Azalea

“What about me, doctor?” I asked, moving closer to him. My voice was shaking with fear and desperation. “Can I sign the papers?”

The doctor looked at me carefully before speaking. His eyes were tired, like he had been working all day. “If I may ask, who are you to the patient?”

I went silent for a moment, thinking of how to answer him. My answer could mean the difference between life and death for Cassian. If I wasn’t family, they might not let me make decisions about his care.

“I am his girlfriend,” I responded, clenching my cloth tight in my fists.

“His girlfriend,” he replied slowly, like...