59 They Know Every Second Is Precious

They arrived at Ludwina's regular coffee shop, and only then did Andrea put Ludwina on a chair. He ordered his wife's favorite coffee then sat beside Ludwina, holding her hand. He didn't want to let her go at all.

Never again!

"How long are you going to be in New York?" He asked as they were enjoying coffee. "I'll have to buy a lot of clothes if we're going to be here for a long time."

"I don't know..." Ludwina replied. "I have to see my doctor for another consultation tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll come along," said Andrea quickly.

Ludwina nodded.

They did not discuss Ludwina's illness until the two of them arrived at the hotel. Andrea would feel better if he heard directly from her doctor. He did not want to stress his wife with his questions.

After making sure Ludwina rested, Andrea went to a nearby shop and bought clothes. He refused to be accompanied because he didn't want Ludwina to become tired. After returning to the hotel, he ordered food, and they had dinner together in the room.

That night, for the first time, Ludwina felt like she got her appetite back and could finish her meal. Andrea's presence really made her heart happy. She never thought, when she shared her suffering with her husband, the heavy burden in her chest felt so much lighter.

After clearing up their plates, Andrea invited Ludwina to bed. He was delighted because he had been longing to sleep beside his wife for a long time and hugged Ludwina as he always did.

After days of not sleeping properly, tonight, he managed to close his eyes and sleep soundly, likewise with Ludwina.

She grabbed Andrea's hand, which was hugging her from behind, as if she wanted to vent a year of longing during her lonely nights without Andrea by her side.

***

Andrea was trying to look strong in front of Ludwina. He did not mention his suffering all this time at all. During this year, Ludwina lied to him. Before Ludwina apologized, he had already forgiven his wife. Currently, his focus was on how to take care of the girl and ensure that her health improved.

Doctor Kim met them in his office and explained the results of the latest examination of Ludwina's cancer. Andrea paid attention to every word that came out of the doctor's mouth.

"When I compared the biopsy results from last year and the last time, her cancer has not spread significantly. This is already a miracle." Doctor Kim started their consultation by telling the good things first. "Ludwina's positive attitude has been essential in her body's defense against cancer. If you are discouraged and depressed, cancer cells will spread more quickly. So actually, we still have hope, if you want to do chemotherapy."

Andrea squeezed Ludwina's hand gently. He looked at his wife with a pleading look. "Let's do chemotherapy, Honey...please?"

One of the reasons Ludwina refused chemotherapy all this time was because she didn't want her family to know that she had cancer.

Chemotherapy was done by killing cancer cells using drugs inserted through an IV.

Unfortunately, this drug also affected the body's healthy cells. They would become weak, and the patient would experience apparent side effects. A few weeks after starting chemo, the patient experienced the loss of hair and eyebrows, nausea, vomiting, and their body grew frail.

Ludwina wouldn't be able to go through this all alone without making her family suspicious.

"But then I'll look so ugly ..." Ludwina whispered in a weak voice, almost crying. "I will lose my hair, and the chance of recovery is also small... It's not worth it."

"Honey, I will shave my hair too, so we can face it together. You are the most beautiful woman I know, and I love you. You are always beautiful in my eyes. I don't want you to give up without a fight."

Andrea crouched down in front of Ludwina and begged his wife to do what the doctor suggested. Ludwina shook her head in tears and tried to force Andrea to get up, but her husband was stubborn and kept pleading.

Finally, Ludwina covered her face with both hands and sobbed. Andrea immediately hugged her and rubbed her head affectionately.

Finally, Ludwina gave up too. She felt guilty for leaving Andrea without fighting her illness as hard as she could.

Now that Andrea knew, she had no reason to refuse chemotherapy. Now, she could not hurt Andrea by giving in to her illness.

Finally, she nodded, agreed to chemotherapy, and made Andrea shed tears. He kissed Ludwina's face with wet eyes.

