"Eglantine's Time," by Frank Wu, for the book Greetings from Lake Wu, illustrating the story by Jay Lake. Published by Wheatland Press.
An illustrator's job is to read a story, figure out what it's about, and then convey that idea visually to the reader. This is what I discovered this story: it's about scary doctors.
Hence the woman and the syringe. I also thought it would be fun to draw some antique medical devices, because they're more horrifying than modern ones. Though not mentioned in the story, they convey the dread that pervades the tale. Hence the tools that wrench teeth from mouths, slice vertebrae from corpses, cut holes in skulls, rip skin to let blood, yank babies from wombs, guillotine tonsils, and snip out hemorrhoids. All the devices shown here are real, though some magnified to make them scarier.
And that's what - in my mind - the story is all about.
Have a nice a day.