"You're not who I'd choose if I were marrying for love, doc." She glanced at a nurse walking past and blushed, then turned back to me. "But I have my reasons."
"Then why me?"
She smiled.
"But I have my reasons."
"Because you listen. Even when what I want sounds silly. I want one big thing I get to choose."
"It isn't that simple."
"Why does having less time make my wish less worth thinking about?"
I couldn't find a way to refuse without watching her face fall.
I should have kept trying.
"It isn't that simple."
Instead, I pictured giving her one happy afternoon after weeks of disappointing news.
I arranged for another physician to take over her care.
But I never asked Dr. Patel, my supervisor, whether I should go ahead.
***
We married the next day in her hospital room.
I wore a tie instead of my stethoscope.
