Contents

Note to Reader

Chapter One

IF YOU LOVE YOUR JOB, ON THE BEST DAYS YOUR…

Chapter Two

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A REALLY BAD DAY, THE KIND…

Chapter Three

WATCHING A LOVED ONE’S HEALTH FAIL IS HARD. MOST families…

Chapter Four

WHEN I RETURNED TO STEERE HOUSE A FEW DAYS LATER…

Chapter Five

A LARGE PORTRAIT OF HENRY STEERE HANGS OVER THE piano…

Chapter Six

WHEN A PATIENT IS TERMINAL, DOCTORS WILL TALK about limiting…

Chapter Seven

IT WAS JUST AN ORDINARY WEDNESDAY. OR SO I thought…

Chapter Eight

TO SAY THAT I TRUSTED DONNA RICHARDS WAS SOMETHING of…

Chapter Nine

IT WAS AS IF I HAD STUMBLED ON A SCENE…

Chapter Ten

IT WAS TIME TO GET BACK ON THE TRAIL OF…

Chapter Eleven

THE FERRETTI HOUSE LOOKED LIKE ONE OF THOSE spreads you’d…

Chapter Twelve

I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO DEBRIEFING MARY ON MY conversation…

Chapter Thirteen

I HAD THE CHART FOR OUR NEW CHARGE. MRS. ARELLA Matos…

Chapter Fourteen

AS AN EARLY WARNING SYSTEM, OSCAR’S AVERAGE WAS proving to…

Chapter Fifteen

MOST MORNINGS I OPERATE ON AUTOPILOT. I GET OUT OF…

Chapter Sixteen

“DAVID, CAN YOU STOP BY? I DON’T LIKE THE WAY…

Chapter Seventeen

“THERE WAS A TIME WHEN I THOUGHT ABOUT WRITING a…

Chapter Eighteen

ONCE AGAIN, I HAD GONE OFF IN SEARCH OF ANSWERS…

Chapter Nineteen

CATS MAY HAVE NINE LIVES, BUT WE ONLY HAVE ONE…

Chapter Twenty

IT WAS TIME TO STOP. I HAD NOW SPOKEN TO…

Chapter Twenty-One

GEORGE DUNCAN LOOKED AT HIS MOTHER THROUGH tired eyes. Only…

Chapter Twenty-Two

ALL WAS QUIET ON THE THIRD FLOOR. THE RESIDENTS were…

Chapter Twenty-Three

ONE AFTERNOON A FEW DAYS AFTER RUTH’S DEATH, I was…

 

Afterword

Acknowledgments