“What happens when a person loses everything that matters to them in the world? How do they cope with the loss? People deal with grief differently, and in Nathan’s case, he became a shadow of himself. He lost his zeal for life. However, after a frightening incident, he realized something life-changing.
Nathan enjoyed saving animals as a kid. He lived in an estate that had a huge forest, and he spent many hours exploring the forest with his younger brother, Dylan. Nathan didn’t protest much when Dylan took charge of their activities and got to make decisions for them. However, whenever they encountered injured animals, Nathan would fight tooth and nail for them to take the animal home.
He would care for the ill animal and take them to the vet. He learned a thing or two from the vets, so it was easy to take care of these animals. Their house was always filled with all kinds of animals, dogs, cats, and the like. Everyone, including Nathan’s parents, got used to this. They helped him take care of the injured animals and saw to it that they got adopted by loving owners who would care for them.
It didn’t come as a surprise to Nathan’s parents when he decided to study medicine in college and eventually specialize as a surgeon. Seeing the way he loved to help injured animals as well as his sick friends, his parents knew he was making the right decision.
Nathan was prepared for everything that would come with being a medical student and with college life generally, but what he didn’t expect was to find that special one in school. He had always thought love would come later in life, perhaps in his late 30s, but oh boy, it happened on his very first day in college.
As Nathan walked into his first class, he noticed a pair of beautiful eyes looking right at him. It was Prior, and when she smiled at him, Nathan felt like his insides were melting. They kept stealing glances throughout the entire class until finally, on the third day, Nathan mustered up enough courage to ask if they could study together. And she agreed.
In the weeks that followed, they spent time together studying, having lunch, and taking strolls. As they got closer, they began to establish some form of physical contact. They would hold hands and hug, and both of them adored these special moments. One night, as they walked back to their hostels after studying, Nathan suddenly stopped and cupped Prior’s face before whispering, ‘I’m not sure if I can wait any longer. Is it okay if I kiss you?’
‘Yes, only if you ask me to be your girl,’ she replied. And without waiting for a response, she whispered, ‘I wanted to do this for a long time.’ Then she kissed him passionately as they both moaned and pledged to love each other till death parts them. From that moment, they became a couple. Everyone on campus knew them as Lovebirds and admired the love they shared.
After a few months of dating, Nathan introduced Prior to his family, and they all welcomed her with open arms. A couple of years later, the two graduated from college together, and Nathan proposed to Prior amidst joyful tears. Prior had always dreamed of having a perfect marriage, and with Nathan, she knew it would come true.
The couple traveled to India so that Prior could introduce Nathan to her parents as her fiancé. However, they met with a big shock when Prior’s parents told them that they couldn’t be together because Nathan wasn’t Indian. Refusing to be discouraged by her parents’ disapproval, Prior blatantly told them that she would rather die than get married to someone else. It had to be Nathan or no one else, and that was final the couple returned to the city without resolving the issue.
For a long time, Prior didn’t speak to her parents until they finally agreed to the marriage. Prior wasn’t the type to flaunt her parents’ rule, so now that she was doing so, they trusted her decision. And with time, they got to see that Nathan was the perfect man for their daughter.
By the time they got married, Nathan was already working as a doctor in training and was close to attaining his goal of becoming a surgeon. Prior, on the other hand, was working as a pediatric doctor at the same hospital. A year after settling down, the couple gave birth to a beautiful daughter, and their joy knew no bounds.
Everything was going fine. They loved their jobs, they lived in a nice house, and their love for each other increased daily. It was almost too perfect to be true. And yes, maybe it really was because one day, a day that started like any other, a tragedy struck.
It happened one bright Monday morning. Nathan kissed his wife just as he was about to leave for his shift. “Don’t forget to call me if you need anything. I will come to you right away,” he told her. She assured him that she would be just fine. She just had to pick up her parents at the airport by 9 pm, bring them home, and then wait for him to return from work so they could go out on a date by 7 PM, as they had planned.
Nathan was quite happy that morning because not only were Prior’s parents visiting for the first time, but he would also be performing his first surgery. He had completed his residency training and was now certified to work as a surgeon. While Nathan was preparing to round off his work for the day, an accident victim who needed emergency surgery was rushed into the theater.
