A lifeless form.

A beautiful face, pale and grey, sunken and dry.

There was no evidence of life, save for the shallow up and down breathing motion of the chest, and all the machines indicating that this comatose beauty was still very much alive. Occasionally, the eyeballs under the tightly shut eyelids moved, a glimmer of hope to all that noticed. But never once, not once had it opened, much to the disappointment of the watching eyes. ‘It is a reflex action of the body,’ the doctor said, unable to explain any further to the grieving family.

Friends and family. They had watched over her, taking turns, coming and going, religiously putting on the sanitary gowns that were provided before entering the sterilized room. They know that she was vulnerable, easily infected, and they took pains to keep themselves as germ free as possible. One by one, they succumbed to life, some going back to school, some going back to work. But one, one person stayed by the side of the sleeping beauty the entire way. One person stayed behind, whether there were other people or not. She only left the room periodically to take quick showers and meals, determined, if misguided, that she would be there for whatever changes that happened, good or bad.

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“Mr. and Mrs. Morales. Miss Morales has suffered a blow to her head. On a normal healthy person, it wouldn’t be as serious. But because Miss Morales has chronic leukemia, her white blood cells has been rendering her red blood cells and platelets unfit to function. To put it simply, the mutated white blood cells has been eating away at her platelets, causing Miss Morales to continue bleeding. She had already lost a substantial amount of blood.

We have been able to stop the bleeding temporarily, and the blood transfusion has helped stabilized her condition, but I would strongly suggest that she goes through a bone marrow transplant immediately. I understand from Doctor Washey that there is a suitable donor, and that Miss Morales has already signed a consent for the operation. Because the patient is in a coma now, we would need you, Mrs. Morales, to sign the go ahead for the operation on her behalf.