“We’ll let Chloe decide as much as she can once she’s medically able.

She’ll need that sense of choice.”

When Dana left, I added a second sentence to my legal pad: “Ask Chloe what she wants before deciding for her.”

It was the first piece of advice I had received that felt like a way forward.

PART 4

Patricia arrived shortly after sunrise, carrying a leather bag and wearing a gray coat still damp at the shoulders.

She did not ask me to describe every detail in the hallway.