When Diane found out that she had reached stage IV ovarian cancer and she had just about a month to live, she was prepared. She knew her time was coming to an end so she didn’t nope or wallow in regrets of things that could have been. She decided to devote her remaining days to doing all her favourite things with Sean, her soulmate and the man who had become her life for the past twenty five years.
As she sat on her bed by 3am, unable to sleep, she caught site of a frame on the nightstand. It was a picture of her and Sean on their very first skydiving adventure. They’d gone on many more skydives after then as they both had that love for heights and the singular moment when they let go of inhibitions and became truly free. But that first time when their faces was a mixture of fear and anticipation and exhilaration had been captured and was crystalized in their hearts forever.
Turning to a sleeping Sean, she looked at him with a face of absolute adoration. The kind of love you don’t see in the world today. She was about to tap him but she held back. Let him enjoy his sleep. She said to herself. And was content to just looking at him for the remaining hours of the night.
Sean groggily walked into the kitchen to meet a beaming wife and some bags packed at the corner.
“What’s going on, hun?” he asked stretching himself till he heard a crack. “Damn. Man’s getting old.” But there was no bite in his tone.
Bursting into a fit of giggles, Diane remarked. “One of these days, you’re going to stretch and won’t able to ‘un-stretch.’”
“What’s with the bags though?”
“We are going on an overnight road trip.” Diane gave him the full weight of her ‘you-can’t-say-no-to-this’ smile.
“Whatever you say my love.” Sean grinned. He never could say no to her. Right from that moment twenty five years ago, where they met at the coffee shop. Him, giving her his best pickup line that usually had women on their knees but was beyond surprised as his Diane burst into a fit of boisterous laughter. He knew that day that they would spend the rest of their lives together.
The road trip turned out to be beyond wonderful. They took a drive into the city they had lived in before moving to New York. And they spent each moment like it was the last. Diane insisted on going to the amusement park and trying everything that had to do with heights but Sean drew the line when she almost paid the tickets for that ‘Most Dangerous Ride’ thingy. He knew that Diane was far from being in optimum health so he didn’t want to push it.
They went to the movies and made a hell of noise, criticizing each line of the film and even at a point threw popcorn unintentionally on a couple’s head. That was the last straw as they were not-so-politely shown out of the movie theatre.
They spent the remaining hours of the evening basking in the warm glow of the evening sun at the beach. Laughing at how similar the things they did now was to the times they were younger. And spent the night in each other’s arms at the porch of a rented cabin, watching the stars and singing songs to each other.
The next morning, the mood turned somber and though Sean knew there was an obvious change in the mood of his wife as opposed to her enthusiasm of yesterday, he didn’t comment on it. He noticed how much she tried to conceal the pain she was feeling but he knew she wouldn’t want him to worry on it. She’d always been self-sufficient that way.
When she asked him to make the final stop at the coffee shop where they first met, his suspicions were confirmed. She was leaving. And he fought with all his might not to burst into tears.
They ordered the same coffee they had that day. His black coffee and hers mocha and a serving of cinnamon cookies. He talked about everything under the sun. Keeping the mood as light as possible and smiled when he saw she had loosened up and started laughing with him.
“You know, don’t you?” she said suddenly.
“Yes, I do.” Sean replied, his voice breaking a little at the end.
“You’re the gift God gave me when I thought all hope was lost and I’ll always be with you in Spirit.”
“Diane-”
“Don’t forget to smile and do stay away from chocolate chip cookies.” She grinned.
At this point Sean’s eyes shone with tears but he smiled anyway. “I will.”
Diane felt the pain becoming unbearable, but in that moment, she felt whole. Because she knew her life wasn’t a waste and she had the love of a wonderful man to keep her till the end. Anyone seeing them with their loony grins and teary eyes would probably think them senile but the beauty in that moment was as bright as the sun and holding her husband’s hands tight, she knew she was at home.
This is my submission to The Spill The Beans Writing Prompt. All Rights Reserved. Copyright©️ Jhymi || 2023
