Chapter 20

If this be error and upon me prov'd,

I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.

Ten years later.

Connor and Robin had just left Bobby's house, one of their close family friends. His wife Amy had passed at the age of 63, had seen grand kids, but it was still so sad. The service was over and it had been a nice service as most would say. But Connor would beg to differ. Nothing about saying goodbye to the one person you love the most in the world was nice. Amy had been Bobby's only love, for as long as he had known him. He and Bobby were no different in age, Bobby still had a long life to live, but how could he forge on without his wife?

Connor looked at Robin, going up the stairs to probably remove those heels. He didn't want to imagine it. The whole thing with Bobby got him thinking about how fragile life was. Amy was Bobby's only love as Robin was his. He had been so busy lately, they both were. Doing great things in the medical field for the good of humanity, but he felt he might have neglected his wife a bit. Their kids were all grown, with kids of their own. He had a plan. Tonight he was going to make a romantic dinner, candles, roses and everything. Remind his wife she was still his only love. And with that, he felt better, time was like a thief but he was going to use every second with the person he loved.

Later, Dr and Dr Rhodes were sitting on their porch, drinking coffee and watching the grandkids. They had seven now, Three from Dillon and two each from the twins, Jack and Elizabeth. They laughed at their antics, at who looked more like who and who took after who more. They had made a clan, and a clan could soon be a nation.

….

At her ninetieth birthday, finishing the last chapter of her memoir, Robin would be remiss to not mention the man who loved her throughout most of those ninety years. He was in the quiet words she prayed. She had been blessed, her life had been full because he was someone who loved her. Ninety years old, renowned epidemiologist, still fit for a consult or two, she had wrote books, had come up with cures for some epidemics that were still being used and will be used to save people in the future. She had a lot to teach the future generation, had made her mark in the medical field. She could say she had lived with only that and many had lived only for their carriers and to make such a mark in the world.

She had three children, ten grandchildren and seventeen great grandchildren. After Connor's father's death, only two Rhodes were left, Connor and his sister Clare. Now some sixty years later, the Rhodes had grown into a clan, a number of surgeons, a couple of epidemiologists and business majors. And they were all gathered here today to celebrate her birthday, looking at all of them, she knew a richness that was beyond money. This was wealth.

She walked over to her husband who was holding a glass of wine out for her, she sank into his arms with a smile amidst cheers and laugher of joy. Grandma Rhodes was ninety. She looked up at Connor, who smiled down at her, gave her a kiss and whispered, 'I love you,' it never got old. He was ninety two, still fit aside from an angina or two now and then, a retired Cardio Thoracic surgeon, valuable consultant though, passing his wisdom and knowledge to the future generations. The Rhodes was a renowned name both in the business world and in the medical field, they had both made it so. Grandpa and Grandma Rhodes. She felt that love for him well up in her like it always did every time he was near. She was so blessed by the simple happiness of this perfect love, this perfect family they had made. Against all odds, they had made it. She had tried to push it down but it came back faster and harder, tides were changing on a dime but she was just trying to keep her head above the water. She wanted whoever would read her memoir to read this, and to know that she had loved and had been loved like that.

…..

On her death bed, Robin looked at her husband, the love of her life as he held her hand tight, tears in his eyes. He didn't want to let her go, she didn't want to leave him either.

"I'm glad I'm going first, I'm not as strong as you think. Could never bear to be without you."

"You're such a smart mouth. And you think I can?" Connor said.

"When you look back on times we've had, I hope you smile. And know that through good and through the bad, I was on your side. When nobody could hold us down. Do you remember?" Robin said

"Connor nodded, tears now streaming down his cheeks. "We claimed the brightest star didn't we?" He said

"Oh yeah we did. Not many people had much faith in us to do it. They thought we would frizzle out. Now look at us. Look how far we've come? They won't forget that." Robin sad with a naughty smile on her face.

