A Fond Farewell

Brian Steel

Holding her tightly in his arms, he took a final look around her room. It would have been their second anniversary in just over a month’s time but things had boiled up quite suddenly.

He carried her gingerly downstairs, through the open front door and into the waiting car, trying to foresee how he would feel in a couple of days’ time when the transplant had been carried out - successfully he hoped.

Selfishly, he wondered how he would get used to the renewed body and whether there might be any harmful side-effects. He would certainly have to get used to a different way of handling her physically. However, the specialist had assured him that she would be much quicker-moving and would have more ‘go’ in her. No more falling down on the job, no more of that damned irritating blinking! The bilious colour of her face would also be brightened up by the expensive operation - thank God! They can really work miracles these days!

In fact, he reflected, there should be a lot more pleasure in his relationship with her, which he admitted (to himself) had suffered a serious setback in these past few days as he struggled to find a long-term solution to the quite major problems and afflictions.

As he laid her gently on the back seat of the car and covered her with a protective blanket, he allowed himself a brief smile at the comforting thought that more or less summed it all up:

“To hell with the expense! It will be SO nice to have a brand-new motherboard, a 15-inch monitor that works properly and a midi-tower case. My ninth computer system is just around the corner!”