Shelby agreed to the surgery only after the two biggest narcissists in her life, Dr. Schrodinger and Dr. Elks, advised that her weight had reached an apocalyptic level. In truth, she had always been obese — unrepentantly feasting — or… Continue Reading
“Why do we have to rotate on Labor and Delivery?” I say. “It has nothing to do with neurosurgery.” “Oh for God’s sake,” Sheila says. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and some poor pregnant woman will have a brain tumor, just… Continue Reading
Didn’t want to be here but knew I had to be. Ovarian cancer. Stuart, who had been my doc forever, it seemed, convinced me to get the kind of care I needed by going to a big medical center. He… Continue Reading
A hospital, I think. The adjustable bed. The linen coarse like construction paper. The florescent light reflecting off linoleum in the hallway. The over burnished sheen of an old floor that gets the chemicals every night, chemicals that release memory.… Continue Reading
Elle saw out the window a balloon floating past and up. It was shiny blue, with some characters that she couldn’t make out. Three floors below, on the sidewalk, a small girl in a loose hospital gown watched it get… Continue Reading
Her father was still there. She watched as the wrinkled white sheets slowly rose with each breath — a movement so slight it seemed not to justify the word. Sometimes, she would place her head on his chest just to… Continue Reading
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Three days before Christmas, Mary slipped in the shower and cracked her head on the soap dish. I found her half an hour later. The water was long cold and her skin had turned purplish, like an overripe plum. Her… Continue Reading
When will Mrs. Stuart wake up? I’m not certain; the doctor said she’s in a deep sleep and when ready, will wake, when the time is right. She looks so peaceful, even with that machine and everything. Yes. I wonder… Continue Reading
Bob woke up early. In the shower, he rehearsed his ten o’clock presentation, a one-page map in his mind, a landscape he would negotiate for an hour and a half — Haines’ Iceberg Theory, the way he had been planning… Continue Reading