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"That doesn't sound good, Gerald."
Myrna's brow was furrowed, her gaze intense.
"Please don't tune me out. You've got to stop, now. You heard the doctor. He could hear it in your breathing. Please, I don't want to be a forty-five-year old widow."
The hacking began again. Gerald's face had grown red with trying to suppress the cough. When the fit had subsided, he breathlessly forced the words out.
"You understand..." he began.
Hack, hack.
"I make my own decisions."
Hack.
"No FDA is going to..""
Hack
"...tell me what to do."
Myrna stared at him and threw her hands in the air.
"Do you hear yourself?"
Hack, hack, hack.
Gerald's irritation seemed to make the cough worse. The more he tried to talk, the more he tried to suppress the cough, the more he hacked.
"Don't listen to the FDA, Gerald. Please, listen to me."
Gerald couldn't answer. He had no breath left. He waved his hand at her and walked out of the room, hacking all the way.
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