So this starts out a bit confusing ... and the confusion continues for awhile ... but it will make sense eventually. I promise! Enjoy!
When a man loves a woman
Can't keep his mind on nothin' else
He'd trade the world
For a good thing he's found
If she is bad, he can't see it
She can do no wrong
Turn his back on his best friend If he puts her down
She smiles broadly as her brand spanking new husband spun her around. It was their first dance as husband and wife. He dipped her low and brought her up to whisper in her ear that he was the luckiest man alive. Their relationship had been fast and furious and within six months they were engaged. She was in love and it was a high she never wanted to come down from.
When a man loves a woman
Spend his very last dime
Trying to hold on to what he needs
He'd give up all his comforts
And sleep out in the rain
If she said that's the way
It ought to be
Her love pulled her close to him and she closed her eyes, breathing in his scent, smiling blissfully. They had met at the hospital where they both worked. He had courted her and she had tried unsuccessfully to avoid him. They were in the same intern group and she was around him more than anyone else. She knew his ins and outs, his buttons, his quirks, and he knew the same of her. In that moment, she felt this bliss would last forever. Her mind was free of doubts and she lost herself in his arms.
She sat on the porch swing in front of their house by herself, clutching her knees to her chest as she cuddled under a blanket in the cool, crisp night air. A lone tear fell from her cheek as she was jolted out of the memory from exactly seven years prior by a barking dog. Again he had forgotten.
A man approached closely behind the dog. He was most definately not her husband, but he was a friend to the couple. She flashed him a sad smile as he sat down next to her, knowing what his arrival cemented.
"He forgot."
"He got pulled for an emergency surgery."
"I thought ... I thought he would remember this year. I thought after last year, he would really try this year. He promised he would. And I was stupid enough to believe him."
"He's the stupid one."
"Brain surgeons aren't stupid."
"On the contrary. It's one of the world's most ironic facts. Brain surgeons are incredibly brainless and plastic surgeons are incredibly deep. We just like to let the stereotypes live on."
"Seven years. Seven years is all it took for my marriage to fall apart."
"Your marriage is not falling apart."
"The first five years were great. Perfection. Total bliss. And then we both became attendings in different fields and suddenly, we were running two different programs and he was forgetting our anniversary. And now he wants to start his own private practice. I never see him anymore. It's always one surgery after another. I can make time for him, but he can't seem to find time for me. As long as he remains the country's top neurosurgeon, everything's fine. He put his career first. We put our careers in front of starting a family but we put ourselves in front of our careers. And now he put his career first."
"He loves you."
"We had five years of total bliss. That's more than a lot of people get in a lifetime. I should be happy."
"You two can get through this."
"You think I'm overreacting don't you?"
"No. I think there's going to be a lot of work, most of it on his part. But you have to remember that he hasn't given up. He still wants to be with you."
"Only because it would take too much time to get a divorce."
"Don't say that."
"We haven't had a meal together in over a year."
"You had lunch together last month."
"Oh I'm sorry. Out of 1095 meals, we had 1 together."
"Technically, you don't usually eat breakfast."
"I used to when I ate it with him. Now he just gets it at the office."
"I'll eat breakfast with you."
"You are not my husband. As much as you try to defend him, you cannot physically stand in for him in my marriage."
"I'm just saying ... breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I wouldn't want your health to suffer just because your husband currently has his head up his ass."
"Currently?"
"Well I assume it wasn't there when you married him."
"You talked me into marrying him. Every step of our relationship, you've been there talking me through it, pushing me forward."
"Oh you're not seriously blaming me for this are you?"
"No. I'm just starting to not trust your judgement."
"Maybe that's a good thing."
"So your advice is for me to not take your advice?"
"No."
"Well then, doctor, what is your advice?"
"Talk to him."
"Easier said than done."
"I'll tie him to a chair if you want."
"That'd be nice."