Epilogue

...I ushered them into the lift, placing them at each end of the little elevated room, in such a way that they were facing each other.

They hadn't seen each other face to face in a long time, maybe since they had arrived here, I speculated.

Still startled by his wife's radiating beauty which was only magnified by love's lines written upon her face, he wheeled himself over to kiss her.
"My darling" he said, "it had been so long since I had been placed in such a way that I could see all of your face."

Habitually, he had to settle with kissing her hand and holding her arm by his side, with the wheels of their chairs always keeping them at a distance from one another.

Tears silently started rolling down her cheek.
"65 years of marriage" she murmured, "I'm afraid I won't see him again."

Mr. B was to be taken to the hospital for tests in an hour.
Tests for his cancer.
He only has a couple more days to live.

I brought them over to a table where they started playing cards. They both won a game; he then let her take the last win.

The time was now closer to his departure, they moved closer to the main door.

He held her arm tightly, they exchanged words, punctuated by silence and tears. As the doctor walked in, he kissed her again and shook the doctor's hand, in a manner which suggested he had accepted his fate.

Drying her tears, she watched him leave until he was out of sight.


"Death smiles at us all; all a man can do is smile back." - from the movie Gladiator


"We understand death for the first time when he puts his hand upon one whom we love." - Madame de Stael