"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.
I should have kept trying.
A nurse braided thin strips of clean bandage into two rings.
Alicia wore a white scarf over her bald head like a veil.
Her sister, Nora, brought flowers.
