The Night Everything Changed
I met my husband in high school. He was my first love. The steady kind. The kind that felt like home.
We were seniors. We were convinced we were untouchable.
Then, a week before Christmas, his mom called screaming.
“Accident.”
“Truck.”
“He can’t feel his legs.”
The hospital was harsh lights and stale air.
He lay in a bed with rails and wires, eyes open, face pale, trying to be brave.
I grabbed his hand and said the only thing that mattered.
“I’m here. I’m not leaving.”
