“Sit a minute.”

Eli sat beside him on the ledge. For a while, neither of them spoke. All they could hear was the hum of the machine and the rattling of a cart somewhere far down the hall.

Ray slowly opened his wallet. From behind an old receipt and a faded photograph of a woman in a flowered dress, he pulled out a folded piece of paper. It was so old Eli was afraid it might break in his fingers.

“I’ve kept this since I was seventeen.”