One page, then the next, then the next, unhurried, the way a man initials a stack of expense reports.

And when he was finished, he asked the question that the people in that hallway would still be repeating to each other weeks later.

“How quickly can this be finalized?”

Chapter 2 — I Am No Longer Her Husband

The lawyer hesitated.

The doctors within earshot traded looks.

And then the ICU doors opened, and the physician who had been fighting for my life stepped out, gray with exhaustion, to find the one thing every doctor in a crisis needs and can’t manufacture: a family member willing to say yes.

“Mr.

Locke,” she said, “your wife is alive, but she is still critical.

We need a family member to authorize additional treatment.”

Flynn closed the folder in his hands with a soft snap.

“I am no longer her husband.”

The doctor stared.

He looked at his watch, as if consulting a train schedule.