Early the next morning, I dropped Michelle off at the Fitzgerald’s house on my way to the hospital. She had started walking down to their house to wait for the bus with the other kids that lived in LaCera that fall, but between the slush and rain, I thought it was best to drive her.

“Remember, you can call me if you start feeling bad, or worrying,” I told her. “Or if you just want to see Daddy. I’ll come get you.”

“Okay,” she said as she nodded. She jumped out of Virgil’s black truck – I didn’t dare risk driving my Bug that far in this weather – and ran off to Riley’s garage, where a couple of other kids were huddled to get out of the rain and wind. I wasn’t sure what to make of her easy acceptance of the situation, until I realized she had made me promise that Virgil would be okay. Oh, to be a kid and believe that the adults in your life knew what they were doing.

I arrived at the hospital to find Virgil sitting up in bed, eating a sad looking breakfast of plain oatmeal.

“Hey you,” he greeted me. He was looking better, though still tired.

“Hey you,” I replied, looking at his oatmeal. “They could have at least let you have a little brown sugar or something.”

“Listen, Ella… I’m sorry about yesterday.” He came right out with it. “I understand that you’re scared, and you should be. I’m scared to death, and I think that’s why I was so nasty.”

“You weren’t that nasty,” I said. Then I paused. “Your dad… He had heart problems, didn’t he?” The memory came flooding back to me. Virgil rarely spoke of his father, they hadn’t been close, but he had told me once, years ago, that his father died from a heart attack.

“Yeah,” Virgil let out a long shaky breath. “He was younger than I am now when he died. He wasn’t in good shape though, smoked and drank, and didn’t exercise. So I thought…”

“You just have to take it easy,” I told him. “Maybe not fully retired, but take on some help to do the heavy lifting.”

“Maybe,” he admitted. “Do you forgive me?”

“You’re not worrying about that are you? Of course I forgive you.” I gave his hand a squeeze. “Silly old man.”

“Where’s Baby Girl?”

“She wanted to go to school today,” I said. “She’s got a science test.”

“Well then,” Virgil said, leaning back in bed.

“She made me promise you were going to be okay.” I explained. “Kids have extraordinary faith in adults. But, you’d better be okay. I’d hate to be made a liar.”

He smiled slightly.

“I’m ready to come home and sleep in my own bed, next to my wife.”

“Speaking of our bed… How long until…” I raised my eyebrows.

“The doctor says we’re going to have to play that by ear, but at least not until my first check up after I’m released. So a week or two at least.”

“That’s the real tragedy in all of this.”

“I never took you for such a horndog, Mrs. Baker.”

“Only for my husband and his perfect co-”

“Good morning, Mr. Baker,” a nurse said, entering the room.

“Good morning,” he said, the tips of his ears turning pink as they did when he was embarrassed. “This is my wife, Ella.”

“Good morning Mrs. Baker.”

“Good morning.”

She checked on things, asked him a few questions and then said the doctor would be in to see us soon. 

“What do you think you might want for dinner when you come home?”

“You’re going to cook?”

“I managed to survive perfectly well fending for myself and cooking for 38 years before I met you.”

“You told me you ate a lot of take out,” he replied with a grin.

I gave him a Look.

“If you wouldn’t mind terribly, I’d like to go to that Chinese place here in Bell City, we haven’t been in ages, and it’ll make things feel less… dreary.”

“If the doctor says it’s okay, then we absolutely will do that.” I promised him. 

Virgil’s doctor confirmed he could enjoy his favorite General Tso’s in moderation, and that he could still go home the following day. Elated, I decided I would keep Michelle home from school and we would make a day of it, getting lunch at the Chinese place, and maybe stopping by the bookstore on the way home. Living in New Oxford, that would have been a normal day, but since coming to LaCera, even something like getting Chinese food awas a special occasion. It would be made more special compounded with the fact that Virgil was coming home. I left Virgil around lunch time at the behest of his doctor, who insisted he needed still more rest.

Back in LaCera, I collected Michelle from school. I told her about the plans for the next day. She nodded excitedly, glad that her dad would be home soon.

