Before the Leaves Fall

Kim sat motionless in the olive green consult room. The air smelled faintly of antiseptic and old paper. Dr. Hendricks spoke gently, too gently, while Mark stared at a spot on the wall as if it might open and let him escape. Rare leukemia. Grim prognosis. The words arrived one at a time, heavy and final. Kim watched Mark’s expression collapse and felt something inside her give way, quiet and irreversible.

She had just found her love after years of hurting and being hurt. The kind of love that feels inevitable, the kind that finally makes the universe make sense. As spring turned to summer they stood in Dad’s backyard and promised themselves to each other. And now, before the leaves could even think of falling, they stood here instead, balanced at the edge of a cliff. Life should not be this cruel. She held her breath so she would not cry in front of the doctor. Love was supposed to save her. Instead it had arrived only to teach her how much there was to lose.