‘I don’t understand how you don’t love me anymore, just like that,’ I said as we laid in the bed together, tears pouring down my cheeks. ‘I do still love you,’ she responded, and then stopped.’

“‘John, you didn’t lie to me,’ she said. ‘What do you mean?,’ I asked. ‘You told me you would never leave. And you didn’t lie,’ she said softly, as we squeezed each other’s hands so tight. The nurse who had become Michelle’s self-proclaimed ‘bestie’ stood in the corner and sobbed.”