Prologue

“Avery, there are two police officers here asking for you.”

Avery looked up from where she was speed walking to her next patient. She was behind as it was and the last thing she needed was an interruption.

“Can you tell the patient in room three I’ll be a few minutes longer?”

The patient, Sunny, a feisty longhaired cat, would understand, but her owner might not after waiting for thirty minutes already.

Avery hurried toward the front of the building where the reception area was. There were two police officers standing there and she decided it was best not to hear what they had to say in front of the other pet owners.

“Can you have them come back to the conference room?” she asked the woman at the desk. The clinic she worked at was huge and top of the line. Avery had been thrilled to be hired right out of college and loved not having the responsibility of being her own boss. Though there were times she was starting to realize it might be easier when she always found herself overbooked.

She turned and moved in the direction of the conference room, then waited for the officers who came in after her.

“Dr. Avery Keegan?”

“Yes,” she said. “That’s me. Can I ask what this is about?”

“Do you know a Colleen Pacer?”

“Yes,” she said quietly. “That’s my best friend. What’s wrong? What happened to Colleen?”

Her heart was racing. Colleen lived fifteen minutes from where Avery was in Danbury. It was the Danbury Police that was standing here too. But Colleen did work in Danbury. And she worked at City Hall. These two officers probably knew her, and by the looks on their faces and the shaking of the one officer’s hand, she didn’t like where this was going. 

“There’s been an accident. She’s in the hospital. You are listed as her ICE on her phone.”

“How bad of an accident?” Her mind was racing. She had to get Josie. She needed to see Colleen. She could call her mom to help, but her mother had her hands full with her grandmother right now too.

“Bad enough,” the officer said. “They’d like you at the hospital to make some decisions unless there is a next of kin.”

This didn’t sound good. “Her daughter. But she’s only seven.”

“Is there somewhere she can go?”

“She’s at daycare. I need to go to the hospital first, right?”

“That would be wise,” the officer said. The one that was shaking. “We’ll escort you.”

She nodded her head, then ran to her office and got her purse, only going through the motions, trying not to panic. 

The receptionist was coming down the hall and Avery knew she had tears in her eyes and said, “I’ve got to go. I’m sorry.”

She couldn’t worry about her job right now. They’d figure it out. They had to.

She was driving faster through town than she ever had with the police escort and wasn’t sure if she was scared for her life or more afraid of what she’d find out at the hospital when she arrived.

After parking her SUV, she ran into the ER. “I’m Avery Keegan. I’m here in regard to Colleen Pacer.”

“Yes,” the nurse said. “Please come with me and a doctor will be in to see you shortly.”

“Can you tell me what is going on?” she asked.

“A doctor will explain.”

“What kind of accident was it?” she asked. “Can anyone even tell me that?”

“She was hit by a car while walking.”

Avery’s hands went to her mouth as she gasped. Colleen often ran errands for the city and walked around town to do it.

The nurse turned and left after that, not even giving her a chance to ask anything else.

She sat down and looked at her phone but barely could read it through her tears. It was shy of lunchtime at this point. She’d have to get Josie by no later than five. She should reach out and let them know what was going on.

She started to call, but a doctor came in and she stood up. “Dr. Keegan?”

“That’s me. Is Colleen going to be okay?”

“She was hit head-on while crossing the street. She’s suffered significant damage to her upper body and head.”

Avery was sobbing now and felt the need to vomit. “What are you telling me?”

“We are doing everything we can for her, but it’s not looking good. You’re her emergency contact. Do you know if she has a living will and who is authorized to make decisions on her behalf?”

This couldn’t be happening right now. “Her family doesn’t live around here. Her mother is out west and her sister too. She’s not close with them. She hasn’t talked to her father in more years than I can remember.” She was fumbling with her phone and trying to scroll the contacts. “We have the same attorney. Let me see if I can find out.”

“Please do,” the doctor said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

She got through to her attorney’s office, talked to the lawyer she and Colleen both had and was informed that not only was Avery the power of attorney, but she was also Josie’s guardian should something happen to Colleen.

She’d had no idea. It was not something she ever thought of. Or talked about with Colleen. Not that she’d ever say no, but she never thought of those things or wanted to consider them happening.

The doctor returned ten minutes later. “It’s me,” she told the doctor. “I’m the power of attorney. We can get copies here if you need to see them.”

Nothing she wanted to have or even think of. 

She was used to making life and death suggestions with animals, not people.

But she listened to what was said and what the options were. There were none that were good.

“Do whatever you can to save her. It’s what she’d want,” she finally said.

“You understand the chances are slim,” the doctor said.

“It sounds like if you don’t do anything she’s not going to make it either, correct?”

The doctor nodded. That was all she needed to know.

At four o’clock she ran out to get Josie and bring her to her mother’s house. The last thing she was telling her best friend’s daughter was that her mother might not live and only said her mother was held up doing something.

It was probably a horrible lie, but she could barely think of the directions to the daycare she’d been to multiple times let alone how to handle this right now. She even had to lie about why she looked like she was crying and said it was a sad day at work. 

At eight that night, Avery was walking into her mother’s house. Her face must have said it all. “She didn’t make it, did she?” her mother asked.

She went into her mother’s arms. “No. What am I going to do?”

“You’re going to do what Colleen wanted you to.”

She was sobbing and nodding her head at the same time. “What will I tell Josie?”

“We’ll figure it out,” her mother said. “She’s in the guest room watching TV. Let’s get you something to eat first and talk.”

“I can’t eat anything. I need to tell her now.”

“Then we’ll do it together, sweetie. You’re a strong tough woman and you’ve got support and you need to learn to take it. We’ll get through this.”

Avery wasn’t so sure she would or she could, but for Colleen, she’d give it everything she had.