"Hey!"

"Oh," The doctor looked over. "Sorry."

"That's, like, not cool. Like, I need to speak to someone, to like, complain."

"I'm sorry." The doctor repeated. "I was shooting for some levity."

"Levity?!" The patient's daughter asked. "Did you think that was funny, mom?"

Mom's chest raised and lowered ever so slowly as the breathing machine worked.

"She wouldn't have thought that was funny." The daughter said.

"I'm sorry, really. Long day." The doctor said awkwardly. "I can go get one of my colleagues..."

"No," she said. "Let's get on with it."

The doctor inserted the syringe silently this time.

Her mother passed peacefully.