When Love Fades in the Flames

John POV

“You are not listening to me, John. Ellie is sick. She is too sick for you to take home. It would be best if you put her in a long-term care facility. She needs round-the-clock care until she dies,” Dr. Joshua Newbern says to me sternly.

I look over the wall of awards. He probably knows more than I do, but I know my wife, and I will be damned if I put her in a hospital to die alone.

“I said I am taking her home with me,” I say.

Josh stares at me. I think he is stunned that I am refusing to do what he wants. “Listen, John; I have known you and Ellie for twenty years. I mean, we all went to high school together. I remember the day you two got together like it was yesterday. I have been here every step of the way for her. I am begging you to listen to me,” Josh pleads with me.

I shake my head. “I am taking her home, Josh, and that is final. That is what she wants to do, and that is what we are going to do,” I say.

“She will not live long outside the hospital, and you know that, right? Will she consider staying a few more weeks?” Josh asks me.

“Ellie is headstrong and a fighter. You have no idea what she is capable of, and neither do I. She wants to go home, and that is what we are going to do. Please make the arrangements and discharge her,” I say.

Josh takes a deep breath. “You will need home health, a nurse around the clock, and someone to sit with her. She cannot be left alone. How are you going to do this and be a cop?” Josh says.

“I will figure it out. I will hire someone to stay with her. My insurance will pay for a nurse. We will work it out,” I say.

“John, I understand why, but I do not agree with it,” Josh says.

“No, you do not understand. Your wife is healthy. My wife is dying. She is a beautiful young woman, and she is going to die. I want her to die where she wants to die and not in some damn hospital or long-term care facility with people she does not know. Ellie wants to go home, and I will make her last days perfect,” I say.

Josh starts scribbling on papers. “I will write the orders for everything she needs. John, if it gets bad, I want you to call me immediately, and I will come to her,” Josh says.