Annika clutched the phone to her ear, her hands frozen. “Is he—is he alive?” her voice broke on the word “alive.”

“Yes.” A relieved breath whooshed out of her. “But I’m afraid he hasn’t regained consciousness. He has significant swelling in his brain, multiple contusions, and a spleen bleed. It’s too soon to say how things are going to turn out from here.”

Annika’s entire body began to shake. A sob escaped her lips, loud and abrupt, and the birds who’d gathered enough courage to peck near her feet flew away in a coordinated wave. “I—I need to see him. I’m going to be there as soon as I can. I shouldn’t be more than an hour at the most.”

“I’d suggest you have someone drive you, Ms. Dev,” the doctor said kindly. “We’ll see you soon.”

She ended the call and ran toward the hotel entrance, dialing June as she went.

She shook the whole time she was waiting for Dr. Gregory to come out and talk to her. June was rocking her in her arms, but Annika couldn’t stop shaking. She was cold, colder than she’d ever been in her life. She was afraid her heart was turning to ice.

“It’s going to be okay,” June kept saying, her voice thick with tears. Her ponytail was rumpled, her eyes red and puffy. Had Annika been crying, too? She honestly couldn’t remember. “Your daddy’s going to be fine.”

But June didn’t know that. No one did.

Finally, Dr. Gregory came out to speak with Annika. He was a gray-haired man in his fifties, tall, with a big belly and kind blue eyes. A stethoscope hung around his neck, a clipboard in his hands. “Ms. Dev?”

She stood; her knees buckled, but she managed to stay upright. June stood beside her, a hand on Annika’s elbow. “Yes. How’s my father? Can I see him?”

Dr. Gregory looked at her sympathetically. “Yes. He’s stable now, but he’s unconscious, as I said on the phone. He won’t be able to respond to your presence.”

Annika couldn’t see the doctor through her tears. “I don’t care,” she whispered.

“And—” The doctor looked away before looking back at her. “He looks rough. He took quite a beating in the crash. From what I understand, he was T-boned by a drunk driver in a truck much bigger than what your father was driving.” He looked at June, as if to impress on her the impact of what he was saying. June nodded; Annika didn’t. She had only one thought: She wanted to see her dad.

Finally, the doctor led them down the hall to her dad’s room. “He’ll be moved to the ICU soon,” the doctor said. Then, nodding at the two of them, he slipped out of the room and shut the door.