I read the highlighted sentence. Then I read it again.
Petitioners intend to file for emergency appointment of a guardian and conservator on the afternoon of the Respondent’s surgery, while she remains hospitalized, as her post-operative condition will provide timely support for a finding of incapacity.
I didn’t understand at first. The words just sat there.
Then they didn’t.
“The afternoon of my surgery,” I said slowly.
“Today,” Malcolm said.
“They left,” I said, “to go file papers. Today. While I was asleep.”
“Mr. Voss’s office in Bellevue closes at five,” Malcolm said quietly. “It’s a forty-minute drive in traffic. They left here at two-fifteen. The emergency petition has to be filed with King County Superior Court before the clerk’s office closes at four-thirty.”
I looked at the clock on the wall. 3:47.
“They’re there right now,” I whispered.
“Probably,” Malcolm said.
The heart monitor started beeping so fast that Kayla came running back in.
