“She…pushed me away. In bed. Again. I can’t remember the last time she didn’t push me away. It’s been months.”

“You never said anything was wrong.”

“I was afraid to say it out loud until I heard she might be hurt.” He ached with worry and fear over what he’d find at the hospital. “Or worse.” Forcing himself to breathe, he said, “God, what if she’s dead? What if the last thing I said to her was ‘if you want out of this marriage, just let me know?’”

“You’ll work it out. You two are solid, man. Whatever’s wrong, you’ll get through it.”

Provided she isn’t dead, Jack thought. Please don’t let her be dead.

They pulled up to the emergency entrance, and Jack leaped from the car. Inside he found his daughters in the care of a nurse and a police officer. Jill, Kate, and Maggie were crying as they flew into Jack’s arms.

Jack held them for a long time, his heart racing as their gut-wrenching sobs ramped up his already out-of-control anxiety. “Can you tell me what happened?”

Jamie put an arm around Maggie and led her away so her older sisters could talk to their father.

“We were leaving the mall,” Jill said, swiping at tears. “And this car came right at us. We jumped out of the way, but she just stood there, and the car hit her.” A sob hiccupped through her. “She went right over the top and landed on the pavement.”

“Okay, honey,” he said, comforting his daughter while he tried to process what she’d said. As he imagined the scene, his chest tightened. “Maybe she just couldn’t get out of the way in time.”

Kate shook her head. “She didn’t move. It was like she wanted the car to hit her or something.”

“I’m sure it was so scary, but you must’ve seen it wrong,” Jack insisted. “Mom would never do that.”

A young doctor came through swinging doors to the waiting room. “Mr. Harrington? I’m Dr. Rooney.” He led Jack away from the girls.

Jamie left Maggie in the care of her sisters and walked over to hear what the doctor had to say.

“Your wife is in extremely critical condition with a significant head injury,” Dr. Rooney said. “She also has multiple fractures and a lacerated liver. When we get her stabilized, we’ll be taking her up to surgery to remove her spleen and repair her liver.”

Shocked, Jack said, “But she’ll be all right, won’t she?”

“The head injury is a big concern. We’re inducing a coma to allow the swelling in her brain to subside. The next twenty-four to forty-eight hours will be critical.”

Jack’s hands were trembling, so he jammed them into his pockets. “How long will you keep her in the coma?”