The victim, a young woman, was the only person still alive among everyone involved in a car crash on the highway. The occupants of the car were returning from the airport when a truck suddenly rammed into them, claiming the lives of all but one of the occupants. Nathan rushed to prepare for the emergency surgery while the nurse gave him information on the patient and others involved in the accident. The deceased included a little girl about the age of two and the young woman’s parents.
Nathan knew he wouldn’t be able to make the dinner date with his wife, but he knew Prior would understand. Ready to save the victim, he rushed into the operating room. When he saw the patient lying on the operating table, he almost passed out from shock. It was Prior, the woman he loved with all of his being.
Overcome with shock and unable to continue with the surgery, Nathan asked another surgeon to perform the operation. He anxiously paced outside the theater, his heart heavy with worry as he awaited the outcome of the operation. How would he tell his wife that they had lost their only child and her parents? “God, please let her survive this. Protect my wife,” he prayed while crying bitterly, his heart aching as if a thousand knives were buried there.
But when the surgeon came out, he instantly knew that he had lost her too. He fell to his knees and sobbed like a baby. Nathan managed to hold himself together to give his loved ones a proper burial at the funeral, though his strength failed him. So, he walked out of the cemetery before the burial rites were over. He ambled along with no particular destination in mind.
It was only when his phone suddenly rang that he realized how far he had walked. The call was from Dylan, his younger brother. Nathan thought of throwing the phone away when it wouldn’t stop ringing, but he knew his brother and parents would be worried about him.
So, he sent them a message that he just wanted to take a walk and that he would return home soon. However, he knew he wouldn’t return to his house. He just wanted to get away from there and escape the city as soon as possible.
Nathan kept on walking for a long time, refusing to take rides from well-meaning passersby. When his funds ran out, he took on temporary jobs to earn enough money to keep going. Before he knew it, he had spent a whole year walking from town to town. At this point, Nathan was completely unrecognizable. He had lost weight and had grown out his hair and beard.
Soon, he got another job working as a gardener for a wealthy couple. The couple he worked for had kids between the ages of 9 and 15. They tried to make friends with Nathan, but he always ignored them because he didn’t want to make any commitments to anyone.
One day, while he was pruning leaves in the backyard, one of the kids came running into the yard. He wasn’t looking at where he was going, so he didn’t see the stick buried in the ground in front of him. He tripped and fell on the pointed part of the stick, piercing his femoral artery.
Swinging into action, Nathan immediately called 911. But he knew that if he waited without doing anything, the situation could get out of hand. It had been a long time since he tried to save someone’s life. As he bent down to help the boy, his hand began trembling. “You can do this. I trust you,” Nathan muttered to himself.
Using a saw, he carefully separated the part of the stick in the boy’s thigh from the part still buried in the ground. Afterward, he applied direct pressure on the wound with a clean cloth, thereby reducing blood loss. The ambulance arrived just in time, and paramedics assured Nathan that the boy would make it thanks to his quick intervention.
While trying to save the boy, Nathan realized that he shouldn’t have stopped practicing medicine after his family died. He should have dedicated himself to saving lives. The very next day, Nathan called his brother and asked for a flight ticket back home. He also called the hospital he worked at to ask if he still had a position, and they told him he could come back.
Nathan would never fully recover from the loss of his family, but he found the strength to forge ahead. He returned to his job as a doctor, specializing in surgery, and poured himself into his work. He dedicated himself to saving lives and making a difference.
Over time, Nathan’s skills and expertise were recognized, and he became renowned for his surgical abilities. He became an inspiration to his colleagues and a source of hope for his patients. Though the pain of his loss still lingered, he channeled his grief into something meaningful and used it to fuel his determination to make a positive impact.
Nathan also became involved in various initiatives to support others who had experienced loss and grief. He understood their pain and offered them comfort, guidance, and a listening ear. Through his own journey of healing, he found solace in helping others navigate their own paths toward recovery.
While Nathan’s heart would always carry the memories and love for his lost family, he managed to find a renewed purpose in life. He dedicated himself to honoring their memory by making a difference in the lives of others, just as he had once done for injured animals as a child.
