Bernard POV
I got the call from Sacramento General Hospital at 2:47 in the morning. Elena was sound asleep next to me, and I had to slip out of bed quietly to answer my phone in the hallway.
"Mr. Fredrick, this is Dr. Martinez from Sacramento General. I'm sorry to inform you that your mother, Dorothy Fredrick, passed away at 2:15 AM this morning."
The words hit me like a freight train. Even though I knew she was sick, even though I knew the cancer was serious, somehow I had convinced myself that there was still time. Time to figure out the money situation, time to find another solution, time to save her.
"What happened?" I asked, my voice barely working.
"Her condition deteriorated rapidly over the past few days. She went into cardiac arrest, and we weren't able to revive her. I'm ver
