“I want you to leave. This is the end for us.” He stared at me as if he couldn't comprehend that I was telling him I wanted to be done with this. I closed my eyes, and lying back I said nothing more. He was silent for a long time. Finally he got up,
and walked to the door, his footsteps heavy on the polished floor. The sound stopped, a pause in his journey.
“I'm sorry, Sara.” I opened my eyes, and looked at him, standing alone in the doorway. As he turned to go, I whispered, “Me too.” He faltered, only for a second, before his feet carried his loneliness out of my life forever. I felt a tear on my cheek before I even knew I was crying. I sighed. The effort of sighing brought on a tightening in my chest, but I smiled anyway. My life was mine again.
. . .
Darryn's mobile rang at 4am. The ringing crept into his dream, and as it became a reality, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He grabbed his phone and saw the unknown number come up on the screen. He cleared his throat and touched the answer button.
“Is this Darryn Cunningham?” A tired female voice asked.
“Yes, is this the hospital?”
“Yes. This is Dr. Sampson. I'm afraid I have some bad news about your wife. She suffered a pulmonary embolism, a blockage of blood to her lungs. We thought it was a relapse of her asthma attack, as she presented with the same symptoms. She had a stroke caused by the embolism, 10 minutes ago. She didn't make it.”
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