A second nurse, Nurse Brenda, stepped quietly into the room and suggested, in the careful voice people use, that maybe everyone should go home and cool down before anyone made any big decisions.

Nana reached across the table for my coat.

And I pulled the coat off her lap before her fingers closed on it, and I dropped it on Dr.

Shepherd’s empty swivel chair, out of her reach.

“No,” I said, looking at my father.

He stared at me, surprised, because I had never in my life said no to Nana in front of anyone.