The ringing of Mrs. Cook's phone jarred Cadence awake. She hadn't even realized she had been asleep and wondered if anyone else had noticed. If they had, no one said so, and she wiped the sleep out of her eyes while listening to Alice Cook's half of the conversation she was clearly having with someone at the hospital.

"Yes, I see," Alice was saying. "All right then. We'll be by shortly. Thank you, Dr. Arnold," she said pressing the End Call button. Everyone in the room was perfectly ...