It was an antiseptic space. The doctor said
   something I couldn't quite hear because the
   clock over her right shoulder had a second
   hand that sounded like firecrackers each tick!

   I heard stage 4, in your blood, invading your
   entire body, maybe 3 months. The noise grew
   louder. Each tock became a bomb in a war zone.
   Deafening. PTSD. I was freezing and shaking.

   My girl just turned 2. Collateral damage.
   It wasn't my turn! What kind of god does this?
   I thanked my doctor for my death sentence
   and went home to live with my fading family.