First Tear

This is a story about a man and his love in their last hour together .
The man is a stoic guy, expressionless


Arthur was a hard man, mostly stoic, lost in his thoughts. He was as efficient as he was a hard worker. Known for his bad temper or his lack of emotions. It was only till he met someone in his life that he found someone that he would do anything for just a smile

It was 3am in the hospital. A irascible man walked solemnly down a dimly lit hallway. He was a weathered man, in his late forties. The age where the years starts to take its visible toll on man. He stopped infront of a doctor dressed in a freshly cleaned white coat: A doctor.

"Hello Arthur.." the doctor breathed,
"Shaun.." Arthur acknowledged,
"Shes not doing well Arthur.. " Doctor Shaun said with a heavy heart,
"How long? " was all the stoic faced Arthur could reply.
"Ah hour.."
"Ah" Arthur heaved with a short breath,

With that, the two old friends knew their conversation was over. Shaun walked off, tears in his eyes, leaving Arthur outside his wife's ward.

Arthur remained expressionless. He wouldn't let her see him like this, especially today. Putting on a smile, he smoothened his hair, rubbed the creases in his shirt and walked into the ward.
There, he saw his wife, Averie. She lay there, still as beautiful as the first day they met. With shoulder length brown hair and matching eyes and a face that always seemed to hold a smile.
Even in a hospital gown, she still looked like an angel to him.

Gently, Arthur brushed her face with the back of his hand, waking her up.

"O, there you are my dearest" she said as she opened her eyes,
"Im sorry, Ave... I got held up"
"Its ok, you're here, thats all that matters" she smiled,

"Ave..? ", he reached for her hand, feeling her weak pulse. She was still warm.
"Yes my dearest?" she said,
"I ... I .. love you" was all he could say,
She gave a weak chuckle before breaking into a short fit of coughs,
then she continued,
"O you are so silly, dearest! Whats the matter with you today?" she laughed,

"Well..." Arthur blushed, only for her " I just wanted to tell you that when I met you, I felt like a cup of dark coffee. All bitter inside

To me, you were like sugar and cream, so sweet and so pure. You .. you brought out the best in me..."
he said.

This time, she smiled, taking in his words, she always loved his queer metaphors.
They both talked and held each other.
Yet, time was the devil that night. Slowly, Arthur could see the life leaving his wife face as time wore on. At an agonizing rate, each word brought down her vitals.

While she still had her consciousness, Arthur grasped her hand tighter and kissed her softly on her cheeks. He held her close and wanted to tell her not to leave him.

Yet, he resisted the urge to do so. He didnt want her to feel any pain.

Instead, he looked at her, smiled and said "Thank You Ave... I love You". Then, closing his eyes, he kissed her again, this time on the lips. While their lips touched, he felt her pull back, exhaling her last breath.

He didnt want to open his eyes. He would not accept the fact that she was gone.

It was only later when Doctor Shaun came in that he would turn around and leave slowly. Arthur said nothing except touched Shaun on the shoulder. And as Arthur walked away towards the hospital exit, Shaun could not help but notice something glistening on Arthur's face: His First Tear.