I took another step. “Did he ever ask you to bring me?”
Wade’s silence answered first.
“How many times?”
“Meryl.”
“How many?”
“Four.”
The number struck harder than I expected.
Elise whispered, “Four?”
Wade nodded. “Once after that recording. Once after a bad night when they thought he might not make it until morning. Once after his pain medication was increased and he got scared he’d lose the ability to speak clearly.” He looked at me. “And once near the end.”
My mouth had gone dry. “What did you tell him?”
“The first three times, I asked him whether he wanted to end the plan.”
“And?”
“He said no.”
“The fourth?”
Wade looked toward the camera.
“The fourth time he didn’t ask me to end it.”
“What did he ask?”
Wade’s face tightened. “He asked whether your latest scan looked hopeful.”
The sentence entered me quietly.
