyperventilate.

“And he’s in a coma? Do they think he’ll come out of it . . . soon?”

“They don’t know . . . I don’t know anything more,” said Hal, and I could hear Audrey in the back, tugging at him. “We’re coming up there.”

“Good,” I said. “Can you drive?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine,” said Hal. “We’re bringing Caleb.”

“How is he?”

“He’s hanging in there. It’s tough,” said Hal. “Ruth, can you meet us at the hospital?”

“Yes, of course, I’ll go over there right away. Which one is it?”

“St. Mary’s. We won’t be there for . . . a few hours,” Hal said, losing his strength momentarily. “But if you could go . . . and see him . . . speak to him . . .” He stopped at that idea, then continued as soon as he was able. “If you could, that would mean a lot . . . to me.”