Day 11: "We're going to have to break up"

MA SCHMIDT: I'm going to die soon.

HOSEA: That's normal. It happens to everybody.

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Ma slept most of the day. She started to need attention in the evening, as Schmidt finished making dinner: grimacing as if it pain, reciting "Help me" every few seconds, and so on. Schmidt brought her a spoonful of syrup with a painkiller and 2 anxiety pills. But still she wanted me to stay with her. I told her my dinner was ready, and she replied, "Stay with me. Don't leave me."

Then after a few minutes she whispered to me, "We're going to have to break up. Because when they send us away, I know they won't send us together."

Finally she closed her eyes, and I went to eat dinner.

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P.S.: Schmidt finished his big job yesterday (Sunday), and FedEx came today to pick it up. It is now officially, at long last, on its way to the long-suffering customer.