Letting My Brother's Best Friend Take My V-Card

HARD CHOICES

THE NOW

JOSH

288 ¡Vouchers.

The doctor's office felt too small, too quiet. The walls were painted a neutral beige, but they might as well have been closing in on me. The clock on the wall ticked softly, but each second felt like a hammer against my skull.

Laura had been in the hospital for THREE months. Ninety-two days. I knew because I counted them, each one dragging on like a lifetime. Every day, I sat by her bed, talked to her, held her hand, and hoped prayed-for some kind of sign.

It felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest all over again just sitting here, waiting for the doctor to tell me something, anything, that might change the trajectory of this nightmare.

"If it wasn't for Jess and Luke, I wouldn't even know where to start," I muttered to myself, my voice barely audible.

They were home with Asha. My little girl. God, she was so small, so innocent. Too young to understand why her mother wasn't there. Jess had stepped in like a second mother to her, and Luke... well, Luke was Luke. The steady rock we all needed but rarely deserved. The doctor finally spoke, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"So, Joshua. Your wife-Laura-she's been stable for a few

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HARD CHOICES

288 Vouchers

is good. There haven't been any infections,

nodded, clinging to

he continued, and my stomach dropped. There was

shown any significant improvement. And we want to discuss moving her to the

to process

for patients who require extensive rehabilitation and monitoring. In Laura's case, she needs physiotherapy

his explanation. The words "long-term

just waiting for her to die," I said

her the best chance to recover. The long-term wing is better equipped to handle her needs, and there are things we can do to keep her body healthy and prevent complications. But... we need to be honest about her progress. The medications that kept her sedated have been removed. She needs to wake up on her own now, and unfortunately, there's nothing we

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HARD CHOICES

we just

can help-things like music, photos, personal touches in

were giving up. They were saying she wasn't going to wake up, and this was their

own yet?" I

breaths, but the ventilator is still doing most of the

My jaw clenched.

discuss end-of-life care

out of my seat, my chair