INTIMA SPRING 2024 | FICTION

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Good-bye | Jeffrey Millstein

In a split-second decision, a clinician chooses to comfort a patient before time runs out.

Indelible | Jennifer Peterson

A missive to a mother who has lost a baby from a doctor who spent time getting to know him in his short lifetime.

Mangoes | Rachel Prince

Contentious, yet caring: Mother-daughter relationships are forever lovingly complex, but especially so in times of illness.

Not Today, Not Tonight | Donald Kollisch

Routine appointments sometimes play out in undesirable ways, disrupting the normal course of events during an exam and after-hours.

Old Scrubs | Bruce Campbell

After a procedure, a longtime surgeon exits the hospital with a different kind of insight.

People Are Dumb | Cheryl Bailey

Mistaken identity leads to rage, reflection and reconciliation in a hospital corridor.

Queen of Swords | Jafar Al-Mondhiry

A tarot card reading prompts a young clinician’s uneasy reflection on fate—and the difficulty of predicting an outcome.

Solving for Unknowns | Parisa Thepmankorn

‘Give-up-itis’ presents its own mathematical uncertainties as a granddaughter grapples with her grandfather’s reaction to a cancer diagnosis.

Something True | Sonny Fillmore

Medical mysteries aren’t always solved, even though we’d like them to be. An account from a particularly astute insider.

The Waiting Room | Shruti Koti

When a life-changing decision has been made, a couple sees the inevitable choice they made differently.