“Oh, sorry to disturb you, Mrs ... um, Mrs. Berto?” the doctor said upon entering the room. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” said the woman. “Cassie. Please call me Cassie. It was so sudden. Such a shock.”

The doctor nodded thoughtfully. “Do you know what happened to the, um, to the blanket? We could cover...”

“No, no, it’s okay ... I pulled it down,” Cassie said. “I wanted one last look.”

“I understand,” said the doctor. “It must be very...”

“It is,” said Cassie. “It’s very ... Um, shouldn’t he be, um, stiff?” She sniffled.

“Well it’s a little soon,” the doctor said. “Oh, you mean, his, um...”

“I was so close,” Cassie said. “So very very close when it happened. It’s not fair.”

The doctor nodded. “I can imagine,” he said.

“My heart must still be beating a thousand miles a minute. I barely had time to put on this shift. I didn’t even have time to put on underwear.”

“I can imagine,” the doctor said.

“It’s just not fair. I was so close. So very very close.”

“Maybe I could, um, do something to, um...”

“Could you, Doctor? That would be so good of you. So very very good.”