Norbert Hirschhorn He considered the wasted moult of a once large, ferocious creature: mouth agape, muscles twitching with every rattled breath. Agapé–my friend the scholar marveled at the homograph, and the thing that feasted on his father. He laid a futon at the foot of the high white bed, some books, a laptop, a thermos. […]
My Friend the Scholar Comes at Last to Attend His Father Read More »
One Monday morning, a number of years ago, the administrators at the family health center where I used to work instituted a new and time-consuming procedure for registering patients. They did this in an attempt to satisfy the rules and requirements imposed by the many different insurance plans our center accepted. There was just one
The Story of Pulse Read More »
Paul Rousseau “I want everything done. Please, Dr. Rousseau, do everything. We have two children–they can’t be without their father. Do you understand? Do what it takes to keep him alive!” Angie, a petite woman with long blonde hair, fixes me with piercing blue eyes. Her husband, Joe, fifty-two, has scleroderma, an autoimmune disease. In
Steven Lewis Minor chest pains that woke me early one morning–and which did not go away three, four, five, six hours later–landed me flat on my back at a local emergency room, a perversely comforting beep beep beep issuing from the monitor hanging precariously over my head. Frankly, I didn’t really think that I was
Desperately Seeking Herb Weinman Read More »
Stacy Nigliazzo When I cut the stem I knew it was just a matter of time. I cleared the sill and filled a crystal vase. The petals unfurled. The smell of summer pierced my skin for three days. When the first leaf fell I added lemon pulp and crushed an aspirin; cut away all that
Audrey Cortez Years ago I worked as a registered nurse in a busy surgical pre-admission clinic, preparing patients who’d been scheduled for surgery for the upcoming operation and hospital experience. My workdays were packed with back-to-back, hour-long appointments. Whatever surgery the patient was facing–oral, orthopedic or anything else–every interview followed the same format. I would
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