A Deep Love in Thirty Seconds of Life and Death
The man and woman were having dinner. After finishing, the man would catch a ride straight to the airport as he had to go on a business trip to a faraway city.
The plane wouldn’t wait, but their dinner was exquisite and rich, without any hurrying. It was all the woman’s specialty dishes, and she had spent most of the afternoon filling the table with seafood.
The man boarded the plane in the evening. He told the woman that by the time he left the airport, it would be very late, so he wouldn’t call her that night. He would call her the next morning instead.
The woman said, “Alright.” Then she stood by the window, waving goodbye to the man.
It was very late, and the woman was already fast asleep. Suddenly, the ringing phone woke her up. She glanced at the clock; it was already early morning. The woman got up, went to the living room, and answered the phone. She heard the man’s voice.
The man abruptly asked, “Are you okay?” The woman was a bit surprised, “I’m fine, I was asleep. Didn’t you say you’d call in the morning?”
The man, seemingly uneasy, asked again, “Are you sure you’re alright?” The woman found it a bit amusing; the man was being overly concerned. Though she knew he cared about her, “Of course I’m fine, I was sleeping soundly. What’s wrong with you?”
The man said, “Just wanted to let you know I arrived safely. Don’t worry, and remember to call me if anything happens.” Then he wished her good night and hastily hung up the phone.
The woman held the phone, stunned for a full minute. She thought something was off about the man that night, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
Half a month later, the man returned from that city, still as energetic as ever. But now, he had a scar on his stomach. When the woman asked about it, he brushed it off, “It’s nothing, just a minor injury.” The woman got anxious and pressed him for more details.
The man laughed, “I’ll tell you, but you mustn’t get mad. That day, after I got off the plane and was walking on the street, my stomach suddenly hurt terribly. It was an unprecedented cramp that almost made me faint. So, I thought of the seafood and the possibility of food poisoning. You know, in our coastal town, people die from eating seafood every year.
So, I called you. I thought if it was really the seafood, you would be feeling something too. If you hadn’t answered, or if you had answered but felt unwell, I would have immediately called 120 emergency services to rush to our house. But hearing your voice and knowing everything was normal, I was relieved and hung up the phone.”
The woman retorted, “Feeling so uncomfortable, why didn’t you think of saving yourself first? How could you have the mind to think about all that?”
The man looked at the woman with deep affection, “No matter how urgent, I had to call you first. You know, food poisoning is not to be taken lightly; time is life.”
The woman remembered that night. The phone had rung persistently for a long time before she lazily got up to answer. Though they only exchanged a few words, it took about half a minute. The man was enduring immense pain during that time. Once he confirmed the woman was fine and ruled out food poisoning, he hung up the phone and started seeking help from passersby or the local emergency services. If they had really been food poisoned that night, even thousands of miles away, the man would have ensured medical personnel reached her.
But the man would have delayed those thirty seconds, or rather, in a life-and-death situation, he unhesitatingly gave those thirty seconds to the woman. And those thirty seconds could have meant the difference between life and death.
The woman was speechless, unable to utter a word.
The man smiled lightly and said, “Luckily, it was just a false alarm. Nothing terrible happened.”
He pointed to the scar on his stomach, playfully winked, and said, “This is a memento from acute appendicitis.”
The woman couldn’t smile; her face was covered in tears.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
