The Couple

Ralph handed his wife Jane a dozen red roses for their 66th Valentine’s Day together. The couple was now 82 and had been together since they were sixteen.  

Ralph remembered that fateful day in 1955 when Jane had asked him to the Sadie Hawkins’ Dance at their high school. Had he listened to his gut instinct, he wouldn’t be where he was today — married to the love of his life.  

Jane approached him slowly. She was scared. What-if’s kept going through her mind. What if he said no? What if he didn’t like her the way she liked him? What if he didn’t know who she was? What if he laughed at her? ‘Here goes,’ she thought.  

Ralph stood by his locker with his buddies and watched as Jane slowly approached him. He instantly began to perspire. His gut instinct told him to run. He never would have dreamed that this girl he had crushed on for almost a year now was going to ask him out. The Sadie Hawkins Dance was just around the corner. He froze as she advanced toward him, looked down at her toes, and opened her mouth to speak.  

Her mouth as dry as a bone, heart beating against her rib cage, Jane nervously asked the question. “Ralph, will you be my date to the Sadie Hawkins Dance?” Her heart skipped a beat when the boy she had had a crush on for almost a year now said, “Yes, Jane, I will gladly be your date to the Sadie Hawkins Dance.” Jane’s heart was beating so loudly in her chest that she barely heard him. Her shock must have showed because he laughed, which made her face darken.  

‘I knew it. I knew he’d laugh at me.’ Her thoughts carried her away, and she turned to run.  

“Jane, I said yes. I will be your date to the dance,” Ralph repeated himself, smiling gently now.  

“Oh.” Jane uttered that word with total surprise as she turned back around.

Ralph held out his hand. “C’mon, I’ll drive you home.”

****

Ralph remembered this scenario as he and his wife celebrated their 66th Valentine’s Day together. The only problem: Jane had had a stroke about a year ago. When this happened, Ralph and Jane’s children had put them both in a nursing home. Jane had been healthy up until the stroke, taking care of her husband who was in the beginning stages of dementia. He remembered things from the past so well, but could barely remember five minutes ago.  

Ralph stood beside her bed, tears welling in his eyes as he looked at her silent, drooling face again. When Jane had had the stroke, Ralph wondered if this year would be their last Valentine’s Day together. The couple had always loved this day as they celebrated their love to each other each and every year.

Ralph’s tears streamed down his face as he put the roses on her night table. He prayed every day that Jane would make a miraculous come back, and that he would be the first one to die. He didn’t want to live without her.  

As fate would have it, Jane passed that night from another massive stroke.  

When Ralph awoke the next morning and learned the news, he couldn’t bear it. He prayed and prayed to the God he wasn’t sure existed that his heart would give out soon, and he could join her someway, somehow.  

He went through his day blandly, eating his breakfast slowly and letting it get cold. He blatantly refused a shower from the staff, declined to get dressed, and lay in his bed all day. He skipped his medications by spitting them out and sticking them under his mattress when the staff had left the room to go and check on the next patient.  

Day by day, week by week, Ralph felt as if his heart was permanently broken in two. His children came and visited. He only grunted when they spoke, which caused them to leave after thirty or so minutes. Ralph was relieved when they left.  

More memories washed over Ralph as the days ticked by. He remembered when he and Jane had taken each other’s virginity in the back of his ’55 Chevy a year after they started dating. That’s when he was sure they would be together for the rest of their lives.  

Ralph kissed Jane harder in the front seat of his Chevy as he slipped a hand under her blouse. With lips interlocked, the couple moved to the back seat of his car.  

Ralph snapped back to reality as the nurse entered his room. He removed his hands from under the covers. Nothing was happening down there, anyway.  

“Med time,” she called out, bringing him his daily dose of morning meds.  

Ralph had had it. He snapped.  

“I already took my damn meds! Leave me alone!” he shouted at her.  

Taken aback, the nurse stopped what she was doing. Then, she softened.  

“Ralph, I know you’re sad about the loss of your wife, but I’m only doing my job — taking care of you.”

“Yeah, well, you can take those meds and shove it,” he retorted.  

“I’ll give you a few minutes,” the nurse replied and stepped out of the room.  

As soon as she was gone, Ralph began his hike down memory lane again. This time, he remembered the first time he had ever kissed Jane.  

It was the night of the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Ralph had just picked up Jane in his 1955 Chevy. When he came to the door, she was ready. He gallantly led her down the walkway. He opened the car door for her, and they drove off. 

When they arrived at the dance, he got out and walked around to her side. He opened the car door, and she stepped out. She was so beautiful, so lovely, that he couldn’t resist. He took her in her arms and pulled her close. They kissed for the first time, and magic sparked.  

Again, a nurse came into Ralph’s room, only to find him laying in his bed, not moving. She went to him. 

He was holding an old photograph of him and his wife, eyes wide open, and his chest not moving. She took his vitals. He was gone. His broken heart had finally given out. She slowly closed his eyes and left the room to notify management.