Page 18 of Ashes of Us

The rest of the week was nothing short of pure torture for Danica.

Her meeting with Cecil and Amy had not gone as she thought it would, and it had thrown her off.

Amy had been clearly devastated when she saw her son, still covered with bandages and connected to a bunch of machines, and she clung tightly to her husband's arm as they approached the bed.

Danica had given them a private moment with their son, leaving the room and finding a quiet room to sit in until they came to find her.

They had a very subdued conversation about his situation, with Danica explaining what the doctor had told her as gently as she could while still making it clear there was no hope for recovery.

To her surprise, Amy hadn't fought her on anything, just thanked her for waiting a week so the family had a chance to say goodbye before she made the call, then asked, rather shakily, if she could be in the room when they turned off the machines, which Danica immediately agreed to.

The meeting ended after a brief discussion regarding Jasper's wishes for burial, and Amy and Cecil hadn't returned to the hospital at all after or checked in, leaving Danica to work out a schedule that worked for the family members who wanted to see him and wouldn't drive the nurses and doctor’s crazy.

It was after six in the evening the following Thursday when Danica got home from the hospital.

She was cooking a box of macaroni and cheese when her phone rang.

Pulling it out, she let out a low groan when she saw it was the hospital calling.

Visiting hours were over at six, something she had made very clear to everyone who wanted to visit Jasper, but she had received calls from the hospital every night because someone felt the rules didn't apply to them and kicked up a fuss.

The fact that they had done it tonight, knowing they were turning off life support the next morning, made her see red.

She decided to tell the hospital to escort whoever it was off the property with security or the police, or whoever they thought was appropriate.

Turning off the burner, she answered the phone with a very annoyed “Hello?”

“Mrs. Preston,” a nervous-sounding woman responded.

“I'm sorry to bother you, but this is Doctor Heather Cuthburt.

I'm the administrator here at Massachusetts General Hospital. I had hoped to catch you before you went home for the day, but obviously, I missed you.” She seemed to realize she was rambling and took a deep breath.

“I'm so sorry, but I need you to come back so we can talk about your husband.”

“Look, if I forgot to sign something, can I come in early tomorrow to do it?” Danica hated the slight whine that she could hear in her voice and winced, trying to make it go away as she attempted to explain her position.

“It's just been a crazy week, and I'm not sure I'm up to driving back there right now.”

“I completely understand, but something has come up that we need to discuss.” There was a slight pause, and then she continued. “It might be a good idea to bring someone who's a lawyer or has some understanding of POAs and next of kin issues.”

Danica frowned, her stomach instantly twisting as the same bad feeling she'd had when the woman approached her in the hospital hit her. “What happened?' She demanded, her voice tight. “Are you saying I need legal counsel?”

“I'm saying that would be a good idea.” The woman sighed.

“ We received a court order demanding that we immediately stop all plans to remove your husband from life support. It appears that his parents retained a lawyer and filed an emergency injunction so they can take you to court for custody of his body.”

“Excuse me?” Danica gripped the counter tightly, disbelief coursing through her. “Can they do that?”

“They can take you to court.” Doctor Cuthbert confirmed.

“I don't know what they will decide.” Danica let out a string of cuss words that would have made a sailor blush.

No wonder she hadn't seen or heard from Cecil and Amy all week; they left her to handle the family, knowing she would be too busy to care.

“I'll be there in twenty minutes,” she growled, then hit the end call button.

She tried calling both Cecil and Amy, but they didn't answer.

She would happily give them custody of Jasper's body if they wanted to pay the medical bills, but she also knew they couldn't afford it.

Since they wouldn't talk to her on the phone, she sent them one text.

Jasper would be so ashamed of you both right now.

They didn't respond, but she did get a read receipt, so she knew they saw it, and she sincerely hoped it hurt them to get it, because she was right, Jasper would be so ashamed of them for going behind her back this way.

Grabbing her purse and keys, she remembered what Doctor Cuthbert said about needing a lawyer and glanced at the clock.

It was way too late to find a lawyer who would meet her with such short notice, and she didn't even have time to research them; hell, she didn't even know what type of lawyer to research right now.

She debated calling Emilia and asking her what the hell was going on but didn't want to drag her into the mess Jasper's parents were creating just yet.

As Danica walked out of the house and headed to the Impala, she remembered how Alex had made one phone call and managed to get security to his parents' house immediately when Craig holed up there after Alexander died.

He had a ton of connections in the city from high school and college and wasn't afraid or ashamed to call in favours or offer them in exchange for something he wanted.

