Smoking in the girls’ room, sneaking a drink, napping
Subscribe and Save up to 55%
JoDean Nicolette has committed herself to a writing career, though she is still a physician and teacher. She leads the California State Parks Mounted Assistance Unit, which patrols equestrian trails, and lives in Northern California with her rescued greyhounds, three horses, and her extremely patient husband, Ben.
Though we aren’t blasé about death, we are accustomed to it. We know it will happen. When a person is hospitalized, it means his or her condition could turn serious, fast. A simple case of pneumonia could result in a whole-body infection that spirals and becomes fatal. A patient receiving a new hip could develop a blood clot that clogs his lungs. A heart-failure patient could suffer an arrhythmia. But hospital deaths are rarely as terrible as John’s.