Doctor William Green rushed down the long, sterile hallway after hearing his name called over the intercom. His medium- cut, caramel- colored hair bounced with every stride. He pushed open the heavy metal door marked ‘Emergency Room’ and sucked in a big breath while rubbing his hands together. “Ahh,” he sighed exhaling, “game time!”
After washing his hands he put his gloves on, pulling the index finger to make a snapping sound. “I wonder what we have behind curtain number one,” he said jokingly to his attending nurse, making her laugh. Doctor Green then pulled back the heavy, blue curtain to see an older man, silver hair slicked back with sweat, holding his chest and moaning. “Sir, I’m Doctor William Green. What seems to be the issue tonight?” he asked the older man as he began to  study his vitals chart.
“My- my chest hurts. I can’t breathe,” the older man exclaimed in a panic.
“Okay, Sir, take some deep breaths. Nurse, I need an EKG done STAT,” Doctor Green said in a calming voice. “ Sir, the nurse is going to hook you up to some wires so we can get a reading of your heart rate. Then we’ll go from there,” Doctor Green informed the older man as he pulled the curtain back and stepped out.
“Doctor Green,” a nurse called from the nurses station, “ you have a phone call.”
“Thank you,” Doctor Green answered as he picked up the spiral corded, white phone. “Hello?” he said putting the phone to his ear. “Oh my gosh! Honey, I’m so sorry. I completely forgot,” Doctor Green said apologetically to his enraged wife. “Lisa, I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you. Maybe we can go out to eat for our anniversary tomorrow ni-... Lisa? Lisa?” He put the phone back down and brushed his hair back with his fingers, sighing. “I’ve really screwed up this time,” he said to himself.
Doctor Green finished his round at the hospital that night, silently moping, treating one patient after the next, and constantly thinking about his dumb mistake of forgetting his own wedding anniversary. On the way home, Doctor Greeen stopped by the grocery store to pick up a box of chocolates and a dozen roses. Maybe these will help me apologize, he thought as he slid his credit card.
When Doctor Green got back in the car and secured the roses, he continued driving and began to go over different apologies in his head. Honey, let’s take a beach vacation this weekend. Lisa, I don’t deserve you, you’re the mo-- Screeching tires and a blinding light cut off his thought. The entire windshield was smashed, many shards stuck in his hair and face. A good samaritan stopped to help but Doctor Green couldn’t make out his face. “Sir, sir, sir can you hear me?” echoed in his ear as he flew closer to a blinding light which seemed to suck him in. Paramedics, police cars, and fire trucks lined the highway doing all they could to revive Doctor Green, but all actions failed.
There they sat side by side in the church auditorium, Lisa and his three children, each sobbing to themselves. An oak casket covered in green ivy and flowers, “I Can Only Imagine”  playing on a piano, and a pull down screen slideshow of old photos was all that  was left of Doctor Green’s life. The preacher prayed,  an old friend of his said a few words, and then it was over. His life was over.
The next few months were the hardest. The kids started back to school and tried to continue on as normal, but Lisa couldn’t manage like them. She isolated herself from the children and life altogether. Her mother began to care for the children, making sure they had food, clothes, and took their baths. Her mother tried to care for Lisa too but noticed she went deeper into her paralysis every day. She would lay curled up in her bed sheets, staring blankly at the wall, nothing running through her mind. Her mother took her to a hospital, hoping maybe they could save her, but there was nothing anyone could do. Lisa’s heart was broken and she was slowly drifting away.
Lisa died six weeks after being admitted into the hospital. Her mother adopted the three children and tried to give them as normal of a life as possible.
Love is a killer.