Chapter 6

The hospital ceiling was the color of old paper. I'd been staring at it for twenty minutes, waiting for the doctor to come back, when I finally heard the soft squeak of the door. Dr. Patel was shorter than I remembered, with kind eyes behind her glasses and a tablet clutched against her chest like a shield. She looked at me and smiled—not the practiced, clinical smile I'd seen from other doctors, but something warmer, more human.

"Ms. Gibson," she said, settling into the chair beside my bed. "We have your test results. I'm afraid the abdominal pain you're experiencing…