The Gift

Drama

It happened so suddenly. One minute he was here, the next he wasn’t. I knew he had some health issues in the past, but he never let me know how serious, or if it would be something we would have to worry about down the road. So I didn’t worry. And how could you with Rashaad? He was the one that always made everyone else feel better. Always with a laugh, a silver lining. How soon you could forget your troubles around him.

We met four years ago on a cruise. I was just recovering from caring for my elderly mother, and was giving myself a much needed vacation after her passing. He was celebrating a promotion - making senior partner at his law firm. We both ended up taking the same salsa class, and it truly was love at first sight.

Since we were already “mature” adults, things moved rather quickly. We dated for about 6 months before we married. Neither of us had children, but we both were very close to our nieces and nephews, who welcomed our union, much to our great delight. I have to say these past few years have been some of the best of my life. And then it was over.

Rashaad’s secretary called and told me that he was being rushed to the hospital. He was exhibiting signs of a stroke, so she called 911. By the time I got to the hospital, the charge nurse was able to tell me it wasn’t a stroke, but an aneurysm, and they were working on repairing it. About an hour later he was dead. The aneurysm had ruptured while in surgery and they couldn’t stop the bleeding.

I was stunned. Couldn’t speak. The doctors were talking to me but I couldn’t hear. Not until they said “donor”. I asked them to repeat what they said. He had registered to donate his viable organs to people in need, but I needed to sign something so they could harvest them. That was so like Rashaad. I asked if they would let me know who received what, for peace of mind, and they said if the recipient(s) agreed they could put in contact. I left feeling distraught and overtaken with grief, but comforted knowing that my Rashaad would live on in others.

Comments 4

Maranda Quinn

3 months ago

It won’t let me reply to your comment for some reason. But the fact that it’s fiction is actually even crazier. Because the first paragraph sums up how I feel about his death perfectly. He had a hospital visit about eight months before he passed away and he never would tell me what the doctor said. But his behavior changed drastically after that visit. he became really withdrawn and it was almost like he was trying to distance himself from me and the rest of his family. Now looking back in retrospect, I think they had told him about the aneurysm and he didn’t know how to tell us. I think he was trying to distance himself to prepare us for the worst. The fact that you decided to title it The Gift is just so crazy. The story truly was a precious gift to me! Thank you again! XOXO.😊🩷

Maranda Quinn

3 months ago

I don’t know if this is fiction or not, but if not, I want to first start by saying I am so sorry for your loss. Secondly, I have to tell you that this absolutely floored me. When I was just 23 years old, I met a man who was much older than me, but we fell in love. We got engaged and stayed together for almost 7 years. On December 17, 2022 I came home and found him unresponsive and had to call the ambulance. He was in the hospital for nine days until he passed away on December 26 when we had to pull the plug. Ever since he has passed, he has sent me signs from the other side. Our favorite song was called the gift by Seether. that is now our sign. Every time I am particularly missing him or having a bad day, I will either hear that song or the words “the gift “will pop up somewhere. I find stories, poems, shows on Netflix, etc. called the gift. he has also visited me in dreams and there have been other signs as well. But the gift is the main sign. I haven’t been on this app in almost a week. I just happen to be on here scrolling through and found a story called the gift. So I clicked on it. Low and behold, it is about, a girl who lost the love of her life to a stroke/aneurysm. That is exactly how my fiancé passed away. The story gave me chills and I know that it was a sign from him that I found it. Thank you so much for sharing this. It has melted my heart more than you can ever understand.🙏🏼🩷😇

Adrienne Robertson

Hey! I’m new at creative writing, and I’m using this app to practice so I can get better. I write poems every now and again but would love to be able to write a book :)