“I’d like to show it to you. It used to be farms and streams. Now it’s filled with brightly colored Victorian homes and gardens. The houses are very old, because it was about the only area spared in the 1906 earthquake.”
“It sounds lovely.”
Jason hesitated. “My home is there. Would you like to see it?” He saw Paige’s reaction. “Paige, I’m in love with you.”
“We hardly know each other. How could you…?”
“I knew it from the moment you said, ‘Don’t you know you’re supposed to wear a white coat on rounds?’ That’s when I fell in love with you.”
“Jason…”
“I’m a firm believer in love at first sight. My grandfather saw my grandmother riding a bicycle in the park and he followed her, and they got married three months later. They were together for fifty years, until he died. My father saw my mother crossing a street, and he knew she was going to be his wife. They’ve been married for forty-five years. You see, it runs in the family. I want to marry you.”
It was the moment of truth.
Paige looked at Jason and thought, He’s the first man I’ve been attracted to since Alfred. He’s adorable and bright and genuine. He’s everything a woman could want in a man. What’s the matter with me? I’m holding on to a ghost. Yet deep inside her, she still had the overpowering feeling that one day Alfred was going to come back to her.
She looked at Jason and made her decision. “Jason…”
And at that moment, Paige’s beeper went off. It sounded urgent, ominous.
“Paige…”
“I have to get to a telephone.” Two minutes later, she was talking to the hospital.
Jason watched Paige’s face turn pale.
She was shouting into the telephone, “No! Absolutely not! Tell them I’ll be right there.” She slammed the phone down.
“What is it?” Jason asked.
She turned to him, and her eyes were filled with tears. “It’s Jimmy Ford, my patient. They’re going to take him off the respirator. They’re going to let him die.”
When Paige reached Jimmy Ford’s room, there were three people there beside the comatose figure in bed: George Englund, Benjamin Wallace, and a lawyer, Silvester Damone.
“What’s going on here?” Paige demanded.
Benjamin Wallace said, “At the hospital ethics committee meeting this morning, it was decided that Jimmy Ford’s condition is hopeless. We’ve decided to remove—”
“No!” Paige said. “You can’t! I’m his doctor. I say he has a chance to come out of it! We’re not going to let him die.”
Silvester Damone spoke up. “It’s not your decision to make, doctor.”
Paige looked at him defiantly. “Who are you?”
“I’m the family’s attorney.” He pulled out a document and handed it to Paige. “This is Jimmy Ford’s living will. It specifically states that if he has a life-threatening trauma, he’s not to be kept alive by mechanical means.”
“But I’ve been monitoring his condition,” Paige pleaded. “He’s been stabilized for weeks. He could come out of it any moment.”
“Can you guarantee that?” Damone asked.
“No, but…”
“Then you’ll have to do as you’re ordered, doctor.”
Paige looked down at the figure of Jimmy. “No! You have to wait a little longer.”
The lawyer said smoothly, “Doctor, I’m sure it benefits the hospital to keep patients here as long as possible, but the family cannot afford the medical expenses any longer. I’m ordering you now to take him off the respirator.”
“Just another day or two,” Paige said desperately, “and I’m sure…”
“No,” Damone said firmly. “Today.”
George Englund turned to Paige. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid we have no choice.”
“Thank you, doctor,” the lawyer said. “I’ll leave it to you to handle it. Ill notify the family that it will be taken care of immediately, so they can begin to make the funeral arrangements.” He turned to Benjamin Wallace. “Thank you for your cooperation. Good day.”
They watched him walk out of the room.
“We can’t do this to Jimmy!” Paige said.
Dr. Wallace cleared his throat. “Paige…”
“What if we got him out of here and hid him in another room? There must be something we haven’t thought of. Something…”