Till Death do us part by Melinda
	"What's wrong, Mother?" Al affectionately played with his wife's hair as she restlessly tossed and turned in her sleep. She woke with a start. "What is it?" "What's wrong?" Anne blinked her eyes, focusing in on her husband. "did you just wake me up from a sound sleep to ask me if something's wrong?" "well yes and no…" Anne rolled her eyes. " Please Al…would you explain yourself? I asked a yes or no question, not a yes and no question." "Well you were tossing and turning all night, not the perfectly sound sleep you described. And secondly even if there were nothing wrong, you can't blame a fellow for being worried…I mean being concerned about his wife." Anne sat up. "Worried?" "now.. wait.." "Worried? What in the world would you be worried about?" Anne loved her husband, but sometimes he watched over her too much. She didn't like it sometimes, she hated being such a burden to him. Ever since coming down with polio things had changed in her marriage, and not necessarily for the better. True, she'd never once heard Al complain about taking care of her, or their son, or even about having to put up with her grown children. Al had been nothing less than patient and understanding with her. But just the same, this turn in her life was definitely not how she expected things to turn off. Ironically, she'd had to become quite independent and strong, after being widowed , with a young family to raise. And though that wasn't what she'd planned on, either, soon she'd grown proud of the strength God had installed in her to survive the tough times. But if anything in her life had taught her anything, it was that nothing was permanent. " Now wait a minute, it's not a cardinal sin to be worried about your spouse…" "So you were worried! I am not helpless Al…" Al got out of bed, frustrated. Nothing he could say would please her. "Well it seems like you don't want me to be worried about you, which makes absolutely no sense to me. Wouldn't it be better for me to be worried about you without any real reason, than for me to be not worried about you, and there really be a need for worry?" Anne smiled, knowing that what her husband said made sense. "Okay so I overreacted…" "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you, could you please repeat that?" Al cupped his hand over his ear. Lord knew it was hard enough for his wife to admit she was wrong…in fact it was quite obvious where Jeff inherited his stubbornness…so he didn't see the harm in teasing her about it. She raised her eyebrow. "I said I overreacted…." Al climbed back into bed. "Okay I thought that's what you had said." She tried to turn over to hold him, but her legs felt strangely stiff. She said nothing, but her paleness of her face, her frightened expression in her eyes , alarmed her husband. "Anne are you okay?" She shook her head. "No I'm not alright." She said quietly. "Please go ask Jeff and Ginger to watch Michael…then take me to the hospital." **** **** **** ***** ****** * "What is it? What's wrong with mom?" Jeff and Ginger found Al pacing the hospital. "Where's Michael?" "We asked Mrs. Seniff's niece to watch him..I thought it was okay, since she's babysat before. " A pregnant Ginger said tactfully. Al looked at her, concerned. "Jeff may I speak with you please?" "I'll be right back honey." "What's wrong with mom..?" "Jeff..you know how much I love Ginger..but I'm afraid that…" Al looked away, not wanting to put his fears into words. "I don't know if… I don't want her or your baby to be put at risk…" Jeff couldn't allow himself to comprehend what his stepfather was trying to say. "What are you getting at?" Al looked away…" Jeff…I don't know yet…but your mom was having problems with her legs…" "Al…The doctor was looking for you.." Ginger approached them. Jeff took her hand, and all three of them walked over to hear what the doctor had to say. "Mr. Kahn? I know this isn't what you want to hear…but it looks like you wife is showing signs of post-polio syndrome." Ginger squeezed Jeff's hand. Al felt like someone knocked the wind out of him. This wasn't fair. Five years later and she had to go through this pain all over again. "How can you say that? She's been here less than an hour.." "Now Mr. Kahn, please try to understand..with your wife's history we are wanting to take every precaution possible." "So you're going to put her in damn living body casket again…instead of performing other tests…" "Mr. Kahn…we need to protect her, as well as everyone else…" Al started to speak, but took a deep breath instead. "when can I see her?" "Not for awhile..probably not for the next couple of days…" "I'm her husband, I'll be paying the bills…all I ask is you let me see her. She needs me right now, doctor, surely you understand that." The doctor nodded. Jeff and Ginger watched sadly as Al followed the doctor.