For two years before that, Audrey had helped take care of her father during the advancing stages of his illness until he died. As a result, she had developed an unusual seriousness and maturity for her age, and seemed much older now than her eighteen years. She had spent five years nursing her parents, which had ultimately affected her life choices. Her social life had become almost nonexistent while her parents were ill. She had no time to see friends, and rarely dated. While her classmates were having fun during their high school years, Audrey had to be responsible far beyond her true age, and act as support system and unofficial nurse. Her only distraction was the books she read, which kept her from being lonely and provided an escape from the daily realities she faced. She was graduating from high school in a week and was starting nursing school in September. She’d never had a lifetime ambition to become a nurse, but knowing the long, slow degenerative process her mother had ahead of her, Audrey wanted to be able to help her and take care of her, and hopefully extend her mother’s life.

She had no resentment for the years she had already spent first helping with her father’s care, and then her mother’s. She’d given up a great deal for them, her ballet classes, sports, parties, and hanging out with other girls. She’d only been on a few dates, had nervously gone to senior prom, and worried so much about leaving her mother home alone that she had apologized to her date and left early. He’d been nice about it at the time but didn’t call her again. For a girl of eighteen, Audrey had already sacrificed a lot for her parents, accepted it as her duty to them, and didn’t resent it.

She was a pretty girl with a slim figure, long dark hair, and a delicate face. Her sky-blue eyes were serious, as she kept an eye on her mother, worried that she would fall and hurt herself. It had happened a few times, and they all knew it would happen again. It was the nature of her illness, which had advanced slowly but steadily in the past few years.

Audrey had grown up in Annapolis, a pretty town on the Chesapeake Bay. Her father had taken her and her brother sailing on weekends, and now she and Will sometimes went out in their small sailboat alone. She trusted him completely, and they were both good sailors. She looked up to him as her hero, and he provided her with the only distraction she engaged in, sailing and going to dinner with him occasionally. He brought her magazines and little gifts. She had adored him since they were children. He teased her and made her laugh, which made their burdens seem lighter to Audrey. She thought he was the perfect big brother.