The Unexpected

Chapter 14: 'Til Death Do Us Part

It took Tom almost a week to get Vianna's surprise ready. He wanted it to be perfect and special. He only worked on it when Vianna was asleep so she wouldn't find out about it and after sleepless nights, it was ready for her.

Vianna was weaker than she was a week ago. She had lost even more weight and it was hard for her to move sometimes. She was always too tired to get up by herself and she slept for hours at a time.

Tom knew she was nearing her end, which is why he tried hurrying to finish the surprise. He hated thinking about her leaving him, but he hoped she'd love her gift.

"Hey, babygirl." He said as he walked into the hospital room. "I've got a surprise for you."

Vianna smiled, weakly and tried to sit up on her own.

"Be careful, here, I'll help." Once she was seated up, he grabbed the remote and put in a disk into the flat screen tv hanging from the wall.

"Hey babygirl! It's your husband, Tom." He winked. "I've been working on this for a week and I finally finished it. I love you so much and I wish none of this was happening because I wanted to spend more time with you. The time we've spent together is not enough. I can't see myself without you by my side. You've been in my life since I was 22 and I don't know what I would do once you leave me. We've been through a lot. In fact, when we met, we were in the same situation. The only difference is that we weren't married then. Just the thought of not having you in my life breaks me. You, our 4 amazing kids, and our grandkids, mean the world to me. I don't want to live without you." Tom paused as he let out a shaky sigh. "I love you so much and I wish you didn't have this sickness. We were supposed to be forever. Why are you leaving me?"

Vianna looked over at Tom, tears running down her cheeks and Tom stared back, tears brimming his eyes as he was trying not to cry again. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"I know it's not by your choice, but I don't think I could live without you, babygirl. But back to this surprise. I wanted to relive our life together and I wanted you to, as well. So I put together all of our favorite memories together. Our life into one video. Well movie." He chuckled, through his tears. "So here we go. I hope you love it. Here's our life together."

Tom was no longer in the frame. In his place was Vianna. The clip started.

"Hello, love. How are you?" Tom says in the video.  Vianna was crying, a smile on her face as her wish came true.  Tom had given her a tight hug as he tried to console her.

"It's okay, love. I got you. I'm here for you. C'mere."

"It's okay, darling." He had whispered to her as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"You got me. You're here. How are you here?" 

The video continued, Vianna and Tom's first meeting flashing on the screen.  Tom kept glancing over at Vianna who had tears running down her face as she saw their first encounter. She remembered that day as if it had happened yesterday.

"That's us." Her voice was hoarse and weak. A sob broke past Tom's lips as he whispered to her, "That's us, babygirl."

The scene changed. It was from the day that Tom left her for the first time. Tom was trying to calm down as he watched the scene unfold before them.

"Hey spidey." Vianna whispered. She had just woken up and Tom had just walking into the room.

"Hey, Love. Look. I have to go. I'm sorry. But I have a job to maintain.  I have to go back to my life."

Hurt had visibly flashed on Vianna's face.  It was obvious that Tom regretted his choice of words after he'd said them.

Tom's heart broke all over again as he watched.  He remembered not wanting to leave her. He remembered his acting not being as good for a few weeks. He wishes he wouldn't have left because then they would've had more time spent together.