"I would be the worst terminally ill person," she said. He was sitting on a chair in the doorway, looking in on a woman drenched in blankets with her mouth open, a cloth on her forehead. The lights were off. "You know, not like those people who are in the worst pain and give hope to others. Nope. Maybe if I knew I was going to die, but wasn't in any pain, I could leave with some dignity," she said. He exhaled a laugh, amused.

"It smells gross in here," he said.