He turned back to David.
“That’s who you were going to take to court,” he said. “That’s who you were going to tell a judge couldn’t manage her own life. A woman who’s been taking care of everybody, quietly, her whole life. Including you three.”
He picked up his briefcase.
“I’ve worked in hospitals for thirty years,” he said. “I’ve watched thousands of people die. You know what the ones at the end almost never say? I wish I’d gotten more money. They say, I wish my kids were here.”
He walked to the door. Then he stopped and looked back.
“She almost didn’t wake up yesterday,” he said. “And you weren’t here.”
Then he left.
Chapter Ten: Thursday
The hearing on Thursday took eleven minutes.
I wasn’t there in person. I was still in the hospital, recovering. Gloria set up a video call on a laptop on my tray table, and I watched it from my bed in my nightgown, with Joyce sitting next to me holding my hand.