"Remember how we held our heads so high, when it was us against the world, and still we touched the sky, didn't we?" Connor said

"When you think back on all we've done, I hope you're proud. It was our time to shine and nobody could hold us down. Some thought they will see us fall, remember all those obstacles we had to go through? But we did reach that dream together, didn't we?"

"Oh yeah we did." Connor said with a smile through the tears. "Standing together in an angry world, one boy fighting for one girl." He got into bed with her and held her close. "My sweaty sweet love. My heart." He whispered.

"Whenever you remember, I'll be there. I'll be remembering with you. You'll tell our great grand kids about it all, and I'll be there." She squeezed is hand. "I even have a great granddaughter named after me." Robin smiled. "Connor, we've seen our great grand kids. How amazing is that?"

"I know right? Who would have thought?" Connor said. "We made our promises and never took them back. In a world where it's so easy to break them."

"And we did love like that. We loved with a love which was more than love. This isn't good bye. Remember, all my heart forever. It's stronger than death." She said and smiled at him through her own tears, holding on to him. Whenever she felt insecure or unsteady she tended to grab hold of things that steady her, and Connor did that for her. What love does to a heart that is surrendered.

"All my heart, forever." Connor said back to her. "I'll find you in the next life. I'll always find you."

"And I'll wait for only you." She said.

She rested her head on his shoulder and died in his arms. He held on to her for a while, not ready to let go.

….

Two years later, Dr Oliver Rhodes, Connor's grandson from Jack, was watching his grandfather at the family graveyard. He watched Grandpa Rhodes, sitting at the beloved gravesite which was where grandma Rhodes had been buried. It had been two years already, she was ninety two when she had passed, brain tumor, it had been sudden. One would think at such a grand age Grandpa Rhodes would be less grieved, they had lived an eternity together but no, he was inconsolable when she passed. And now he would just visit her grave and talk to her for hours, like they used to do when they were together. They never seemed to run out of things to say, sometimes just sit there in tranquility, not saying anything. Their silences were still filled with conversation. She would be doing her knitting while he read a book, or they could both be reading books or just staring at the sky drinking coffee outside on the porch. They always had permanent content smiles on their faces. Now an old man now sitting on his own, placing flowers on a garden of stone. She had been gone for two years, and his devotion seemed to be growing stronger still.

It was stronger than death, and Oliver wanted that. He wanted to be in love like that, a promise he couldn't take back.

He followed his grandpa to the grave and sat down with him. Connor stopped and looked at him.

"Does she ever talk back?" Oliver asked.

Connor smiled, "All the time. We have whole conversations here. And not just here, anywhere I choose to talk to her, she talks back to me." Connor sighed and tried to explain to his grandson.

"The sun still comes up, people still go on with their lives like it was nothing. Its not a big deal if an elderly person dies, there was no suffering, it's a blessing. No suffering." Connor snorted.

Oliver could see that his grandfather still loved his wife, he wanted to keep experiencing it and sharing it. Maybe that made him crazy but he thought we should all be so lucky to end up with somebody who has a little bit of that insanity, somebody who cherishes you forever. Somebody who never lets you go. Talk about a legacy. Loving somebody forever, that's a legacy. That's how his world goes on.

"I wake up in the morning and I wonder why everything is the same as it was." Connor went on. "I can't understand how life goes on the way it does. Why does my heart go on beating, why do these eye of mine cry, don't they know its the end of the world? It ended when she said goodbye."

There are some people who meet that somebody that they can never stop loving no matter how hard they try. There are some loves that just don't go away. Oliver had tears smarting his eyes, his throat dry. "It goes beyond, doesn't it?"

At least his great grandson didn't think he was crazy, but they could all think he was losing his mind, he didn't care. He was ninety six anyway, and all he wanted was to be with Robin again. "Yes, it's stronger than death. Those were her last words to me."

Oliver was genuinely curious, "How does it work grandpa? How does it last so long, with just one person?"

"You've heard it said that people want to spend forever with someone, or I'll love you forever and so on?"

Oliver nodded.

