Three weeks later, the ambulance came for her.
I rode with her to the hospital because there was no one else to call.
During her hospital stay, one afternoon, Gloria patted the mattress beside her.
“Sit, Daniel. I need to ask you something.”
I sat down. Her hand found mine, thin but still warm.
“I have one last wish,” she said quietly. “I know it will sound strange. But I don’t have much time left, and I don’t want to leave this world knowing I never had someone I could call my husband.”
Then she looked me straight in the eyes.
“Will you marry me?”
For a moment, I could not speak.
The heart monitor beeped steadily beside us.
“Gloria…”
“Don’t answer now,” she said gently. “Go home. Sleep on it. But please don’t say no just because you’re afraid of what people will think.”
And that was exactly what I was afraid of.
That night, I did not sleep.
By sunrise, I drove straight to the nursing home and pulled Sarah into the break room.
“I need to tell you something,” I said, “and please don’t laugh.”
Sarah set down her coffee. “Daniel, you look awful.”
“Gloria asked me to marry her.”
Sarah did not laugh.
She did not even blink.
Then she rubbed her forehead like a headache had just started.
“Please tell me you said no.”
“I haven’t answered yet.”
“Daniel,” she said carefully, “do you understand how this looks? A thirty-four-year-old orderly marrying an eighty-two-year-old woman with no family? People will say terrible things. Management will investigate.”
“I know.”
“Do you? Because this could destroy your career.”
“She’s dying, Sarah. She’s alone. She asked me for one thing.”
“She could have asked for a hundred other things.”
“But she asked for this.”
Sarah studied my face.
– Igent fogsz mondani, ugye?
Lenéztem.
„Nem tudom, hogy az, amit én veszíthetek, fontosabb-e annál, amit ő veszíthet.”
Sarah felsóhajtott. – Mindig is ez volt a problémád, Daniel. Sosem hiszed el, hogy bármit is megérdemelnél, amit meg kellene védened.
Azon a délutánon visszatértem Gloria kórházi szobájába.
Felült, ölében egy puhafedeles könyvvel, és amint meglátott, elmosolyodott.
Ne hagyd ki a többit! Kattints a Tovább gombra a folytatáshoz.
