Suddenly she said:

“You haven’t ruled out one thing.”

The surgeons exchanged looks and laughed.

“Please leave. This is none of your business.”

“Yeah,” another muttered, “we’re discussing a serious diagnosis, not how to best clean the tiles.”

But the cleaning lady did not leave. At that humiliating moment, while the doctors smirked at her words, she lifted her eyes to the monitor displaying the tests. She saw what dozens of educated eyes had missed.

Gathering all her strength, she uttered a few short, seemingly incoherent words. The mocking smiles disappeared instantly, replaced by tense silence.