Before I could demand another answer, a woman in a gray suit hurried down the hallway carrying a thick folder.
Her name tag read DENISE ORTIZ — PATIENT LEGAL SERVICES.
“Mrs. Mercer, I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said. “I know this is an incredibly difficult morning. But Kayla left specific instructions concerning her daughter, and we need to review them.”
She opened the folder.
Every page carried my sister’s signature.
Five weeks earlier, Kayla had signed legal documents naming Raymond Dawson as Lily’s standby guardian in the event of her death or medical incapacity. The documents had been witnessed, notarized, and filed with the hospital.
I stared at the signature.
“She would never do this without telling us.”
Ms. Ortiz spoke gently.
“She did tell us. She came into my office herself. We reviewed every page together, and she made it very clear that this was what she wanted.”
