Nag-aagaw-buhay

Ah, yes, she’s been here before. Certain smoothness of bed
sheet denotes multiple washings on an institutional scale and
(light yellowed by dust) to be expected. Machines stand by for
her. The nurses are intensively caring. The doctors are caring
intensively. My prayers flutter like IOUs on paper. We share
fireflies and night jasmine, passing them between us like
conversation. She will walk out of this room, too. A stanza. A
break. A stanza.

Filipino idiom meaning in a serious condition (lit. snatching life)