The Decision of A Lifetime

A man arrived at the hospital after finding out his wife and child were both hit by a drunk driver. All the man wanted to know was if his wife was okay. When he got to the reception desk, the lady could tell exactly the man was there. She tells the man to take a deep breath and try to relax, but all that was racing through his mind was the idea of not being able to watch his child grow up, and him and his wife watching her grow old. She tells the man they were currently in surgery and that he has to wait for the doctor to come out when he is finished. Right as he is about to sit down, the doctor comes out and calls out his name. He tells the man that they need to have a talk, and instantly he knew that whatever it was could not be good.

They walk through the door and he begins to say that his wife and child were currently in stable conditions, the man instantly gave a big sigh of relief. When they finally arrived at the window, all that the man could see was his wife breathing through tubes, and he instantly began to break down. Not too long after, his mother arrived outside the window and grabbed her son for a hug. The doctor began to say they had an issue, and the man asked the doctor what he meant. He then asked the man to have his mother leave for them to talk privately, but the mother insisted on being there for her daughter in law. The man said it was okay, so the doctor then told the man his wife and child were stable at the time, but both of them were not going to be able to be conscious much longer. The mother asked the doctor what he was trying to say, and he then told them that the man is going to need to make a decision on who is going to get to live their life.  

They both looked at the doctor in shock, praying that the news he just told them was only a dream, but they both knew that sadly this would not be the case. The mother began to break down in her son’s arms, as the mother had grown fond of the daughter in law – when she had received the news of her son getting married, she was not too pleased. When the mother found out that the wife was pregnant though, she had already begun to buy clothes the same day not knowing the gender. All the mother thought was what if she never gets the grandchild she always wanted. 

He had over one hundred questions he wanted to ask the doctor, but he knew that would not make his answer any easier. The doctor told the mother that they should allow the man to have time to think, but she asked what for? The mother looked at the son and asked him if he really wanted to lose his first child? The doctor had looked at the lady in distraught, how could a person not have a care in the word for another life? The doctor then said out loud that this was not the mother’s decision to make that day. The mother then shouted to the doctor that he is not a part of this family to have a say. The man then looked at his mother, directly in the eyes and said this is not your family either. The mother looked at her child in complete shock. He told his mother that the baby and the child are a part of her family, but said that he, his wife, and child are a family of their own.

The man then asked the two if they could leave so he could have some time alone with the two for the last time. He took one big deep breath and went into the room,with  no hesitation he sat in the chair right next to his beloved wife. He grabbed her hand and held it, and instantly began to break down into tears. All that could go through his head were two things, his favorite moments with his wife, and the moments he dreamt of with his daughter. He remembered the first time he looked into her eyes, the day he asked her to become his partner for life, and the day she broke the news of their child coming to this world. He also thought of the day he finally would be able to see his little girl, dropping her off at her first day of school, or even the special day of walking down the aisle. The man thought to himself at that moment the task at hand the doctor asked for was simply impossible.

He wanted to wake her up and tell her that everything would be okay, but deep down inside he knew there was a chance that would not be true in the end. The man then had to begin and make the most difficult decision of his life. Instantly he thought to himself there is no way in this world he could live a day without the love of his life. Then he sat there and thought for a second, is that what she would want? She had worked so hard to get to this point, eight months into labor, had the baby shower of her dreams, and most importantly the baby being a little girl she had always wanted. Also, what if she could never have a child again? That opportunity would devastate her. 

An hour had gone by and the doctor finally came back in to ask the man if he was ready, but he could tell the man had not a clue in sight what path he wanted to take. The doctor then pulled over a chair and took a seat next to the man and told him he could understand what he was going through. He sadly has had more than one patient have to make a decision similar. He next said to him that regardless of what decision he makes today, it would stick with him for the rest of his life. He looked back at his wife and realized that he had to think about what she would want, even if that meant making a decision that would break his own heart.

He looked down at the floor and back at the doctor, he told him that he wanted his wife to be able to see their beautiful daughter grow up and live the life he always dreamt of. He looked back at his wife one more time, held her hand tightly, and told her that he loved her more than anything in this world. He then took a deep breath and told the doctor that he had made his decision, knowing that his life would never be the same after that moment. He knew that no matter what happened that day, he would never forgive himself for this moment. He stood up from the chair and looked at the doctor with tears in his eyes. With a shaky voice, he finally told the doctor what he wanted them to do.

The doctor looked at the man and simply nodded his head, knowing that this was not an easy decision for anyone to make. He walked out of the room and gave the nurses the instructions they needed. The man stayed sitting next to his wife, still holding her hand and trying to stay strong, not a single emotion left in his heart. He looked at her one last time before they brought the two back into surgery and thought about everything they had been through together. He wanted to simply go back to the day he met his wife and tell himself that one day he would be sitting in a hospital having to make the hardest decision of his entire life. He then looked down at her hand and quietly told her that he was sorry, hoping somewhere inside she could hear him.

A few minutes later, his mother came back into the room with tears still streaming down her face. She looked at her son and could tell that he knew that the decision had already been made. She decided to not ask him what he chose because she could see the answer in his eyes. The man stood up and gave his mother one last, and neither of them said a word. In that moment, the two understood that his life was going to be completely different from that day forward. The man knew that no matter how many years passed, he would always think about the decision he had made in that hospital room. But deep down, he also knew that he had made the decision based on what he believed his wife would have wanted.