Walking Shoes

I knew as soon as I walked into the room that they had told her. The resident was sitting on the bed just opposite her, the intern stood at the end of the bed, and the medical student was leaning against the wall; all of them were quiet, gazing intensely at her. I hesitated, afraid I would interrupt.

Then I heard her sobs. She was sitting in a high-backed lounge chair, and all I could see was her bony left elbow resting on the arm of the chair. No one said anything; no one knew what to say. I realized that they must have just told her about her cancer.

After what seemed to me an eternity, her breathing slowed and the sobs diminished, but just when I thought her crying might stop, it would pick up again. We all could feel her emotion. She didn't try to hide it. The intern suddenly wheeled around and almost ran into me rushing out …