The flat line’s sound doesn’t stop haunting me. And as the nurses let me go, I quickly head straight for Eryis’s bed.

I pause for a while to stare blankly at her lifeless body. Then I caress her forearm softly.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” her doctor starts, “she suddenly stopped responding to treatment. We did all we could but…” I don’t bother to look at him, nor do I respond. “Where’s the register?” he calls out to the nurses before spelling out words that nail my heart to ...