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.He looked up and caught a man in a T-shirt and ball cap staring straight at him.Sidney jumped to his feet and stormed towards the stranger.“You got a fucking problem?” he shouted.The man shook his head.“Are you okay? Should I call someone?”The questions stopped Sidney in his tracks.Without a doubt he probably appeared to be a complete lunatic.In the span of a few seconds, Sidney went from numb to distraught.“My partner’s probably dying and I can’t get home,” he cried, collapsing to the stained cement platform.“Can I get some help here?” the stranger shouted.The stranger and a young man helped him back to the bench.“Relax,” the stranger said.“There’s a train coming now.”Sidney was shaking.Why was he so cold? He made eye contact with the man.“He’s everything to me.”The man sat down and put a hand on Sidney’s shoulder.“I can see that.Is he at the hospital?”Sidney nodded.“Lake Forest.”“Maybe you should take a cab?” the man suggested.Sidney slapped his forehead, hard.Dammit, why couldn’t he get his shit together.“I didn’t even think of that.I take the train every day.” He rubbed his eyes.“I’m here now, I’ll just take the train.”“Okay.I’ll get off with you and make sure you get there safely.In the meantime, know that your partner is getting the best help available.”The train slowed to a stop and Sidney got to his feet with the man’s help.“What’s your name?”“Jeff,” the man replied.“I’m Sidney.” With Jeff’s assistance, Sidney climbed onto the train and let Jeff steer him towards an empty seat.“Do you have a pass?” Jeff asked.Sidney fumbled in his back pocket for his wallet.He handed the entire thing to Jeff, feeling as though he could trust the kind stranger.“Are you married?”“Me? No.Divorced.I was in Highland Park to watch my son play baseball.”“It’s a Sunday.I should’ve been home with Nash instead of working.” Sidney held onto the back of the seat in front as the train took off.“Nash’s had two heart attacks before, but he’s been doing so well, I wasn’t expecting it to happen again so soon.He’s only fifty-five.Doesn’t seem fair,” Sidney mumbled.“No, it doesn’t,” Jeff agreed, brandishing Sidney’s Metra pass.Sidney turned to stare out the window.The mindless conversation was going a long way in keeping him calm, but he knew it was only a temporary fix.“What do you do for a living?”“I’m a realtor, not a very successful one, if I’m completely honest, but it keeps the child support paid and food on the table.What about you?”“I’m an architect.” Sidney glanced away from the window to regard Jeff.“A pretty good one, if I do say so myself.” He couldn’t get the image of Nash lying in the front yard out of his head.The thought of Nash calling out Sidney’s name would probably forever haunt him.Sidney doubted he’d ever be able to comfortably leave the house again without worrying.A thought suddenly occurred to him.He began searching his pockets but came up empty.“Do you have a phone I can use?”“Sure.” Jeff handed Sidney’s wallet back before reaching into his front jeans’ pocket.“Here.”It took Sidney several moments to remember Ben’s cell number, but it eventually came to him.“Ben Shriver,” Ben answered.“Hey, it’s Sidney.”“Bobbi called.Are you okay?”“I forgot to lock the office,” Sidney said.“I think my keys are on the drafting table.No clue where my phone is, I lost it somewhere between work and the train station.”“I’ll take care of it.”“Thanks.” Sidney hung up.“Mind if I make one more to check on Nash?”“Not at all.”Sidney called Luke, hoping he’d heard something.“Hello?” Luke answered.“Any word?” Sidney asked.“Fuck, you had me scared to death.I’ve been trying to call you for the last twenty-five minutes.”“I lost my phone.Have you heard anything?”“Butch said they’re still working on him.Josh picked me up.Jessica’s at the house watching Liam and Lucy.Did you make the train?”“Yeah, thanks to some help.” Sidney smiled at Jeff.“We’ll be waiting at the depot for you,” Luke informed him.“Great.I should be there in about two minutes.” Sidney hung up the phone and handed it back to Jeff.“Thanks.My friends are going to meet me at the depot.”Jeff removed a business card from his wallet.“If you need anything, give me a call.Even if it’s just someone to talk to.I know from experience it isn’t always easy to talk to friends when something’s wrong.”Sidney handed Jeff one of his own cards in return.“Same goes.Maybe we can meet for a beer or something sometime.” He looked at Jeff’s card for the first time.“You live in Evanston? You should’ve gotten on the southbound train.”Jeff shrugged.“I saw someone going northbound that looked like he could use some help.”The train slowed to a stop and Sidney got to his feet and held out his hand.“Thanks.You’ve got some good karma coming your way.”“I could use it,” Jeff replied.Sidney climbed off the train and immediately spotted Josh’s new minivan.He sent up a wave of acknowledgement as he started towards it.“Hey,” he said, climbing into the back.“Butch just called.Nash is having an emergency bypass,” Luke told Sidney.The relative calm he’d managed to find on the train dissolved in an instant.“Bypass?”“Yeah.”It was too much for Sidney to fully process, but he definitely understood the severity of the situation.“Was he home alone when it happened?” he had to ask.“No.Thank God.Butch went over to watch the Cubs play.As soon as Nash opened the door, Butch could tell something was wrong.Before he could step inside the house, Nash collapsed
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