Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

This poor girl's head is a mess. Squares of thick braids hold on by a strand or two, surrounded by bald patches. She has been holding on to those braids like they're her last link to normal. I tell her the braids look like they're ready to go. She agrees to let me help. I find myself pulling out the remaining wisps of hair, which come out in clumps in my hand. I don't know what I'm doing. I am better at drawing blood cultures or giving chemo or infusing platelets than I am at doing this. But she doesn't need cultures or chemo or platelets right now. Right now she needs someone to transition her from balding to bald. So I do.