TUESDAY TALES - WORD PROMPT "SMART" - "TWO OF HEARTS"

 

Welcome!! Thanks for coming. This week the word prompt is "smart" -- an easy one for an English professor, a silent-but-present character in this story.  When you're done, skip on over to the other authors and read their fabulous stories. Find them HERE. Thanks for stopping by.

 

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Staring at her smart, handsome husband, she longed to crawl into bed with him. If she could snuggle up under his arm, hear his deep voice, she’d know everything was going to be okay. Stan was the rock, not her. Freshly thirty, Jen had never had to cope with serious illness or death. Oh, sure, grandparents, but that’s always expected. Not a husband, not a boyfriend, not a lover – no, no, no.

For a fifty-three-year-old English professor, he looked damn good. His salt-and-pepper hair flopped down over his forehead. She combed it back, making it neat. He would have approved. Stan never had a hair out of place. He always looked put together. No reason why now should be any different.

She went to the window. Sun pushed through the clouds. Resting her palm on the pane, the cool glass made her shiver. She donned a cardigan she’d left there the night before. Settling into the chair next to his bed, she looked up when a nurse entered.

The women smiled. “Your relatives went to the cafeteria.”

“Oh. Thanks. They’re not mine. They’re his,” Jen said, indicating Stan.

“Have you eaten anything?”

Jen shook her head.

“You can have his food. He’s not gonna need it today,” the nurse said.

Her tone made Jen shiver. “Are you sure? What if he wakes up?”

“The doctor will be along soon. Go ahead, honey. Eat it. You need it.”

The nurse checked his vitals and marked them on a chart.

Curious, she peeked at the food: apple juice, decaffeinated tea with lemon and sugar, white, mushy hot cereal, that was no longer hot, and a roll with butter. As she looked over the slim pickings, hunger gripped her belly. Suddenly, the food appealed. She turned the tray around and chowed down.  

Jen drank the apple juice, ate the cereal and polished off the roll and butter. Then careful not to touch any of the machines, wires, or cords, she sat back, resting her feet on the bed and took Stan’s hand.

“Mrs. Hogan?”

Jen bolted upright. “Yes?”

“I’m Dr. Harrison.”

She rubbed her eyes and shook his hand.

“When is my husband going to wake up?”

That's all for this week...