Synopsis/Details
Fourteen years from now, in a world of air-filter masks and artificial skies, Oriana Lozea stands before a high school class and opens her tablet, talking about her journey with her son, Dale.
She tells the students about 2038, when Dale was born after years of infertility. She was in disbelief when she realized something was wrong with her son. After five months in intensive care, the doctor informed Oriana and her mother, Maria, of his diagnosis: a new syndrome caused by the air itself. There was no cure, but there was treatment that could help him live with it.
Oriana refuses the treatment because she is afraid of losing the only child she will ever have. She rejects the doctor's advice and quickly sues him for misdiagnosis, and she wins. Maria becomes frustrated and begs Oriana to listen, but eventually decides to leave her alone.
Oriana raises Dale alone, telling herself that he is fine every time he bleeds, faints, or collapses. He dies at thirteen.
At the graveside, Maria takes Oriana's hand for the first time in thirteen years. Oriana apologizes to the doctor for ruining his life. In a classroom full of masked teenagers, she says things she never said aloud: there was a warning, and she heard it.