"Thank you, Honey... Thank you... We can face it together, okay? I love you so much..."

Doctor Kim continued his speech, "I suggest neoadjuvant chemotherapy to shrink cancer cells as much as possible, and then we can check Ludwina's condition. It will be good if we can do surgery to remove the uterus. If we do this method, there is still hope for recovery. Of course, with your support, Ludwina can undergo treatment more calmly."

"I agree," said Andrea quickly.

"You don't have to shave your hair..." Ludwina then protested, "Let only one of us becomes ugly..."

"Sick people should protest too much ..." said Andrea, kissing Ludwina.

They took care of hospital procedures, and Ludwina immediately received the treatment she needed. They chose to stay in the hotel while Ludwina was undergoing the treatment so that they didn't have to bother renting an apartment while they stayed in New York.

Once a week, Andrea brought Ludwina to the hospital for chemotherapy. For hours, he would accompany Ludwina with books to read or talk to her to distract herself from the pain.

When Ludwina was in pain and kept vomiting, Andrea cleaned her and massaged her body to make her feel comfortable.

"Aren't you bored staying in the room all the time?" Ludwina asked him one day. She felt sorry for Andrea, who had not been anywhere in the last week because Ludwina's condition was getting weaker.

Last month they were still able to walk out of the hotel and eat out after chemotherapy, but this week Ludwina's body was so frail that she only stayed in the room after chemo at the hospital.

Andrea almost took her to the hospital for inpatient treatment, but she refused because she felt sleeping in the hospital or a hotel would be the same.

"I'll never get bored being alone with you," Andrea replied calmly. "I'm satisfied just to sit next to you and hug you."

They had shaved Ludwina's head because her hair fell out a lot, and now the girl was wearing a scarf on her head.

Andrea actually wanted to shave his head too, but Ludwina managed to stop him by threatening to quit her treatment.

Andrea finally relented.

"Andrea... Honey, if I don't recover, I want you to promise me..." Ludwina suddenly spoke.

"What promise?" Andrea asked in a low voice.

"I want you to promise that if I died, you will not grieve for long. I want you to forgive yourself if I died. We've tried our best to stay together, but destiny decided otherwise." Ludwina bit her lip. She tried to look strong. "You have to recover from heartbreak and move on because Ronan needs his father... Your mother needs you. You have to be strong for them... "

Ludwina touched Andrea's chin and looked into his eyes very earnestly.

"I hope... if God gave me a long life, and we can be together until we are old, I hope I can treat Ronan like my own son, because he is your son." She closed her eyes to hide the pain in her body. "I'm not angry because you have a child from Adeline. I'm actually grateful because God is good, and he allowed you to become a father. You make a wonderful father, and you deserve your chance..."

Andrea looked at Ludwina with eyes full of emotion and nodded. He kissed his wife lovingly, and for a moment, they forgot about Ludwina's illness.

After more than a year of not having sex, both of them missed each other so much.

Even though Ludwina had become thin and her hair was gone, for Andrea, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world, and he loved every inch of her body.

He kissed Ludwina with great affection. Ludwina, who got carried away by the atmosphere, then slowly unbuttoned his shirt.

Andrea was surprised, but he let Ludwina take off his shirt, as he traced and caressed her skin longingly.

"I love you so much, Andrea," Ludwina whispered into Andrea's ear, "I want to spend every day loving you."

Andrea helped Ludwina undress and very delicately touched his wife. He really missed Ludwina's body and made love to her.

He always held back his desire after they got back together for fear of making Ludwina pained, but today it was his wife who took the initiative to make love with him, and he would not disappoint her.

They made love gently that night and enjoyed every second of being together, much more solemnly than usual because they knew every second they were together was precious.

Andrea was very relieved to see Ludwina's flushed face was filled with joy as they slept that night.

He hoped he could freeze that moment forever.

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From the author:

One more chapter... and this story will end. Do you think it will have a happy ending?