Untitled for now...
an excerpt

I had watched my wife wither. She was dying slowly and there wasn't anything I could do. I didn't accept that, so the night before I had run an all night marathon on the internet. I did this frequently as her condition worsened. I searched for every arcane cure, every sliver of hope. I called doctors (some of whom were certainly not doctors) in foreign countries. I bought plane tickets to faraway places. I looked for it incessantly. There was some mojo on the planet that was going to save my wife. I didn't care what it was. It could have been Voodoo and I would have been grateful. As long as it kept her with me. As long as she became whole and healthy again. As long as she came back, my Maya.

Her symptoms were particularly severe that morning. She asked me to run upstairs for Dr. Bennett. Dr. Bennett wasn't her doctor according to the insurance company, but when things were particularly bad, Dr. Bennett came. I had just woken up from a quick nap on the sofa. The alarm clock was blaring and it was time. A quick shower. The brushing of teeth. The mad dash for the subway so I could make the 7:35 train.

"Stephen, I can't breathe," Maya panted between the words, punctuating them with all of the agony she felt.

"I'm going. I'll get him." The clock said 7:17. I grabbed my keys and my coat.

When I looked into her sunken eyes, I didn't know that it would be the last time I saw my wife. But it was. I left the apartment for work that morning and I never went back.