Jack is talking on his cellphone to his dad while Jack is driving in a heavy rain back from New York to Boston, his dad is anxious, asking in a raspy voice if he should have an operation to his colon that could maybe save his life and otherwise it’s only weeks or months; his dad is calling from the ER at St Joe’s back home in Joliet where Jack’s mom has taken him when sharp, stabbing pains had made him double over in his armchair; in the dusk the rain is blotting out the windshield while Jack is somewhere in Connecticut, so he pulls over on the shoulder and starts the hazards blinking, the downpour pounding on the Camry’s roof, he clamps the cellphone to his ear and asks his dad what Mother thinks that he should do, then there’s a breathy pause while headlights scissor past, and Jack imagines that his dad’s pale feet are poking out from light blue sheets, the curtains in his bay just barely leaving room for Mom to sit beside him, then Mom comes on the line Hello, Hi Mom says Jack, are you ok?, and Mom says that she’s fine, and Jack asks if Dad is in much pain, and Mom says no, they’ve given him a drip that’s calmed him down, she was a nurse for 40 years right at St Joe’s, and Jack asks Mom if Dad should have the operation, and Mom says Well, it’s hard to say, the doctors are unsure if it will work or ...