I wake up with the kind of headache that makes me think I deserve everything bad that's ever happened to me. The sun's too aggressive for a Tuesday, or whatever day it is, and there's a sour taste in my mouth .

I reach for my phone, knock it off the nightstand, groan, fish it out from under the bed like a gremlin, and finally hit play on the voicemail that's been haunting me for twenty-four hours straight.

"Hey, Char... I need to tell you something. I-"

Click.

That's it. That's all I get.

I close my eyes and feel a slow panic blooming in my chest. My heart starts...