Brian and Shari had been happily married now for three months. They did everything together. They played sports, they went to movies, they just loved spending time together. To anybody that knew them, they were unseparable. Though they had known each other for a year an a half, they felt as if they had known each other their entire lives. They truly felt as if they had found their soul mate.
All this changed, in a matter of weeks. The happy couple had been spending time at home alone, away from their friends. This helped them become even closer.
"Shari, are you okay?" Brian asked, truly concerned. Shari had staggered off into the bedroom, and now lay motionless with a cloth draped over her eyes.
"I'm fine Brian, I just have a head ache. Don't worry about me, go to the session, I'll be fine." Shari said, trying to reassure him.
"But I don't want to leave you if you're sick." Brian replied, pushing the hair away from her face.
"Its just a migraine, I just need to sleep it off. I've had them a hundred times." Shari said, giving him a weak smile. "Now go! The guys are going to be worried about you if you don't show up soon."
"Okay." Brian said, giving her a gentle kiss on the lips. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Then he got up from the bed, and headed out of the room. He paused at the door, and watched her. He had never seen her look so helpless before. She was pale, and he was deeply concerned.
Later that day, Brian returned home from a recording session with the rest of the guys. He dropped his jacket on the floor, and rushed upstairs to find Shari. He was expecting to find her awake, and feeling better, as she had promised she would be. Instead he found her still in bed, looking even paler than before. He noticed a full pale beside the bed, and decided to empty it for her. He headed to the bathroom, and dumped the pail in the sink. Then he heard her stir, and ran back to the room with the pail. She was desperately searching for it, so he handed it to her, and watched as she threw up into it. She had emptied the entire contents of her stomach before, and was now throwing up clear fluid.
She did this many more times, before he decided that she needed to see a doctor. He walked over to the bed, and stroked her hair. She slowly lifted the warm cloth from her eyes, and looked up to see Brian. "Shari, you need to see a doctor." Brian said, as he placed a cool cloth on her forehead.
"No..." She replied weakly. "I'll be fine...I always am...."
Brian, unsure of what he should do, decided to listen to her. He watched for hours, as she continued to throw up the clear liquid, and finally decided to call his good friend, Nick. "Nick...I don't know what to do." Brian said, frustrated. "She says she's been through this before, but I don't know...she looks so pale...and so weak." He whispered into the phone, so as to not wake her.
"Okay...maybe you should just let her go through this the way she wants...she seems to know what she's talking about...." Nick said, trying to comfort him.
"I guess...I'm just so worried about her." Brian said, softly crying into the phone.
"I'll come over, if you want." Nick offered.
"Thanks Frack, I'd really appreciate that."
Nick arrived, and came in to their house. Then he made his way up the stairs to the bedroom, where he found Brian seated at Shari's bedside. Shari looked deathly pale, and lay there motionless. He came into the room, and placed his hand on Brian's shoulder. Brian, as if awaking from some sort of trance, smiled at Nick. "Thanks for coming." He said, shifting his gaze back to Shari.
"She does look pretty bad Frick..." Nick said, not really knowing what to say.
"I know...do you think that we should call a doctor?"
"Yeah...but we won't be able to get her to a hospital." Nick said, as he pulled a chair up alongside Brian. "My family has a friend that's a doctor...I'm sure he'd come over." Nick suggested.
"Thanks." Brian said, taking Shari's hand in his. Nick left the room, and phoned the doctor. The doctor arrived, and quietly came up the stairs. He told the two guys to leave the room, and went to examining her. When he opened the door once more, he looked confused. "What?" Brian whispered to the doctor.
"I'm not sure...everything points to what she claims is wrong...but there's no way that she should still be going through this. Usually they only last for a few hours, not a day." The doctor said shaking his head.
"I think maybe we should get her to a hospital, so we can do more tests." He said, looking straight at Brian.
"Okay..." Brian said, now more concerned than ever.
The three men carried Shari carefully down the stairs, and laid her down in the back seat of Nick's car. Brian sat in the back, with Shari, and stroked her hair. He was continually reassuring her that everything was going to be okay, more for his sake than hers. He couldn't believe this was happening. She had seemed so full of life, just the other day, and now this. The four rode in silence, all the way to the hospital.
