i understood that this was the day-to-day of their jobs , but to us , to the family of the sick , it was a place where every minute , every second , felt like torment . if she 'd had her hands free , she would have pushed his head down , moved him where she now needed his mouth so desperately . she climbed up on the stool , unscrewed the frosty dome on the ceiling light , and took out a small white envelope . he said to meet him in your moms hospital room on the eighth at noon . 