Nobody came to collect it.
The second day was a treatment day. Mom was supposed to have a chemotherapy session at the oncology center. Gabriel did not take her. He told her he had forgotten the appointment and that she should call to reschedule.
Mom called the center. They rescheduled for the following week.
A missed chemotherapy appointment during an active treatment cycle is not an inconvenience. It is a disruption to a medical protocol that depends on timing. The oncologist later told me the missed session had not caused permanent harm but that treatment schedules exist for a reason and the reason is that cancer does not reschedule.
On the third day, Mom felt too nauseated to climb the stairs. Gabriel left the plate on the top step. She did not retrieve it.
She spent the third day on the air mattress without eating.
On the fourth day, the air mattress began losing pressure. She told me she woke in the middle of the night and her hip was touching the concrete floor through the deflated vinyl. She did not call for Gabriel because calling required climbing the stairs and climbing required energy she did not have.
