“Now what?” Harry asked, knowing full well Jack was going to turn on the huge television, which took up the entire wall in front of them.

Jack shrugged. “I’m not much in the mood for TV. If you want to watch it, it’s okay with me. I can tune it out. I need to think, Harry. We both need to think.”

Harry settled himself into the depths of his chair. He looked over at Jack and was about to ask a question when Jack said, “I don’t know, Harry. It’s at the top of my worry list.”

“What the hell, Jack. How do you know what I was going to ask you?”

“Because I know you as well as I know myself, and I’m wondering the same thing. You were going to ask me what Lizzie will do if things go south for Cosmo. If ever there were two people meant to grow old together, it’s Lizzie and Cosmo. Yeah, she’s tough, but that’s the career part of her. That’s the part the world sees, not what the girls and we guys see. She’s first a mother and wife or maybe wife and mother. I’m not sure which takes precedence. Knowing Lizzie, I guess it would be equal. You want me to guess, is that what you’re asking, Harry?”

“Well . . . yeah, I guess. I mean, we all know the backstory about how you saved her life that night in the snow. Will she go that route?”

Jack closed his eyes and tried not to think about that long-ago night. “Lizzie is a different person today than she was back then. She has a son now. That will help. But to get back to the question you didn’t ask, I don’t know.

“While I was waiting for the people at Dip Sing, I googled Dr. Joe Wylie. Man, that guy is one impressive dude. Leave it up to Annie to hire the best of the best. He’s the top neurosurgeon in the country. He’s second in the world. Brain surgery scares the living shit out of me. Spinal cord surgery scares me just as much. Cosmo had both surgeries done by someone other than Wylie. I googled Simon Simmons, and he’s good, but he’s no Wylie. He studied under Wylie, however. Not sure where that little toad Brackman who tried to kick us out fits into all of this. Say something, Harry.”

“Oh, so now you want me to say what you’re thinking,” Harry groused. “You want me to say Cosmo could end up in a vegetative state or paralyzed. There, I said it. You happy now?”

“No. But at least it’s out in the open. That’s what Lizzie was dealing with these last four days. It’s all she had to think about when she sat there, refusing to leave. All we can do now is think positive, pray, and hope to God Wylie will get Cosmo through this.”

Harry’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He fished it out. “It’s Charles.”