He thought it was their first date, she knew it was their anniversary. Joe treated every date as if it was their first date. It was actually their fifth wedding anniversary. With the diagnosis that they had been given six weeks before, Ellie didn’t have the heart to tell Joe any different.


Flashback to six weeks earlier:


Ellie and Joe sat in the doctor’s office, holding hands and their breaths. Joe had been feeling off for a couple weeks and had been dealing with the headaches for months. They kept getting worse, to the point where he had lost vision for a while. Joe didn’t have an appetite and had lost weight, to the point that he had to add extra holes in his belt. His clothes just hung on him; sleep was his best friend most days. When Joe had difficulty speaking and started acting irrationally, Ellie had finally convinced him to see a doctor.

Ellie knew that the news wasn’t going to be good from the look on the doctor’s face. Joe squeezed her hand, knowing that whatever the news was, Ellie wouldn’t leave his side. The doctor sat down, opened Joe’s chart and took a few minutes to read over it before clearing his throat and speaking.

“The cat scan showed that you have a brain tumor in the occipital lobe, located in the back of your brain. From every test that we have run, I am sorry to say that it is not operable. We can try radiation and chemotherapy but with the location and the growth rate, I am not sure that it would be beneficial.” The doctor said, looking at Ellie and Joe, both had tears streaming down their face.

As Ellie cleared her throat and wiped the tears from her cheeks, she spoke clear and to the point. “Is it cancer?”

“The only way we can determine that is if we do a biopsy on the tumor. We would also do a lumbar puncture to see if any of the cancerous cells, if there are any, have spread into the fluid that surrounds the brain.” Dr. Anderson answered. “We can schedule the biopsy for Monday of next week.”

Joe sat up straighter, “Can I take a couple of days to decide?” he asked, looking at Ellie who was shaking her head no. “Ellie, we don’t have the money for all of these tests.”

“That is why we have insurance, Joe. We have to know for sure what we are up against.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Doctor, please set the procedure up for Monday.”

Ellie and Joe left the doctor’s office and headed to their house that sat on the out skirts of town. Once home, Ellie sat at her desk and started researching brain tumors. Joe sat on the couch, his head pounding to the beat of his heart.

“Ellie, join me on the couch for a minute? I want to talk to you about something.” He said, his eyes closed, mouth set in a grim line.

Ellie joined Joe on the couch, cuddling up to him like she always did, his arm around her shoulders, her head resting on his chest. Joe rubbed her shoulders as he felt a wet spot forming on his shirt. He hated to see his Ellie cry. This sweet woman had done so much crying since being married to him, she deserved so much better than she had gotten being married to him.

“Ellie, I am going to have the biopsy done but if it comes back that it is cancer, I will not do any treatments of any type. The doctor said that because of the location and how fast it is growing, that there is no sense in trying to treat it.” Ellie sobbed. This couldn’t be how their story ended. She couldn’t lose him, he meant everything to her. He was her best friend, her rock, her shoulder, her soul mate.

Ellie and Joe stay cuddled together on the couch for a long time, Joe eventually fell asleep. Ellie got up making sure not to disturb him and started making dinner. Joe didn’t eat much these days and she wasn’t really hungry, so grilled cheese and tomato soup would be perfect. When the soup and sandwiches were done, she carried the tray over to Joe, placed it on the coffee table, leaned over Joe and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. This usually got him to wake up but lately, it took shaking him to get him to wake up. Ellie gently shook Joe awake, waited until he was sitting upright and placed the tray on his lap.

“Ellie, you didn’t have to fix me anything to eat. I’m not hungry. Are you going to eat?” he asked, sipping soup off of his spoon. Ellie sat next to him, sitting her tray on her lap and blew on her soup before taking a bite. “Of course, I am.” She replied, taking a bite once the soup was a temperature she liked.