I stared at the glowing screen, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. Chloe. I hadn't expected her to call, especially not at this hour. My thumb trembled slightly as I swiped the green icon and brought the phone to my ear.
"Chloe?" I whispered, my voice sounding more like a plea than a greeting.
"You're outside, aren't you?" Her voice was steady, but there was an underlying fatigue that made my chest tighten.
I looked up at the fourteenth floor, catching the slight movement of a curtain. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"I wasn't sleeping, Asher. It's hard to sleep when the air feels like it's vibrating with tension," she replied. A long silence followed, filled only by the crackle of the San Francisco wind against my windshield. "I saw the Mercedes from the balcony. You've been sitting there for twenty minutes. After what happened at the hospital... why are you here?"
