Mah-vin was out of the room for some tests. I was alone again. Just little old me. But it wasn’t all dark, a red EXIT sign glowed in the darkness. An hour went by, maybe two. I tried to sleep some but couldn’t. The thing is, I wasn’t feeling any better. Now I was worried about the freaking diagnosis, determined to remember the name of my illness. I took three years of Latin, and I was going to master this gobbledygook because I felt like my life depended on it. Now that I had a huge pain in my chest, like someone was sitting on me. My skin felt flushed, my pulse raced. I was breathless, and I thought I was going to die. It wasn’t long before tears streamed down my face. I felt a handkerchief wiping away the tears. I opened my eyes.
She said she was my mother.
“No you’re not,” I said, my
