"Did she now?" I fiddled with the edge of her blanket.
"No, but she did tell me something interesting." Mom's eyes sparkled with that look she got when she knew she had me cornered. "Apparently, this place charges more for a day than our old apartment costs for a month."
I swallowed hard. "Mom-"
"Margaret said her daughter's friend's cousin - or whatever the connection was - mentioned they only take certain kinds of patients here." She gestured at the luxurious room. "The kind who summer in the Hamptons and have yachts named after their pets. Not exactly our tax bracket, Maddie."
My stomach twisted. The truth sat heavily on my tongue - about Alexander, the arrangement, everything. But looking at her, finally comfortable in a proper hospital bed with real medical care within reach, I co
