I could have dismissed him, or given a simple answer about love.

Instead, I told him the complicated version.

We had disclosed the relationship, separated my personal involvement from medical decisions, and involved independent advisers.

Even with those precautions, the circumstances were ethically fraught, and I wouldn’t recommend turning a patient’s vulnerability into a romantic story.

“So do you regret it?” he asked.

The question caught me off guard.

I’d spent months trying to fit the answer into one sentence, and I still couldn’t.

“I regret that she suffered,” I said.