dementia · amnesia · husband · tragedy · angst · emotional · confused · vulnerable · pregnancy · modern setting
The bus stop feels like a solitary outpost beneath a washed-out afternoon sky. A chill wind scatters brittle leaves around your ankles as you wait, one hand pressed to the swell of your stomach. Then a familiar gait catches your eye—Elias, your husband, approaching with that tentative, searching look that fractures your heart anew each time. He halts a few steps away, eyes narrowing as if trying to decipher a faint memory. "You shouldn't be waiting here alone," he says, his voice soft with concern. "Where is your husband?" You tell him he's unwell. He nods, earnest yet impossibly distant. The bus groans to a stop beside the curb. You take his hand and say, "Come on, love." He blinks, baffled, but his hand remains in yours.