He also texted her almost every day, asking how she was doing and reminding her to call if she needed help.

After a moment's hesitation, she pulled out her phone again and found his contact and pressed call, hoping he was sincere in his offer to help.

To her surprise, he answered almost immediately, but his greeting wasn't what she expected. “Please tell me you're coming back to work on Monday.”

“Oh, uh, no.” If Danica weren't so upset about what Cecil and Amy were doing and didn't need help, she would have laughed.

Nigel had reached out and kept her up to date on the gossip at the hotel, so she knew Marcy had stepped in as her temporary replacement and was driving everyone up the wall with her attitude. “I need help with something.”

“Oh.” Alex let out a loud breath, and the sheer amount of frustration and disappointment that she could detect in that one little word almost made her smile despite her issues. “What do you need?”

“I need a good lawyer who has experience in dealing with POAs and next of kin, if such a thing exists,” Danica explained.

“Cecil and Amy filed an emergency injunction this morning, so I can't take Jasper off life support, and they want to take me to court for custody of his body.

I'm on my way to discuss things with the hospital administrator now.” There was a long silence, and Danica began to feel nervous, wondering if she had overstepped.

Then her phone pinged, and when she checked, she saw Alex had sent her a name and phone number.

“She's the lawyer I hired to help me with Dad's estate. I'm not sure if she can help you with your in-laws, but she should be able to point you in the right direction.” Danica heard his chair squeak, and he cleared his throat. “Dani, there's something off about this.”

“No kidding,” Danica muttered as she started the car. “They can't afford to keep him on life support until some medical miracle happens, and if they expect me to, they've got another thing coming.”

“Okay, but they aren't asking the courts to keep him alive, they're asking for custody of his body .” Alex pointed out, his voice soft. “Did they seem upset about what you had planned for his burial?”

Danica paused as he pointed out the wording, going over the administrator's words in her head.

He was right, they weren't asking for custody of Jasper Preston, like he was a person; they wanted his body.

“That doesn't make any sense. Why would they keep him on life support if they want control over his burial?

I'm pretty sure having his body on ice at the funeral home would be cheaper than having him at the hospital,” she started the car and put her phone in her bra on speaker.

The downside of owning and driving classic cars was that there was no Bluetooth option, so she couldn't connect her phone and talk through the radio.

“Do you know what his final wishes were?”

“Just what he told me. He didn't have a will.” Danica admitted.

“But it was pretty straightforward, he wanted to be buried in the same cemetery as the rest of his family.” She backed out of the driveway and began to drive back to the hospital, wondering why his parents felt the need to go behind her back instead of just talking to her.

She would have listened to their concerns and taken their opinions into consideration.

“And they aren't asking you for anything?

Didn't discuss alternate burial plans with you? Just got a lawyer and filed an emergency injunction to keep him on life support behind your back?” She could hear what sounded like Alex leaving his office in a hurry in the background, and noticed that his voice had the same strained, angry tone it got whenever his brother was mentioned.

“No, I mean, yes.” Danica immediately began to feel flustered and anxious as he fired rapid questions at her. “I mean, no, they haven't asked for anything or tried to discuss alternate burial plans, and yes, they did all of this behind my back. They also won't answer my calls or texts.”

“Don't call or text them anymore,” he ordered gruffly. “And don't speak to the administrator until I get there; I'm leaving the office now.”

“Wait!” Danica almost slammed on her brakes in shock when he told her to wait for him. “Why are you coming?” She felt oddly relieved he wanted to be there with her, but at the same time, she still didn't want to start relying on him.

“Because having someone there who isn't emotionally invested is a good idea.” He pointed out patiently. “You aren't going to find a lawyer who's going to be able to meet you there, and I might pick up on something you miss.”

Danica had to admit he was right. He had picked up on the wording, not her, and despite all their issues, he had come through for her multiple times when he didn't have to. “Okay.” She murmured. “Thank you.”

“Stop thanking me, Dani.” His voice was exasperated. “I'm being selfish. I need you to come back to work so we can finish the audits and if I have to step in and be an ass to your in-laws to make that happen because you don't want to, fine. I'm more than happy to do it.”

“Why?” Danica narrowed her eyes. Just a few days ago, it was “take all the time you need” and “If I need to reschedule the California audits, I will.” Now, it was “I need you to come back to work?” Something had obviously happened. “You said I could take all the time I needed.”

“I know what I said,” he grumbled, sounding extremely put out. “And I meant it at the time, but some things have changed, and I need you to come back. We can talk about it later. Right now, let's focus on this issue.”