Carlos
an excerpt

"How are you feeling, hun?" Diana asked Carlos. Carlos was laying in a hospital bed, IVs running from his wrists to bags of clear liquid on tall stands. Oxygen tubes led from his nostrils behind his ears and out of sight. His bed was positioned in a partial upright position, and his bald head was propped up by pillows. His skin was sallow and was tinted a yellow-ish colour. He looked absurdly weak.

Carlos gave a faint shrug. He pointed to a knob embedded in his bed's sidebar. "T'morphine helps. 'F I'm in pain, I jest turn the knob a lil' and 's gone." Carlos's lids fluttered shut. He opened them again, slowly. "Really sleepy," he said in a whisper. "Th' morphine does that."

"Do you want me to leave?" Diana asked quietly. She was sitting at the end of his bed, her right hand resting on top of the blanket that covered Carlos's legs. Carlos had what was called acute myeloid leukemia, a form of cancer where the body makes too many immature blood-forming cells (known as leukemia cells). These cells are composed of the two kinds of white blood cells that fight infections. Not fully mature, these white blood cells build up, while old, dead cells cannot leave the body and be properly replaced.

Carlos gave a slow shake of his head. "No. I like it when you're here with me."

Diana nodded. "Go to sleep, though, okay? I won't leave until you're good and zonked out." She gave his foot a friendly pat. Carlos nodded, and his eyes promptly shut.

"Tell me about your day."

Diana thought for a moment. "Mark didn't want me to come. He said that I spend too much time with you, and not enough with him." Carlos opened his eyes and started at Diana, his expression livid. "But, I won't talk about him. He's wrong. I've told you that, and I've told Mark one thousand times." She held her hands in front of her chest, palms out.

"Y're not supposed to spend so much time wi' me," Carlos slurred.

Diana's tone became defiant. "It's my own business who I spend my time with. Look, Carlos, I don't want to argue about this, okay? Go to sleep, please."

Carlos closed his eyes. It took less than five minutes for Diana to hear his slow, shallow breathing fill the room.