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PART I: Summer
1. Chapter One
Summer sunlight sent a golden glow through the outstretched wings of a hawk floating on currents of air above Dixiana, Mississippi on an afternoon in the year 1991 ... 
- read more 2. Chapter Two
Awakened by soft music from her Bose clock/radio, Penny shut off the alarm and dressed quietly to avoid disturbing Johnny, who slept in another bedroom. ... - read more In a fraction of a second, Penny passed from a dream world surrounded by blazing fire to wide-awake, gasping at air that seemed stiff with smoke. ... - read more 4. Chapter Four
Penny leaned against the desk as she washed down her last bite of peanut butter cracker with orange juice. “It feels good to rest a minute. ... - read more 5. Chapter Five
Finding Mr. Harris’s bed stripped was no surprise when Penny entered Dixiana’s CCU on Sunday morning. Dr. Ghent had told the Harris family a week ago that ... - read more 6. Chapter Six
Penny rubbed her eyes and stretched out beneath the covers. Outside her window, the sun was already high in the sky. She remembered yesterday’s run-in with ... ... - read more After a drought so severe that no amount of watering could revive Penny’s impatiens, rain splashed on the pavement like tiny people dancing in the street ... - read more On Sunday morning, the air carried the scent of decaying marsh as Penny and David settled their parents in Faye’s Volvo for the drive to the airport. Faye navigated ... - read more PART II: Autumn
9. Chapter Nine
More than half of the year had passed; days were growing shorter and hurrying by. Acorns littered the concrete and spun like ball bearings when Penny stepped across them ... - read more 10. Chapter Ten
Penny sat behind one of many computers connected to a teaching module in a newly decorated basement classroom as Ruth Robertson, Clinical Director and ... - read more 11. Chapter Eleven
Set against a background of rain-rinsed pine and live oak, Dixiana appeared fresh and clean as Penny drove across town to the hospital early Saturday morning ... - read more 12. Chapter Twelve
As quickly as they had come to help, members of the code team returned to their own departments and Penny was left with Dr. Scales. She stood at the ... - read more 13. Chapter Thirteen
Jacksonville’s Oncology Unit was a beehive of activity Tuesday evening as Penny slid into a chair in the staff room. “We must be full!” Barb munched a nacho and ... - read more 14. Chapter Fourteen
After three night shifts that made moving her parents out of Westview seem like a walk in the park, Penny’s trip from the hospital to the Jacksonville airport through ... - read more PART III: Winter
15. Chapter Fifteen
Penny was at home in Dixiana. She had been back from Roanoke approximately twenty-four hours, barely enough time to unpack and catch her breath, but ... - read more 16. Chapter Sixteen
Depleted by her trip to Roanoke, the revelation of Maureen’s prognosis, and two busy twelve-hour night shifts, Penny had considered calling in sick to the ... - read more Penny shifted onto her back, stretched, and struggled to focus her eyes on the illuminated numbers on her Bose. It was ten minutes before the alarm would sound on ... - read more 18. Chapter Eighteen
Chocolate! Penny inhaled the aroma. Before each shift she willed herself to resist temptation, but the goodies called her name and the longer she looked at them ... - read more 19. Chapter Nineteen
“Complimentary Reindeer Exams” proclaimed the sign in front of the veterinarian’s office as Penny set out for Jacksonville Oncology on Christmas Eve. Given her choice ... - read more 20. Chapter Twenty
The grim month of February stretched on without horizon. Like sagging skin, Penny’s bedroom drapes hung in beige wrinkles above her matted-brown carpet. The house ... - read more Tuesday evening on her way to Jacksonville, Penny steered around potholes and rehashed her meeting with Agnes Gwen that morning. She had submitted her ... - read more PART IV: Spring
In the late afternoon, the Pewitts locked their house and loaded suitcases into the trunk of Johnny’s blue Mercury. He adjusted the rearview mirror and turned to Penny, sitting ... - read more Six blocks from the old mansion, Johnny drove onto a new four-lane bridge and they crossed the Tombigbee River. “Look.” Penny pointed to a small restaurant on the bank. ... - read more Sunday night as she unpacked their suitcases, Penny separated clean clothing from a pile to be washed. She hung a pair of slacks in Johnny’s closet and opened his ... - read more As the temperature teetered between bitter and balmy in March, Dixiana welcomed the arrival of tourist season. Azalea blossoms burst open as if they had been waiting for an ... - read more On Thursday morning her fatigue forgotten in the anticipation of reading Flossie Mae’s news, Penny hurried into the house. Scanning the kitchen for newspapers, she ... - read more Penny and Carina rode the elevator down to First and moved through the hallway in silence, each immersed in her own thoughts. When they entered the conference room, two ... - read more Light crept around the blinds in Penny’s bedroom and pulled her out of a dark dream: she had been groping for a wall switch, her terror increasing as the search ... - read more 
