The Right Way

"Ran into the doc outside, he seems to be doing alright." 

At the foot of the bed, as carefully, as delicately as I could, I took a seat, to better see her, and to better hear her too. It was a strain for her to raise her voice too long. More often than not, I hear her more in feeble whispers than anything else.

"He's a darling, isn't he?" Mom said, fluttering her eyes to a close, hiding her wheeze with a subtle sigh.  "He came as fast as he could as soon as your Father called. Didn't even charge us a cent for it."

Unfortunately, she wasn't subtle enough.

"Does it even help your illness?" I asked, glancing at her modest pile of prescriptions by the bedside. "The medicine, the treatment he recommends, I thought you guys only bring him here so that Sammy and I don't get suspicious of your lack of hospital visits. Seems pretty redundant to me, now that we know ."