"Well, I am grateful, I'm blessed more than most to have found and known your grandma. My one true friend. I know we have had our whole lives together and we've lived longer than most. But, I guess when you love someone, forever is not long enough. It's never long enough." Connor said wistfully.

"I met someone." Oliver said.

"Oh yeah?" Connor asked, pleasantly surprised. Of all his grandkids, Oliver would take the cake on being a rake. He wasn't too different from Connor himself, when he thought he could never settle down. Now, he was pleasantly surprised that Oliver had found his Robin too.

"Yeah, her name is Felicity. After her great grandmother. We met in the most random way. She cut the line on a coffee cart, cut right in front of me. Said she needed that coffee more than me and she was late. Like I wasn't late myself. I had a double thrombectomy waiting for me." Oliver said, with a smile. "Anyway, I called her out on it and she said she will apologize later, over another coffee."

"That's curious, your grandma and I met over coffee too." Connor said. "She stole my coffee. Well she would insist that I was the one attempting to steal hers." Connor smiled. "What's her name again?"

"Felicity. Named after her great grandmother. We had the weirdest conversation later over the promised coffee. Her great grandfather was also named Oliver. At least she keeps her promises. She did buy me a coffee latter, as an apology."

"I like her already." Connor smiled.

"I like her too. I don't know, I like her more than I would have ever thought to like someone." Oliver said contemplatively. "I want what you had with grandma Rhodes with her. I don't know, we've only been dating for a week. Can I know already, so early in the relationship that she is the one I want to spend the rest of my life with?"

"You can know at first glance, son." Connor said. "When you know, you know. Just don't let anything take her away from you, or let anything come between the two of you. Because they will try. Oh boy will they try. But if she is your everything, then nothing will be more important to you. Not money, not your carrier, nothing. Because nothing means quite anything without her."

"I think I'm already there." Oliver said. "It's kind of scary though."

"Some guys run from the woman they are in love with. Free falling scares them and they are afraid of losing control. That's why they run." Connor said.

"But there's unrelenting love. Like yours." Oliver said. "One doesn't always have a choice."

"And that's the beauty of it. Storms will come, harsh storms. But be prepared to be the biggest, baddest storm than any of them and you'll always win." Connor said and recounted as he remembered all the storms he and Robin had to go through. All the great memories and the bad ones. Their love had seen some storms, but that's where some of the memories that last forever come from. Memories that never die.

"One boy fighting for one girl in such an angry world. A girl who would hold on to me and trust me no matter what. A girl who would stand together with me against whatever. I want to love like that grandpa. I want to be loved like that." Oliver said.

"It's a beautiful canvas, son." Connor said wistfully. "And you've only began to paint it."

….

At ninety eight, Dr Connor Rhodes knew his time had come, and he was almost relieved and excited. He would get to see his love again. Some say it was time to meet his maker, but he would say it was time to meet a father who had given him all of this to enjoy. It was also time for him to see his love again. He had been blessed so much, it would also be time to give gratitude in person. His memoir had all the usual achievements, but most of all, it was about the woman who had made him a man. He would have made it to a hundred, but he was so torn between two worlds. Wanting to follow where Robin had gone to, only he couldn't. Now he held another great grandson in his arms, just born in the same hospital he was going to spend his last days, at Chicago Med. Oliver and Felicity's first born. They had named him Connor.

"They said when a light goes out in this world another is born to fill its place" Connor said, as he held his great grandson.

"And he has some big shoes to fill granddad." Oliver said

Connor smiled and just looked at his great grandson a while longer. "Connor Rhodes, there is a Robin for you out there in this world. When you meet her, don't let her go. Together you'll make a family tree, because she is your life, and you're hers. And that's all we're all searching for in this life. If you haven't loved with all your heart and should, then you would not have lived at all. I wish upon you a life than is more than just existence, I bless you with it." Connor blessed his great grandson with those words, just as he had blessed all the other grandkids and his kids with those same words. He would like to believe he was a great Connor for his Robin, because Robin had blessed their granddaughters with a Connor, just as he would bless his grandsons with a Robin.