It's all right, Tessa, you can go. We love you. You can go now.' 'Why are you saying that?' 'She might need permission to die, Cal.' 'I don't want her to. She doesn't have my permission.
Jenny DownhamEvery breath, every heartbeat, was one less until maybe things stopped hurting this much.
Jenny DownhamIt's as if a child with a brush and too much enthusiasm has been set free with a tin of black paint inside me.
Jenny DownhamHer face crashes. She hasn't dealt with a single transfusion or lumbar puncture. She wasn't allowed near me for the bone-marrow transplant, but she could have been there for any number of diagnoses, and wasn't. Even her promises to visit more often have faded away with Christmas. It's her turn to taste some reality.
Jenny Downham