After waking up, I realized the twists in my stomach weren't from last night's cheap tacos. We knew it would be “T-Day” and the fear of the unknown was almost unbearable. Once in the ICU, I walked past the glass rooms, seeing body after body struggling to stay alive. Honestly, it ends up creating an unspoken and embarrassing spectrum by which I can measure my mother's illness. This scale involves comparing the number of tubes and cords attached to other patients with the number that are on mom. I'm thinking, "Well, at least she's not attached to oxygen like room 20" and "She doesn't have a feeding tube like room 32." After the long walk to the back rooms, we arrive at room 36 where I see a body covered in tubes and ropes. What happened to my mother during the night? Thank goodness (I know this is completely selfish) it wasn't her! They needed the room for another patient who had many more tubes and cords than my mother. We went hunting for Heather and found her on the 6th floor. While sitting in her room, 2 fresh-faced nurses named Jason and Maria arrived....