“You are different than the other doctors.”

Her voice surprised me. Though she watched me ceaselessly with narrowed eyes every time I entered the room, she had never once spoken to me. I only ever heard her speak to Edward, and she didn’t do that when I was present.

I turned around at human speed, knowing her steady gaze would catch the abnormal movement. When I looked at her, I found that she was not looking at me, but at Edward. The look in her eyes tore at my dead heart. There was resolve set deep in those green eyes, determination mixed with sadness and acceptance. She had accepted her fate, but would not accept her son’s.

“You act differently. You listen, you feel. . . .” She looked back up at me, her eyes hard, daring me to disagree with her. “You can save my son.”

My eyes widened slightly. It was eerie, how much she had observed. How much those underestimated the dying! Where they seemed far-gone, distantly lost in a sea of pain and death, they were listening, aware of everything around them. She had noticed my difference, my separation, however infinitesimal, from the human doctors.

She was feverish. I could feel, even from this distance, the heat that radiated from her frail body. Her brow was beaded with sweat, and her hair was plastered to her forehead. She continued to glare, even as I stood immobile between the two beds.

“Save him!” Her voice was hoarse, her throat scratched raw from her frequent coughing fits. I walked closer to her bed, leaning in slightly.

“I’ll do everything in my power,” I responded, not breaking eye contact. I took her warm hand in mine. Her fever was so high, she most likely didn’t register the drastic difference in skin temperatures.

“You must,” she insisted, grabbing at my hand forcefully. I marveled at her strength, doubting my earlier assumption that this would be her last day. Her face was inches from mine now, her breath weak and tinged with the faint smell of disease. Her eyes, however, were hard, determined. “You must do everything in your power. What others cannot do, that is what you must do for my Edward.”

I felt a twinge of fear. As I looked into her piercing eyes, I got the assumption that she knew what I was, that she had guessed – through observation – my secret.