A blonde nurse in her fifties, dressed in a crisp white uniform, hurried out of the corridor, her starched cap perfectly in place, a clipboard tucked under her arm.


“Ah- there you are, Mrs. Carson. I thought I heard your voice. Did you have a pleasant evening?” she said with a warm smile.


“Oh, it was... strangely wonderful, nurse Hale,” she replied, a soft glow easing across her features. “He didn’t remember me... any of it, really,” she continued, breathing out almost a sigh. “To him, I’m not Marian, his wife, but Lillian, the neighbour from upstairs,” she went on, her fingers brushing the edge of her coat, as if gathering herself. “He seems to quite like Lilian, however, and truly, I don’t mind. I’d rather have this than nothing at all. And on a day like this, it feels enough.”


She paused, her voice lowering. “Today it would have been ... our sixtieth anniversary,” she said, as though sharing something precious. “And yet, it somehow felt like the beginning again.” Her eyes drifted toward the elevator he had just taken. “So yes... I'd say I enjoyed it very much, Nurse Hale. And there were these moments ... little sparks in his eyes when I could almost believe he knew me. But they slipped away so quickly...”


A soft, wistful smile softened her face. The nurse watched her with quiet tenderness, clipboard pressed against her chest.


“But that’s why I’m here, aren’t I? For those brief moments!” her voice came out suddenly clear and firm, leaving the nurse no time to respond.


“That sounds like you both had a lovely evening, Mrs. Carson,” the nurse said cheerfully. “Go on and get some rest now. Nurse Jodie will be along shortly to check on your husband and settle him for the night. She’ll stop by your floor as well in case you need anything. There’s just a quick check-up tomorrow, so it’s best to rest.”


She guided Marian toward the elevator, and as the doors slid shut, two nurses - one with dark curls, the other with a neat blond bob - came down the corridor pushing a trolley loaded with medical supplies.


“She said sixty years again, didn’t she?” the nurse with the bob murmured, as she pressed the button.


Nurse Hale nodded. “Yes. Poor thing,” she said, a quiet sigh escaping her.


The nurse with the curls looked taken aback. “Poor Mrs. Carson? I thought it was her husband who was struggling.”


Mrs. Hale lowered her voice. “Not exactly, dear. Marian Carson has a different condition, and it will soon start moving faster than his. Tonight’s anniversary dinner... they must have celebrated it more times than I can count this month. She asks us to set up the shed almost every day, and of course, we do. Poor soul...She can be well in the evening and lost by morning. This kind of dementia takes them slowly, and toward the end it moves fast. he doctor said her decline has entered the fast stage. We’re keeping her comfortable... but she’s in her final stretch.”


Nurse Jodie's eyes widened.


“You’re new here, Nurse Jodie,” the blonde nurse with the bob said, glancing gently at her. “You’ll come to know the residents’ stories in time,” she continued softly as she prepared items on the tray.


“But out of all things, she holds on to the fact.... that her husband forgets?” Nurse Jodie asked, bewildered.


“There are moments when she’s perfectly clear... and others when she doesn’t know where she is and just breaks down,” Nurse Hale replied softly. “At least Mr. Carson isn’t having any episodes. When you go up, she may not remember being down here at all. Don’t press her with questions, and make sure she takes her medication.”


Nurse Jodie blinked, struck silent. She wondered if the candlelit dinners were a way of holding their life in place a little longer. Perhaps, in those brief moments of clarity, she sensed what time was taking away from her and tried to keep their love from drifting with it.


“At least in those moments,” Nurse Jodie said with confidence, a small, knowing smile appearing, “their love finds a way to pull them into the same world again, however briefly. And maybe she repeats the day not because her memory fails her, but because her heart refuses to let their love fade.”