That Quiet Voice: A Memoir of Hope

After Cynthia Doss' sister suffers a severe Sickle Cell Anemia crisis sending her into a coma, their family is confronted with the devastating effects of the disease. Days after the two sisters return from an idyllic vacation in the Bahamas, Renatè is rushed to the hospital. Every day presents a new challenge for the medical team. Renatè's lungs fail, her liver fails, her kidneys fail and she has an infection unresponsive to antibiotics. The rollercoaster of events creates a cascade of emotions in Doss as she witnesses her sister's struggle.
When a nurse tells her Renatè would be able to hear even though she was comatose, Doss begins to talk about their childhood in hopes that some shared memory would trigger a response. All the while, she wonders, had they done something in the Bahamas that exposed her sister to danger? Why did the Sickle Cell Anemia attack so many of her body's systems? How could she possibly face a world without her sister?
Renatè's illness weighs heavily on her for years. It would be almost a decade before Doss is diagnosed with clinical depression yet she discovers the catalyst for her depression goes back farther in time than her sister's illness. She has to dig much deeper to unearth the true source of her depression.
Deeply personal and beautifully written, That Quiet Voice: A Memoir of Hope is a testament to the strength of family bonds—especially when tested. It amplifies the whisper in all of us that tells us we are stronger than we think.

Cynthia Doss is a freelance writer living in Southern California. She is a graduate of Kansas State University, University of Southern California, and California State University Dominguez Hills. She is also a candidate in the Creative Writing Certificate Program at the University of California Los Angeles.