Never one to say five words when two or three would do, Harry said, “Talk to me.”

Jack watched in horror as the color left Harry’s face and his hands started to shake so badly that he almost dropped the phone. “I’ll tell Jack,” Harry said, in a voice Jack had never heard before.

Jack’s heart kicked up a beat as he waited for whatever Harry was going to say. Finally, he barked, “What?”

“They just took Cosmo back into surgery. Wylie is the surgeon. Something went wrong, but Charles doesn’t know what it is. He said nurses and doctors all came running, and they were told to leave. They’re all in the chapel right now.”

“Oh shit!”

“Oh shit is right,” Harry said.

“How do we play this?” Jack asked. “Do we wake Lizzie up and head back to the hospital? Or do we let her sleep and get some strength back so she can . . . so she can deal with whatever happens?”

Instead of answering Jack’s question, Harry said, “You know what I wish right now? I wish that damn dog Cooper was here. I really do. Things always worked out the right way when he was with us. Does that make sense, Jack?”

“As much as anything I could come up with.”

Harry’s voice was fretful and strange. “So we’re going to let Lizzie sleep, eat, then we tell her.”

“Hell no! Well, you had part of it right. We let her sleep and eat, then we go back to the clinic, where a doctor will tell her what she needs to know. Unless you want us to end up dead right here when we tell her.”

“I see your point,” Harry said. “Let’s go eat some of that soup.”

“You know, Harry, that’s a great idea. I guess we’re going to skip the veggies, or we put them in and let them cook while we eat it as it is. Lizzie is going to need the veggies. I got a ton of noodles. I know how you love noodles. I like noodles, but not so much that I crave them. Lizzie must like them a lot. Noodles! Who knew?”

“Jack, you’re ranting. Will you just shut the hell up already?”

Jack clamped his lips tight as he stomped his way to the kitchen.

Harry slumped down into the captain’s chair with the bright red cushions and closed his eyes while Jack heated up the chicken soup. Then his eyes snapped open almost immediately. He looked at Jack, his voice full of panic when he said, “Holy crap, we forgot about the boy! How could we have forgotten him? Where is he, Jack?”

“Easy, Harry, easy. Little Jack is at sleepaway camp. It’s a swim camp; LJ is into swimming. It’s July, school is out, and kids go to camp. You told me yourself that Lily is at camp.”

“How do you know that?” Harry asked, not sure if he believed Jack or not.

“Because he sent me a text the first week asking for advice.”