Page 17 of Ashes of Us
“I'll have a better idea of what's going to happen tomorrow afternoon, but if things go smoothly, I'll be back towork by Wednesday.” She promised. “And there’s no sign of Craig anywhere?”
Alex shook his head, his face falling into its usual blank mask. “Not a damn thing. He didn't have a passport, and he lost his license years ago, so the police think someone is helping him. Unfortunately, he has a lot of friends and acquaintances, most of whom have some kind of addiction as well, so the police are struggling to get people to talk. Part of the reason we shut everything down and are keeping it under wraps is because we can't approach these people with the evidence that Craig is responsible for the theft. We're going with the story that we're concerned for his safety and are looking for information to make sure he's okay.” He pulled open the driver's door and gestured for her to get in.
“Anyway, don't worry about it right now, focus on your own issues.”
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When Danica got home, she did exactly as Alex told her to and composed an email to all the Prestons, outlining exactly what was going on.
Good evening,
I just wanted to inform you all that Jasper will not be taken off life support tomorrow morning as we had originally planned. The reason for this is that Cecil and Amy filed an emergency injunction this morning prohibiting the hospital from doing so because they wish to file a petition for Guardianship of an Incapacitated Person. In other words, they either believe that I am unfit to carry out Jasper's last wishes, or they believe I am not acting in the best interest of my husband's body.
I would like to remind you all that there is absolutely no chance Jasper will recover. He is medically deceased and is being kept alive by machines. Turn off those machines, and his heart and lungs will stop. There is nothing anybody can do to make him wake up or come back.
Cecil and Amy filed this injunction behind my back without even attempting to discuss it with me. Jasper did not leave a will, but we did discuss what he wanted to happen if he died. His final wishes were to be buried in Forest Hills Cemetery near the rest of your family, which is what my plan was. If Cecil and Amy had approached me with other thoughts or concerns, I would have been happy to work with them.
Because they have chosen to go to court and drag out both mine and Jasper's suffering, once again, without any discussion or care for my emotional and mental well-being, I have no recourse but to inform all of you that no one will be able to visit Jasper until the court hearings are complete. There will be security outside his door 24/7 with strict instructions to only allow me and the people involved in his care into his room.
I don't know what their reasoning behind this is, but if you have any questions, feel free to contact me in the morning. I will answer to the best of my ability.
Sincerely,
Danica.
After reading it over a few times and making sure she said everything she wanted to say, Danica added all the email addresses belonging to Preston family members that she had and hit send, knowing that it would be shared and passed along to anyone who wasn't on the list. She also didn't know who, if anyone, Cecil and Amy had discussed this with, so shewas hoping someone would read her side and reach out with information.
She spent a little over an hour going through Jasper's things, putting items in various piles for people she thought would appreciate them, then went to bed. Plugging her phone into charge, she opened her photo gallery and flicked through her pictures, smiling sadly at the pictures of her and Jasper together before their marriage had blown up. Her emotions when she was alone were all over the place since Jasper's accident, sometimes she was devastated that he was gone and others she was pissed that she was dealing with this without any closure regarding his potential cheating. Mostly, though, she just missed him.
Chapter Fifteen: Unexpected Support
The next morning, Damica woke up to her phone ringing and picked it up, squinting at the caller. It was one of Jasper's many cousins, one that she kind of thought would take Cecil and Amy's side, and she answered a little apprehensively. To her surprise, he asked her how she was doing and if she needed help with anything before he asked her, sounding very nervous, about the email. Danica explained what she could, basically restating what she said in the email and reiterating that Jasper's parents had met her at the hospital to see him, then left and hadn't been in touch at all.
“So, they left you to deal with the influx of family and just stopped reaching out?”Reggie asked, sounding confused.
“Basically,” Danica confirmed. “I did text them a few times, asking if they were okay and trying to set up a time to meet at the funeral home, but they didn't respond. I didn't want to push because I know they're devastated and I didn't need their input, I was asking for it because I felt it was the right thing to do.” She had the screenshots to back that up if anyone asked. Both Cecil and Amy had left her on read.
“Well, while I don't necessarily agree with punishing the rest of the family by keeping them away, I can understand your thought process with it,”Reggie said after a long moment of silence.“For the record, I did reach out to them before I reached out to you, and I know a lot of other family members did too. They aren't answering anyone right now. Unless something comes out of this that we're unaware of, you have most of the family's support.”Danica blinked in surprise as what Alex said was proven true. Just by appearing open and transparent about things, she had swayed most people to her side.“Is there anything that could come out?”
Danica took a deep breath, and the woman who approached her in the hospital came to mind. “Not that I'm aware of. I will say that Jasper and I had a massive argument almost three months ago that almost ended us, but we were both committed to fixing things. Both of us were in individual therapy and couples therapy to work through it.”
“Well, if you got Jasper to agree to therapy, then I believe you when you say you were both committed to fixing things.”Reggie chuckled sadly.“Unfortunately, he had his mother's views on that.”
“Yeah. I was surprised when he immediately agreed.” Danica admitted softly. “Um, I've been going through his things, putting aside what I want to keep and what I think other people might want. Is there anything you would like to have that belonged to him?”
“Oh, gosh, I don't know.”Reggie fell quiet for a minute. “Maybe his fishing rod, the bamboo one, if he still has it.”Danica smiled woefully. Reggie had moved to New Hampshire, but he and Jasper used to fish a lot before he left.
“You can have all his fishing gear if you want,” she told him warmly. “It's been collecting dust in the basement since your last visit home. I don't think he fished with anyone else.”
“Really?” Reggie's voice brightened quite a bit.“Thanks, Danica, I appreciate that. I'll, uh, pass along our conversation so you won't have a thousand and one calls and texts to answer.”
“Thank you.” Danica smiled and pulled her phone from her ear, seeing she had a few emails and missed texts. “Some people beat you to it with emails and text messages, so I'll answer them, but yeah, I'm happy to let you pass things along. You can also tell them that if there's anything specific they want that belonged to Jasper, let me know so I can put it aside for them, if you don't mind.” She wasn't sure if they were genuinely on her side or just thought that if they played ball with her, she wouldn't cut them out of everything, but either way, she was willing to do what she could to prove she wasn't trying to be difficult about things. “I was also thinking of having the memorial on Monday, regardless of the outcome of court this afternoon. His body may not be there, but I don't want people who travelled to have to go home without any sort of closure, plus it will give everyone a chance to get their items.”
“I'll pass that along as well.”Danica could hear the relief in Reggie's voice.“Thanks, Danica, and please reach out if you need anything.”Danica assured him she would, and they said their goodbyes. She responded to the texts messages and emails, everyone basically asked the same questions, most offered their support and only two of them said she was out of line to which she simply sent back that they could do things however they wanted if they were in her shoes, but she was Jasper's wife and she was not going to be bullied by his parents becausethey disagreed with her decisions and couldn't have an adult conversation about it.
She spent the rest of the morning continuing to go through Jasper's things and answering the occasional text or email she got. Reggie seemed to have kept his word because the texts either stated their support or asked for something from Jasper that meant a lot to them. When she found the item or items, she would put a Post-it note with their name on it and send them a picture. It was lunchtime when her doorbell rang and when she opened the door, she was immediately pulled into a hug by Emilia.
“I can't believe they did that,” she muttered as she pulled back, studying Danica's eyes in what she considered to be an overly worried manner. “Are you okay?”
