Palliative Care and the Three Stages of Friendship Loss

On hearing the news, I collapsed to the floor of my hotel room, paralysed with fear & guilt that I should have been there, knowing she was alone that night. Janice was more held together than I was, I was stuttering, in tears, unable to get words out for a good 30 minutes or more, shock set in quickly, we talked for as long as we could, I tried to find an earlier flight home, but was unable to do so. It was a long night, unable to eat, unable to sleep, unable to think straight, unable to talk to anyone about what I'd just learned. The morning couldn't come quick enough, my car took me to the airport, I boarded my flight to find on my return Janice waiting at the door. She always tracked me on my phone so knew I was just pulling up, we hugged and cried for a long time that day.