The shock reverberated from his mind back
to mine ricocheting back and forth as we stood
together facing this woman, this old acquaintance
we chanced upon, our smile of greeting met with
her own briefly before she informed us she had
sad news. Sad news could mean so many things
but never in our imagination the bald statement
that her husband, died of a heart attack last week.
Her face mobile yet emotionally impassive, voice
steady and forthright, she held forth for an
interminable period, the words flowing, her eyes
fixed on ours as she emoted the slightest of
details to round out a story of bereavement
lacking histrionics of grief. Disbelief at the
random suddenness of her loss as she chose her
words to relentlessly shed her mind of exquisite
details of events leading to the paramedics'
declaration they were heading not for emergency
but directly to the Heart Institute where doctors
awaited their arrival, the succeeding back-to-back
surgeries, her husband's last instructions, the wan
desolation of their three sons, he finally comatose
and the advice of the cardiologists to withdraw
life support painted a sinister drama of loss so
personal and of-the-moment, we were immersed.
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