I’ve got an emergency.”

“That’s awfully convenient!” he says.

To Creed, I say, “Hang on a sec, I’m on live TV. I need to get the microphone off.”

It takes me 20 seconds to do that. Then I get back on the phone and Creed tells me someone’s been pronounced brain dead.

On the set, Trudy attempts to get to her feet, but Mitch grabs her wrist.

“Let me go!” she yells. He doesn’t, so she punches him in the face with her free hand. When Mitch goes down, she straddles him and starts beating the crap out of him.

“Ow! Shit!” he screams. “Get her off me!”

I turn my attention back to Creed. “Sorry, couldn’t hear you. It’s quite hectic here.” I notice security heading toward us at a rapid clip. “Trudy, let’s go!” I shout. We run off the set, down the hall, and out the studio. A moment later, Bruce joins us. He shows me an angry scowl, then calls our driver.

I ask Creed, “Who’s been pronounced brain dead?”

“My daughter.”

“Shit. I’m so sorry.”

I really am sorry. Sure, Creed’s a lunatic and cold-blooded killer, but no one deserves to lose a child.

“What does that mean?” he asks.

He wants to know what brain dead means?

I say, “It means the doctors have done all they can to treat her. They’re probably supporting the heart with oxygen and medication.”

“So she’s technically alive,” he says.

“No. They can keep her life functions going a few days, but brain death can’t be reversed. It’s final. Your daughter will never wake up, or recover.”

“We’ve got the finest doctors in the world at Sensory Medical. That’s where she’s being taken. I want you there.”

No fucking way!

I say, “I’m sorry for your loss, Donovan. But if she’s brain dead, the only reason to keep her on life support is to harvest her organs. Is that your wish?”

“My wish is full and complete recovery.”

Is he serious?

Of course he is. Like I said, Creed’s a lunatic.

“Personally, I’m quite fond of you,” I tell him. “But you’re a dangerous and highly unpredictable man. I’d rather not be in the same room with you when your daughter passes.”

He responds, “Hours ago they said she’d be fine. Could they have misdiagnosed her?”

“At the time they said that, yes. But not now. Brain death diagnosis is virtually never wrong.”

“Virtually never? So it has happened before?”

“I shouldn’t have said that.