It was supposed to be an ordinary Tuesday night in a sleepy Midwestern town. The kind of night when the local diner stays half-empty, when the clink of coffee cups and the hum of the jukebox provide the soundtrack. A waitress named Emily, working her usual double shift, was tired but determined to make it through. The tips had been low all week. Rent was due. Her car needed repairs. And her daughter, only seven years old, had just been diagnosed with asthma, adding medical bills to her growing list of worries.