Recently, I was formatted my “Meggy” draft. The story begins with a marital spat that had been ongoing for weeks. Meggy was avoiding her husband Sean, who sat in the living room nursing a headache. She confronted him when he went to the kitchen to get water. Slowly he reveals that he had gone to the doctor that day and is scheduled for a scan the next day to determine whether he has a brain tumor. After her initial shock, she is upset with him for not reacting emotionally to the risk.
The story contrasts the potential ending of a marriage by divorce or by death. There is a bit of playing on my part with the idea that she would be celebrated for ending a marriage because she was not happy, but to do so because he was dying might cause her to feel shame before others. Standard caveats of #NotAll as these are individual fictional characters; however, the scenario is based on actual instances of wives abandoning terminally ill husbands to get a new man.
Below is a clip from the raw unedited draft.
** Snip **
Meggy paused for a second, thinking about what he said, and was surprised at how he looked at this situation, which made him sound almost philosophical about his possible death.
“You’re…being too calm with this.” She answered after thinking about this for a few seconds, and was unsure about the way he looked at this situation. She was a bit sad and concerned at how casually he talked about the possibility of dying if the doctor was right about his diagnosis.
Sean said, “I can have a cry about it after I know and have planned the next steps. I am confident that I will face whatever comes. After tomorrow my greatest uncertainty is you.”
Meggy sighed again, and felt confused to hear him say this. She looked at him with a worried expression, wondering why he would say that last sentence. “What…what do you mean that your greatest uncertainty is me?”
Sean said, “When a husband becomes terminally ill some wives leave him to find another man.”
That comment hit Meggy really hard. The fact that he mentioned the possibility of her leaving him while he was terminally ill made her look quite hurt. “How…how can you say such a thing?” She protested in a sad way looking at him, and her voice sounds somewhat trembling.
Sean said, “I am being open and honest with you. I accepted that it will be your choice to abandon me or not.”
Meggy was stunned for an awkward moment as she heard his words, and looked away to hide the tears that flowed down her cheeks. She was sad, hurt, and angry with him. All these bad times in their relationship over the past month have been very painful for her, and she did not imagine having to hear these words. “How can you say that, honey? Do you believe that I could leave you in such a difficult moment?”
Sean said, “Yes.”
Meggy’s body was shaking. She was unable to believe what he just said. Her eyes are filled with tears as she looked down at the ground without looking at him. “Why…why would you even think that?” She could not keep speaking, and her voice sounded like she was about to cry even harder. She felt his words cut like a knife, and she was not even sure if he really meant what he said.
Sean said, “I am facing the possible without evasion.”
Jaycee Woods 
Leave a comment