"Rough night. Go back to sleep."
I wanted to ask more.
But he looked so tired.
So I didn't.
Then came Tuesday.
That morning, I watched him leave the house with his hospital badge clipped to his pocket.
And for some reason, I decided I was going to surprise him.
I packed his favorite lunch.
Added a slice of apple pie.
Then tucked a small note beneath the fork.
"You don't have to take care of everyone. Let me have a turn."
I smiled when I wrote it.
I imagined walking into the hospital.
Ben seeing me.
That tired expression disappearing from his face.
Maybe we'd eat together for twenty minutes.
Maybe he'd finally slow down.
Just for a little while.
I drove to the hospital feeling strangely excited.
But the moment I arrived, something felt wrong.
I walked toward the nurses' station.
A woman who had known me for years looked up.
The second she saw me, her smile disappeared.
"Is Ben around?" I asked.
Then I grinned.
"And please don't warn him. He'll tell me I shouldn't have bothered."
I went to surprise my husband at work.But the moment his colleague saw me, his face went pale.Then his eyes filled with tears."He hasn't told you anything, has he?" Ben and I had been married for eleven years.And for every one of those years, I had shared him with that hospital.He was a gifted surgeon.
