“Dexter, it’s Jane…. You need to come home right away.” Suddenly, he listened more attentively. “It’s your mother….” She could barely speak, but Dex’s stomach wrenched. Jane was one of those people who took everything as it came with the strength and stoicism worthy of a Hemingway character. She was his mother’s life partner. Dexter’s father had passed away ten years ago, and afterward his mother had decided that she was going to be true to herself. She met Jane a year later, and they had been together ever since. Dex had never been prouder or loved his mother more than when she decided that she was going to live life on her own terms, even if he and Jane didn’t always see eye to eye at first.

“What’s happened?” He struggled to speak. If Jane was this upset over the phone, it had to be bad.

“She had a stroke last night. We got her to the hospital and she’s in the ICU, but you need to get here as fast as you can. Do you need help getting a flight?”

Dex tried to think if he had enough money available on his credit card to pay for one. Probably not, given the fact that this would be last-minute. “I don’t know.”

“I’ll get you a ticket and email you the details. It will be the earliest flight I can get, so you should start packing. Okay?” She sounded as frazzled as Dex felt.

“Yes. How bad is it?”

Jane didn’t answer right away. “Just get here as fast as you can.” She ended the call.

Dex hurried into his bedroom, pulled the suitcase out from under his bed, and threw clothes into it. Jane called him half an hour later with his flight information. She also sent him an email. He had four hours until he was scheduled to leave, which meant he only had time to call work to explain what was going on, let his landlady know he was going to be away so she could get his mail, and then leave for the airport. He knew he’d spend the whole early-morning cross-country flight to Baltimore worrying and wondering. What if he didn’t make it in time?