I Worked Nights and Nursed My Husband Through Cancer – The Week He Was Declared Cancer-Free, He Asked for a Divorce, but His Doctor Stopped Me and Said, ‘There’s Something You Should Know’
“I thought you’d changed your mind,” he said.
“No. I was six minutes late.”
“Friday. Seven. I’ll choose the place.”
He almost smiled. “That’s new.”
“A lot is.”
We ordered, and for once, I didn’t ask about his appointments. He didn’t ask about my shifts.
Instead, Theo told me about counseling. He admitted he’d nearly quit twice.
“I kept waiting for you to call and tell me to come home,” I admitted.
“I kept reaching for my phone.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because I finally understood that missing you wasn’t the same as being ready for you.”
When dessert came, he set down his fork.
“Do you want to try again?”
I looked at the man I’d loved for 11 years.
“Do you want to try again?”
“Not the way we were.”
Theo nodded slowly. “What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t move back in because you’re lonely. You don’t stay because I carried you through cancer. We keep counseling. We date. We talk before resentment turns into secrets.”
