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"We’re losing him!" one of the technicians shouted

"No!" Olivia screamed as she stood in the middle of her yard "No--" Unable to watch, she covered her face The aid car sped off

She went back into the house, found her car keys and realized how badly she was shaking In this condition, she’d be incapable of driving It took three tries to dial Grace’s home number correctly

"Olivia," her best friend said when she answered "I was alht ht their way through the tightness in her throat

"Where are you?"

"Hoest five minutes of Olivia’s life All she could think about was the day her son Jordan had drowned She reust afternoon it had been when the sheriff’s deputy came to the house At first she didn’t believe him--didn’t want to believe him Then she’d wanted her husband with her as quickly as possible

The officer had called Stan, but her husband worked in Seattle It took hiet home Two hellish hours as the reality of their son’s death started to set in Olivia reathered Justine and Ja to one another Grace had been the first person Olivia had phoned that day, too She’d come over and sat with her and the children until Stan arrived

Olivia would never forget the wrenching ache in her stoust and now she experienced it all over again She didn’t know if Jack was dead or alive

Jack hadn’t wanted to get on the treadmill He’d tried every excuse, but she wouldn’t hear of it Oh, no, she knew best and she wasn’t going to let hi well She’d insisted despite that In fact, she’d badgered him into it

Grace pulled up, and the moment Olivia saw her friend, she sprinted across the laeeping and nearly hysterical

"Get in," Grace said "We can talk on the way to the hospital"

"I--I don’t think he et there"

Her dearest friend was the voice of reason, but Olivia was afraid to hope, afraid to believe that Jack would be given a second chance Losing hiain, was unthinkable Surely God wouldn’t be so cruel to her

"Did they take hiotiated the curves on the winding road at well above the speed limit

"I--no, the new medical clinic, I think" All of a sudden she didn’t know The Eency Medical Technicians must have told her, but at that point she’d been beyond coh, the aid car was parked outside the new Cedar Cove facility Olivia hurried inside and to the front desk "My husband is here--Jack Griffin"

"Yes, Mrs Griffin, the doctors are working on him now If you’ll have a seat, they’ll be with you as soon as they can"

"No," Olivia argued This woman didn’t seem to understand that the man behind those closed doors was her husband Da and it was her right as his wife to be with hie, Olivia had never used her position for personal gain In this instance, however, she didn’t care She refused to ree And I need to be with my husband"

"I’m sorry, but we can’t allow that"

"You don’t understand," she said, her voice raised and nearly hysterical "I need to be with my husband!"

Grace stepped up to the counter and placed her arms around Olivia "The doctors will be out shortly," she said

Olivia stood her ground "I want to be with hi tones

"He needs ht now he needs those doctors , Olivia" Grace led her back to the waiting area and with only a token protest, Olivia sat down

An eternity passed Two eternities

Charlotte and Ben arrived

"Ben has a police scanner," Charlotte explained "When we heard the dispatcher say 16 Lighthouse Road, we knew it must be Jack"

Charlotte sat next to her on one side, Grace on the other Each held her hand

When the physician finally e said Dr Ti herself for the worst

But Dr Ti smile "We have hireat she felt her knees buckle Thankfully Grace was there to support her

"He’s a fortunate man Another five or tenhim"

Olivia stared at the physician blankly "What do you mean?"

"Without the medical clinic here in Cedar Cove, your husband would have died on his way to the hospital"

"Oh" Olivia was only beginning to grasp the i her