“How was school?” I asked her.

“Fine.”

“And your test?”

“It was okay, there was some stuff I didn’t expect.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, but you studied hard, so I’m sure you did well.”

She nodded again, and stared out the window. Once at home, she went up to her room to do her homework. I made us dinner – nothing fancy, and while Michelle did a passable job of pretending to enjoy it, I knew she would be happy when Virgil was in charge of dinner again. She’s not a picky eater, but Virgil hadn’t missed the mark with his comment about how much take out I had eaten before we got married.

In the morning, we set off to Bell City again and collected Virgil. While Michelle read a book in the waiting area outside his room, the doctor went over his treatment plans with us, and told us he could resume his day to day activities, but not work – and no sex – until his first check up, in two weeks. That would be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I realized. Virgil usually prepared Thanksgiving dinner for a load of people. Well, he would just have to be content with something smaller and simpler this year, I decided. Much simpler if I was going to do the cooking.

After we finished up at the hospital, it was nearly lunch time. We headed to the Schezuan Garden, a little Chinese restaurant tucked in between a pet store and a Roses store. Once we were seated, Virgil took my hand and Michelle’s hand in his.

“I’m so lucky to have both you girls taking such good care of me,” he said. “And I want you both to know that I’m taking what happened very seriously, and I’m very committed to doing what my doctor said. I wanna stick around for a long time for my girls.”

“We want you around for a long time, too,” I replied, giving his hand a squeeze.

We had a nice lunch, and then stopped into the book store. 

“You doing okay?” I asked him.

“Fine, but I might need to call it a day after this,” he said.

“Okay, we’ll head home once she’s done.” I nodded to Michelle who was darting from aisle to aisle. I was feeling worried, but I didn’t want to show it, so I let her pick out a dozen books. Virgil found a few for himself, too.

“Sounds like I’m about to be a man of leisure,” he explained. “I’ll need something to keep myself occupied.”

We headed back to LaCera once again. His tow truck would remain at the Bell City Sheriff’s station until he was cleared to return to work. Michelle passed the time on the trip back home by reading us puns from one of the books she had picked out.

“Why do coffee cups avoid the city? They’re afraid to get mugged!” She giggled.

“Very clever,” Virgil agreed.

At home, he settled back in his recliner in the living room. Michelle chose a different book to read to him, and cuddled up in his lap, reading aloud. CB leapt lightly up into the chair and curled up with them. I looked over at them, and while it would be nice if at least one creature in the house preferred me to Virgil, I was struck with a powerful love for all of them. It was enough to make me smile in spite of anything. I slipped from the living room and grabbed my camera. Back in a flash, I snapped pictures of them quietly. Michelle paid me no mind, I had been doing this since she was born. Virgil looked up at me after a bit and gave me a smile.

“Love you,” he mouthed.

“Love you, too,” I mouthed back. CB eyed me every time I moved. I rolled my eyes at her, thinking again how I was the one who had wanted her… but I supposed I had abandoned her in the early phase of my relationship with Virgil, before I allowed myself to believe our burgeoning romance would be possible. Did she remember that, all these years later? No, it was probably the same reason Michelle gravitated towards Virgil. I had traveled a lot when she was young, and Virgil was always there, a constant. He was gentler than I was, and more patient, too.

It hurt a little bit, but that was the bed I had made. I wasn’t looking forward to the challenges of Michelle’s impending teen years, but watching her reading her book to Virgil was enough to make me smile despite everything.

Virgil wanted to go to bed early that night, and though I understood why, I worried. I loved him with an aching desperation and I wanted him to be whole and healthy. When I lay down next to him, he put his arms around me automatically, and after several nights without him, it was nice to feel him there next to me, but I could tell he was having trouble getting to sleep.

At one point, he rolled over onto his back.

“Are you awake?” He asked in a low voice.

“I am,” I said, rolling into the crook of his arm. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s been hitting home, everything,” he said. “I’ve been feeling bad for how I spoke to you at the hospital, and I hope you know I don’t…” he squeezed me.

“I know,” I replied softly. “You were scared.”

