佚名/Anonymous
Most people need to hear those three little words“I love you.”Once in a while, they hear them just in time.
I met Connie the day she was admitted to the hospice ward, where I worked as a volunteer.Her husband, Bill, stood nervously nearby as she was transferred from the gurney to the hospital bed.Although Connie was in the final stages of her fight against cancer, she was alert and cheerful.We got her settled in.I finished marking her name on all the hospital supplies she would be using, then asked if she needed anything.
“Oh, yes,”she said,“would you please show me how to use the TV? I enjoy the soaps so much and I don’t want to get behind on what’s happening.”Connie was a romantic.She loved soap operas, romance novels and movies with a good love story.As we became acquainted, she confided how frustrating it was to be married 32 years to a man who often called her“a silly woman.”
“Oh, I know Bill loves me,”she said,“but he has never been one to say he loves me, or send cards to me.”She sighed and looked out the window at the trees in the courtyard.“I’d give anything if he’d say’I love you’, but it’s just not in his nature.”
Bill visited Connie every day.In the beginning, he sat next to the bed while she watched the soaps.Later, when she began sleeping more, he paced up and down the hallway outside her room.Soon, when she no longer watched television and had fewer waking moments, I began spending more of my volunteer time with Bill.
He talked about having worked as a carpenter and how he liked to go fishing.He and Connie had no children, but they’d been enjoying retirement by traveling, until Connie got sick.Bill could not express his feelings about the fact that his wife was dying.
One day, over coffee in the cafeteria, I got him on the subject of women and how we need romance in our lives; how we love to get sentimental cards and love letters.
“Do you tell Connie you love her?”I asked (knowing his answer), and he looked at me as if I was crazy.
“I don’t have to,”he said.“She knows I do!”
“I’m sure she knows,”I said, reaching over and touching his hands rough, carpenter’s hands that were gripping the cup as if it were the only thing he had to hang onto.“But she needs to hear it, Bill.She needs to hear what she has meant to you all these years.Please think about it.”
We walked back to Connie’s room.Bill disappeared inside, and I left to visit another patient.Later, I saw Bill sitting by the bed.He was holding Connie’s hand as she slept.The date was February 12.
Two days later I walked down the hospice ward at noon.There stood Bill, leaning up against the wall in the hallway, staring at the floor.I already knew from the head nurse that Connie had died at 11 a.m.?
When Bill saw me, he allowed himself to come into my arms for a long time.His face was wet with tears and he was trembling.Finally, he leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath.
“I have to say something,”he said.“I have to say how good I feel about telling her.”He stopped to blow his nose.“I thought a lot about what you said, and this morning I told her how much I loved her? and loved being married to her.You should seen her smile!”
I went into the room to say my own good-bye to Connie.There, on the bedside table, was a large Valentine card from Bill.You know, the sentimental kind that says,“To my wonderful wife? I love you.”
多數人都喜歡聽“我愛你”這三個小巧可愛的字眼。有時他們會在需要時聽到。
我看到康尼的那天，她剛被送到收容所的病房，而我則是那兒的誌願者。她的丈夫比爾不安地站在旁邊，看著她從輪床被抬到病**。康尼雖然已到了癌症晚期，但仍神清氣爽。安頓好她後，我把收容所發放給她的所有用品都標上她的名字，然後又問她是否還需要別的東西。
“哦，”她說，“那麽請您告訴我怎樣用電視好嗎？我很喜歡看肥皂劇，不想錯過任何故事情節。”康尼是個追求浪漫的人。她愛看肥皂劇、浪漫小說和言情電影。我們日漸熟識，她向我抱怨說，她有多麽失望，與一個常稱她“傻女人”的男人共同生活了32年。
“哦，我知道比爾深愛著我，”她說，“可是他從不說他愛我，也從未給我寄過賀卡。”她歎了口氣，把目光投向窗外庭院裏的樹林。“如果他能對我說’我愛你’，讓我付出一切我都在所不惜，可是那根本不是他的作風。”
每天比爾都來看望康尼。開始，康尼看肥皂劇時，他就坐在床邊陪她。後來，她睡覺的時候多了，比爾便在病房外的走廊踱來踱去。不久後，康尼不再看電視了，清醒的時候也不多了，於是我有了更多的時間與比爾相處。
他說他是個木匠，非常愛釣魚。他和康尼沒有孩子，他們到處遊玩以享受退休後的時光，直至康尼病倒。麵對妻子病危的事實，他內心的感受是無以言表的。
一天，在自助餐館喝咖啡時，我和比爾談起了女人的話題，並談到了生活中浪漫對我們的重要性以及我們對洋溢著柔情蜜意的卡片和情書的渴望。
“你告訴康尼你愛她了嗎？”我明知故問道。他注視著我，仿佛我神經錯亂。
“沒那必要，”他說道，“她知道我非常愛她！”
“我也確信她是知道的，”說著，我把手伸過去,碰到了他的手，那是一雙木工的粗糙的手。這雙手緊握著杯子，似乎那是他唯一可以抓住的東西。“但是她需要聽那句話，比爾。她需要聽你說，這些年她對你意味著什麽。你該考慮一下。”
我們回到康尼的病房。比爾進去了，我去看另一個病人了。而後，我看見比爾坐到床邊，握著睡熟中的康尼的一隻手。那天是2月12日。
兩天後的中午，我沿著收容所病房過道走著。我看到比爾靠牆站在那兒，目光呆滯地看著地麵。我已經從護士那兒得知，康尼上午11時走了。
比爾看到我，撲到我懷裏哭了許久。他滿臉淚痕，全身顫抖。後來，他向後倚在牆上，深深地吸了口氣。
“我有些話要說，”他說道，“而且非說不可，我想說，能夠告訴她真的感覺好極了。”他頓了頓，吸了吸鼻子。“你說的話，讓我想了很多；今天早上我對她說了，我非常愛她，我為能娶到她而感到幸福。你真該看看她那時燦爛的笑容!”
我去了康尼的病房，與她道別。我看到床頭櫃上放著一張大大的情人節賀卡，那是比爾送給她的。那張滿載著濃情蜜意的賀卡上寫著:“獻給我的愛妻！我愛你！”
(1) alert a.to tell confidentially
(2) acquaint?b.marked or by feeling or sensibility
(3) confide c.to cause to know personally
(4) sentimental?d.active
Write
TRUEif the statement agrees with the information
FALSEif the statement contradicts the information
_______ (1) Bill didn’t know how to love his wife.
_______ (2) Bill followed the man’s advice for showing love to his wife.
1.Later, when she began sleeping more, he _______ the hallway outside her room.後來，她睡覺的時候多了，比爾便在病房外的走廊踱來踱去。
2.There stood Bill, _______the wall in the hallway, staring at the floor.比爾靠牆站在那兒，目光呆滯地看著地麵。
3.He leaned back against the wall and ______.他向後倚在牆上，深深地吸了口氣。