The words seemed to freeze the air around her.
For a long moment, she could not breathe. Pride screamed at her to run, yet every image of her mother gasping for breath chained her in place. After a long silence, she nodded, tears burning her eyes.
The night that followed carried no romance. It was quiet, almost mechanical, driven by desperation rather than desire.
When morning came, Alicia found an envelope on the bedside table with a check and a note that read, “Your mother will receive the treatment. You need not return to work.”
She walked out of the building with her head bowed, the rain still falling, each drop mixing with her tears. She told herself she had traded her dignity for a life. And she would live with that choice.
