The ordinary Tuesday morning unfolded. Rachel dropped Emma at school and headed to her own part-time job as an office clerk. She was organizing files just after two o’clock when her cell phone rang. Sacramento General Hospital. Her heart seized. Calls from hospitals were never good news.

“Mrs. Thompson?” a professionally calm voice asked. “This is the emergency department. Are you the wife of David Thompson?”

Rachel’s hands began to shake. “Yes. Has something happened?”