She grew severely confused, at times delusional and
agitated. He couldn’t take care of her. He became
exhausted from stress and lack of sleep.
Hedidn’tknowwhattodo,buttherewasasystemfor
such situations. The people at the residence proposed
transferringhertoaskillednursingunit—anursinghome
floor.Hecouldn’tbearthethoughtofit.No,hesaid.She
needed to stay at home with him.
Beforetheissuewasforced,theygotareprieve.Twoand
a half weeks into the ordeal, Bella’s right eardrum
mendedand,althoughthehearinginherleftearwaslost
permanently, the hearing in her right ear came back.
“Ourcommunicationismoredifficult,”Felixsaid.“But
at least it is possible.”
Iaskedwhathewoulddoifthehearinginherrightear
wentagainorifthereweresomeothersuchcatastrophe,
andhe toldmehe didn’tknow.“I’mindreadofwhat
wouldhappen ifshe becomestoo hard formeto care
for,” hesaid. “Itry notto thinktoo farahead. Idon’t
thinkabout nextyear. It’stoo depressing. Ijust think
about next week.”
It’s the route people the world over take, and that is
understandable.Butittendstobackfire.Eventually,the
crisistheydreadedarrived.Theywerewalkingtogether
when, suddenly, Bella fell. He wasn’t sure what had
happened.They’dbeenwalkingslowly.Thegroundwas
flat.He’dhadherbythearm.Butshewentdownina
heapandsnappedthefibulainbothherlegs—thelong,
thin outer bone that runs from knee to ankle. The
emergencyroomdoctorshadtocasteachofherlimbsto