The Write Place

“Zoe” coughed the elderly man in his hospital bed.

“I’m here, I’m here,” the elder woman said as she gently placed her hand in his. Her long, curling hair rested over her shoulders. They sat together in the relative quiet of the hospital room. He sat in the hospital bed, serenaded by the slow beeping of the heart monitor.

“All those years we shared life together…”he said in a tired voice.

“Six beautiful children, 20 grandchildren, one on the way,” Zoe said, knowing where his thoughts would lead.

“I can’t believe I will miss her. You tell her I love her,”

“I will. I know you do,” she said, failing to hold back the first tears of long held grief.

“Have you ever thought about all those years we spent our life together,” he began only to be interrupted by the pained coughs that haunted his remaining days. “We hadn’t just vowed to share life together. Our vows were a vow….. I was asking you to be there when I die. Have you ever thought of that?”

“I suppose. Not in those words but yes. I have,” Zoe said. Tears filled her eyes.

“Thank you for saying yes. I hope. I hope I said that to you every day. In a thousand little ways.”

“You did,” Zoe smiled a bittersweet smile “I always knew.”

“In the bad times, no less?”

“Yes, I knew. No less when things were bad,” Zoe said. She held back the tears, but not all of them as they began rolling down her face. Her husband sighed, sinking back into his bed.

“I guess, I did well then,” he said, satisfied at the last. The woman wiped away her tears with her free hand.

“I love you,” She said.
“I love you too Zoe. Always and forever,” he whispered.

The world was a golden, glowing white. A young brown-haired man squeezed the hand of the woman with long brown curls. They walked together before the throne, past the tree bearing fruit in its season. Never would they part again, for death was no more.