“ ‘To the very end,’ I said shakily. ‘I heard his very la…

   “ ‘To the very end,’ I said shakily. ‘I heard his very last words . . . .’ I stopped in a fright.     ” ‘Repeat them,’ she murmured in a hear-broken tone. ‘I want–I want–something–something–to–to live with.’    “I was on the point of crying at her, ‘Don’t you hear them?’ The dusk was repeating them in a persistent whisper all around us, in a whisper that seemed to swell menacingly like the first whisper of a rising wind. ‘The horror! The horror!d’    “‘His last word–to live with,’ she insisted. ‘Don’t you understand I loved him–I loved him–I loved him!’    “I pulled myself together and spoke slowly.    ” ‘The last word he pronounced was–your name.’ ” 

A 19 year old woman comes to the clinic at the instance of h…

A 19 year old woman comes to the clinic at the instance of her sister.  She is wearing black combat boots and a black lace nightgown over the top of her other clothes.  Her hair is dyed pink with black streaks throughout.  She has several pierced holes in her nares and ears and is wearing a earring through her eyebrow and heavy black makeup.  Which is an appropriate conclusion for the nurse to draw?