"Cecily, just let me get through this busy stretch, and we'll go."
"Once the project launches, I promise I'll take you."
"Once..."
So I waited. And waited. I waited past our wedding anniversary. I waited through a pregnancy and a miscarriage. I waited as time slipped through my fingers like water and love dissolved like smoke, and still, not once did we take that trip for two.
The first place on my list had been Antarctica. To see the penguins.
He'd gone to Antarctica after all. With Alice Dotson.
How absurd.
I closed out of Alice's page and tossed my phone onto the bed. A notification popped up on the screen: Your scheduled termination procedure is today at 3:00 PM.
I rushed to the hospital. The nurse glanced around when she saw me alone, professional concern settling across her face. "Where's your family? You may need someone to look after you post-op."
"My husband is dead."
I said it calmly. She blinked, then her expression softened into sympathy.
She helped me change into a surgical gown, her hands gentle as she guided me onto the gurney.
The ceiling tiles slid past overhead, one by one, as I was wheeled down the corridor. Harsh white light carried me into the operating room.