Her older siblings sit across from her, and she can see the sorrow hiding beneath their eyes. ”What-what’s wrong with my son? No one w-went near him, right?” Lorna’s hands shake nervously against the sticky table as she glances between the two.

The brother and sister share a look before turning back to stare at Lorna. They both grab one of her hands, knowing she’ll need the comfort once she’s told of the unsettling news. ”Lorn, something happened,” Franny carefully starts off, squeezing her sister’s hand tight. ”They did a scan of Emilio’s brain, and a lot of tests – they found that the cracking of his skull made his brain swell real bad…and he had a stroke, Lorn…And his brain—it can’t work anymore; they did so many tests on him and there’s nothing they can do that can bring him back. He’s brain dead – which means the only thing keeping him alive is the breathing tube. As soon as that’s taken out, he’ll completely die.”

”It’s not getting taken out then, Franny. I’m not letting my son die,” Lorna fiercely says, her hands shaking with resistance. How can her own siblings come here and ask her to kill her own child? What do they think she is? ”Why do you want my son to die!?”

”Lorna, no one wants your baby to die! But he’s kind of already gone…he can’t live without the constant pumping of that breathing machine. The doctors can’t allow him to go on like this much longer; they need you to make the decision. Emilio is gone, and he will never wake up again. 100% for sure there’s no chance of him recovering. Mikey and I have had more than one doctor confirm this… The only thing left to do is for you to accept his condition and let him go, sweetie,” Franny tenderly says, cupping her hand over top of Lorna’s shaky one. She strokes her knuckles and stares sadly into her brown eyes. ”I know it hurts, Lornie, but you gotta let him go. It’s for the best—it really is.”

Lorna lets out a sob, her eyes glancing up at her sister. ”I can’t let him go without-without seeing him,” her voice quivers, ”I need to see my baby…and tell him how much I love him…I-I don’t want him to die without-without having his mommy there with him.”