Thirty Seconds to Choose

I held the syringe knowing it would save one twin but kill the other. The monitors screamed

around me as both babies crashed simultaneously. Protocol said treat the stronger one. My hands shook because

the weaker twin had her mother's eyes, the same mother who begged me to

save both just hours before she died on my table. I had thirty seconds to decide.

The attending yelled my name but I couldn't hear him over the sound of my own heartbeat drowning

out everything. I chose the weaker twin. She survived. The other didn't.

Some nights I still see his tiny fingers curling into fists, fighting for a life I decided wasn't

worth the risk. Would you have made the same choice.