Chapter 1: Shattered Beginnings
The morning dawned with an unusual stillness, as if the world already sensed the impending storm. Miriam sat beside her husband, Daniel, in the hospital room, clutching his hand with trembling fingers. The beeping machines echoed like a countdown. Cancer had crept in slowly, silently, and now it had won. With one final breath, Daniel was gone. In that moment, Miriam's world crumbled.
The nurses moved gently around her, murmuring soft condolences, but she barely heard them. Her heart screamed in silence as she clutched Daniel's hand, now growing cold.
"You promised me, Daniel," she sobbed, her voice barely audible. "You promised you'd fight. You said you'd stay with us."
A nurse came forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Njeri. He fought till the very end."
"I'm not ready. We're not ready," Miriam whispered.
Flashbacks flooded her mind. Daniel dancing with Sarah in the living room, his deep laugh filling their tiny home. Him helping Eli with homework, patient and encouraging. His whisper in the night, "We'll grow old together."
Now all she had were memories and a deafening silence.
Later that evening, she sat with her children in their living room. Eli, only eight, stared at the wall blankly. Sarah clung to her stuffed toy, fidgeting in Miriam's lap.
"Is Daddy not coming back, Mommy?" Sarah asked.
"No, baby," Miriam said, her voice trembling. "Daddy had to go to heaven."
Eli's lips tightened. "Why didn't he say goodbye?"
Miriam gathered them close, tears rolling down her cheeks. "He loved you both so much. He didn't want to leave. He didn't have a choice."
The funeral came with rain, heavy and unrelenting. Miriam stood under a shared umbrella with her children, watching the casket descend into the earth. Her legs felt weak.
Margaret, her mother-in-law, stood stonily at the front. Not once did she glance back at Miriam or the children.
"She was never right for Daniel," Miriam overheard her say. "He paid the price for loving her."
Miriam pretended not to hear. But the words stabbed deeper than the cold wind around her.