When they arrived, Shari was rushed off to have tests done on her. When the doctor came back, he had a grave look on his face. He pulled Brian aside, and looked at him sympathetically. "What? What's wrong?" Brian demanded.
"I'm sorry Brian...your wife....your wife only has three weeks to live." The doctor responded.
"What?" Brian asked in disbelief. "How can she be dying? She only had a head ache!"
"She has a brain tumor. Her symptoms were just so similar to a migraine that it was undetectable." The doctor said, trying to be as compassionate as possible. "I suggest you spend as much time as possible with her, in her last few weeks." The doctor added, turning to leave.
Brian fell to his knees. How could this happen? Why was it happening? They were suppose to live the rest of their lives together, and now this. How was he supposed to live his life without her. Then something struck him. He had to tell the doctor right away. He ran down the hall to catch up to the doctor.
"Excuse me, doctor." Brian said, as the tears streamed down his face.
"Yes Brian?" The doctor said questioningly.
"She can't die." Brian said simply.
"I'm afraid she will." The doctor responded.
"But she can't...I can't lose our baby too."
"Baby?" The doctor looked at him in shock.
"Yeah, she's four months pregnant." Brain answered.
"Oh...well that changes things. I'll be right back." The doctor said, taking off down the hall. Brian took a seat in the hall, and waited for the doctor to return. When he did, he had a puzzled look on his face. "Brian?" The doctor said, trying to get his attention.
"Yeah." Brian said, sniffing and wiping away his tears.
"We're going to keep her alive, until the baby is developed enough to deliver. But you have to understand, that there is no possible way that Shari will live. It will just be the machines keeping her alive. She'll still be dead inside."
"I understand." Brian said, nodding his head.
Months passed, and the baby grew inside of Shari. Then the day came when the doctors felt that she was far enough along to safely deliver the baby. They took her body into surgery, and removed the baby. Then they brought Shari, and the baby down from surgery. Before Brian could hold his baby girl in his arms, they rushed her off to do tests on her. When they came back, the nurses looked relieved. "She's fine." They said, handing Brian his daughter. Brian was relieved. He held his baby girl in his arms for the first time, as he watched the doctors unhook Shari's lifeless body from the life support machines. The tears rolled down his cheeks, as he realized that this was the last time he would ever see her again. He missed her already. He had missed her everyday that she had been in that hospital room, and not in his arms. He had hated the feeling of her slipping away from him, as each day passed, and now she had slipped away from him completely.
The funeral was held days after the birth of his daughter. He named her Shari, in honor of his love. She was still in the hospital when he buried Shari. She was wearing her favorite blue dress, and looked so beautiful. He leaned over, kissing her forehead for the last time. He didn't want to say good bye, but knew that he had to move on with his life, and raise his daughter.
Years passes, and each day, Brian could see more and more of Shari in their daughter. He had never remarried, as he felt that he wouldn't give any other girl the proper chance, always measuring them up to Shari. Their daughter had Shari's height, and as she got older, she acted more and more like her mother. Her laugh was even the same. Some days, Brian would look at her, and swear that it was Shari.
Finally the day came when Brian would have to give up his daughter. She was to be married. He hoped that his daughter would find the kind of love Shari and him had felt for each other. As he led her down the aisle, he remembered their wedding. He knew that his daughter was happy with this man, and hoped that she wouldn't suffer the same fate her mother had.
Brian grew older, and watched as his daughter gave him grandchildren. He spent a lot of time with them, and helped to raise them as if they were his own. Eventually the day came when Brian passed on. He died peacefully in his sleep, as an old man who had seen the world, and seen the changes it had gone through. As he approached heaven's gates, he was greeted by a smiling woman. He recognized instantly who it was. He had spent his entire life staring at that face, even if it was only her pictures.
"Hi Brian." She greeted, giving him a hug. "I've missed you." She said, as she led him through the gates.
"I've missed you too. But now we can be together forever." Brian said, smiling at her.