“I shouldn’t be unkind to you just because I’m scared.”

“You’re not as mean as you think you are,” I said, stroking his stubbly cheek.

“Do you ever… I mean… I’m sorry that I got so old.”

“Hey,” I said. “Don’t do that. You’re not old. You just have to start taking it a little easier, you’ve always worked too hard.”

“No, Ella, I’m getting old, I can see it in the mirror and the truth is…Your face looks exactly the same as you did 10 years ago, and I see how men look at you in town. Sometimes I worry that maybe you need a younger man.”

I wanted to laugh at the notion, but in the dim moonlight bleeding through the windows, I could see the serious expression on his face. I took a deep breath.

“The only man I could ever need, or want, is you.” I said, kissing him.

“I’m just going to get older,” he said glumly.

“I love you in every season of life,” I said. “Nothing will change that. Not your age, not your health, not your weight, nothing. I love you, Virgil. I love you. Unconditionally.”

He hugged me closer to him.

“I love you, too.”

 “Good, go to sleep.” I whispered. He smiled slightly and kissed my forehead. He closed his eyes, but I could tell that it took him a while to fall asleep. When he did finally drift off, it was late. 

I fell asleep some time after Virgil, but what felt like only a few minutes later, I was awake. The sun was shining through the windows. He was still asleep, his chest rising and falling gently. I eased out of bed and got Michelle up for school. She walked down to Riley’s house, and I watched her until she disappeared around the bend. I made coffee and had a pop tart for breakfast, and then I went up to my office.

I sat down at my computer and began to type up a summary of my thoughts and feelings, much as I would put into a journal entry. I don’t know how long I sat there, but I had a couple of thousand words by the time I heard Virgil get up. He took a shower and then a few minutes later, he came into the office, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He was adjusting his belt around his hips.

“I think I lost a little weight in the hospital, my pants are too big.” He sounded tired.

“The pants are a problem I wish I had sometimes, but I’m sorry.”

He sat down in a chair under the window.

“We should call Bill and Frank,” I said. They were an older couple that lived up in Verona. Virgil was good friends with them both, and they would probably be insulted that we hadn’t called them before now. “I forgot in all the… everything.”

He nodded. He gazed at me for a long time, and I thought perhaps he was waiting for me to say more.

“Are you hungry?” I asked him.

“No, I’m fine. I’ll make myself something in a bit. I just like looking at you,” he said.

I bit my lip, feeling a little heat creep up into my cheeks, even after all these years.

“It’s going to be a long two weeks,” he said sadly.

“Very.” I whispered. 

He stood up and kissed me on the forehead.

“Love you,” he said softly as he headed downstairs.

“Love you.” I said. “Where are you off to?”

“I think I heard the UPS man,” he said. “I ordered some stuff for Baby Girl for Christmas.”

“Oh you did?” I called, chuckling. He spoiled her. But I loved him for it. I turned my attention back to what I wrote before he woke up. I felt better after putting it all on paper, figuratively. 

I should start journaling again. I wrote for a while longer, pouring my feelings out. All the love, all the worry, all the pride in my family, everything. I was pretty lost in thought, turning around the ideas in my mind. The sun started to shift in the sky, casting longer shadows against the dark green walls of my office. It was only then that I realized how quiet the house had become.

“Virgil?” I called out. There was no reply. I got up and headed downstairs. “Virgil?” I called again. Nothing. I looked in the living room, no sign of him. He wasn’t in the kitchen or the dining room. I looked out back and he wasn’t in the yard.

Trying not to panic, I went back upstairs and checked our bedroom, maybe he had laid back down. He wasn’t there, and he wasn’t in Michelle’s room, nor the guest room. Panic was rising in my chest, but I tried to reign in it. I took a few deep breaths and then picked up my cell phone. I dialed his number and it rang a few times before going to his voicemail. 

I was about to put on my boots and go look for him outside when I heard a loud THUD coming from the attic overhead.

 “Virgil!” I shouted as I wrenched open the door to the attic. I ran up the narrow wooden stairs to the attic, my worst fears circling around in my head. “Virgil?” I called out tearfully. There was no answer.