Asmahan - The Offing Our daughters were pleading with Shireen, Shireen was screaming at her sister, the sister was shouting at my sister, and my sister was shouting at a doctor The doctor had formed a wall in front of us all, and was shouting at two nurses
We Love Because HE Loved Us First - The Offing Before the procedure, the doctor had asked him to leave, because he kept crying and praying and asking if she was going to die, and if she died would it be his fault, and even if it wouldn’t be his fault legally, Jesus would punish him for aiding in two murders, not just one
Not Everyone Is Special - The Offing “Congratulations, Billy Ray,” Dr Benta says in his monochromatic voice His moustache lays over his upper lip like a scarf He’s probably sad that he won’t get Billy Ray’s five hundred dollars a week anymore It’s expensive to study with Dr Benta, but he’s the best in the business Out of his forty-two online reviews, there’s only one negative
Excerpt from Did You Find Your Killer Yet? - The Offing The doctor’s office was the smell of staleness and sweat and tired on top of the smell of things sterile and Clorox and anti-everything, all of which was coated in the smell of choked flowers from a spray can
Room 10 - The Offing In room 8 there’s a UN official who had a stroke in Gaza His pupils are different sizes and his one eyelid hangs down as if his eyeball had crawled up into its socket He’s watching Netflix, encircled by med school students I say it a thousand times those first days: Look, Niza! Are you able to…?
Damnage - The Offing The headaches are getting worse—worse than all those years ago, when you first started seeing a doctor about your damnage The doctor suggested therapy, then asked if you’d tried depositing to an ECMB Advice about as helpful as a ten-dollar tarot reading or a yogi’s quote on mindfulness
The Girl Gets Whatever She Wants Troy got Chrissy a room at the Showboat Casino for her twenty-second birthday Though not her first choice, it was at least more promising than the previous year when he’d brought home a bottle of Jack Daniels and a small unfrosted yellow cake from Sam’s Club
The Only Ones - The Offing The son will dream of being a doctor because somewhere along the way he will lose his grasp on imagination Their mother will seem like a new person In Santorini, she will look over the blue and white speckled valley and feel she might learn to breathe again
Medellín - The Offing As she loaded her bowl with meat, she explained that her doctor had ordered her to eat more iron “When people ask me how I’m doing,” she said, “I tell them that I’m perfect from the neck up ”
So no one can count the bodies - The Offing His pen slashed across a piece of paper “Now, the doctor ” Baba closed his eyes As the charges against him rang out through the temple, he relived the moment of his alleged crime He recalled winding his way through the anxious crowd to the spot in front of the auditorium stage that was set aside for public comment