The Last Question He Never Should Have Askedd

With a tenderness formed by fifty years of shared joys and silent sacrifices, Henry reached for Martha’s hand on the last night of his life, as the monitors buzzed softly in the dark hospital room.

“Martha… in all our years together, were you ever unfaithful to me?” he said, his voice shaking as he voiced the question that had obviously been on his mind for much longer than he had acknowledged.

She told him the truth after hesitating, her eyes sparkling with a mix of love and guilt: she had cheated on him three times, but only “for good reasons,” she claimed.

He was shocked by the remarks, but he gripped her hand more tightly, preparing for the explanations that came next.

She started by reminding him of their early marriage and the time they almost lost their small home. Henry recalled his feelings of despair and panic as the bank threatened to foreclose.

Their mortgage had been mysteriously extended by morning, Martha whispered, after she had gone to see the banker alone one evening. Henry chose to view her sacrifice through the prism of survival, swallowing the sorrow.

Her second confession further shattered him: she had gone to his doctor late one night years later when his heart was failing and they couldn’t afford the procedure. The procedure was done for free the next day. Since that betrayal, if there was one, had spared his life, Henry’s eyes grew softer with appreciation.

Then came the third time, the one she lingered about the longest and the one he couldn’t pinpoint.

Her voice was almost embarrassed when she finally started, as if even she saw the ridiculousness of what she was going to admit. “Remember when you ran for president of your golf club?” she inquired. Slowly, Henry nodded as the recollection returned.

She squeezed his hand as she leaned in closer. “You required an additional 73 votes.” The insinuation, which was at once startling and darkly comical, descended upon the room like an odd, uneasy cloud.

Henry looked at her, caught between a chuckle he was too feeble to let out and astonishment. He understood then that love and incredibly unusual gestures of devotion had been used to sew their marriage together.

He wasn’t sure if he was hurt or strangely honored as his eyes closed for the last time, but he did realize one thing: Martha had always gone above and beyond to keep him safe, alive, and, it seemed, elected.