I will always remember the day my whole world fell apart. Eric, my husband, was lying in a hospital bed. He had been told he had stage four cancer. I can still hear what the doctor said: “He has a few weeks to live.” What I didn’t know was that Eric had a secret plan, and a stranger’s word would make things different.
Sitting next to me in the hospital while I tried to process the terrible news was a woman in her late 40s wearing blue scrubs. In a whisper, she said, “Set up a hidden camera in his ward… you deserve to know the truth.”
I chose to do what she said and put a secret camera in Eric’s room. What I found out would change my life for good. Eric wasn’t really sick; he was lying about being sick to get insurance money. My whole world was turned upside down, I felt like I had been punched in the gut.
I saw Eric and his lover Victoria talking about their plan to bribe Dr. Matthews and fake his death on video. I was angry, sad, and betrayed, among other things. What kind of lie could the man I loved tell me?
I chose to do something about it myself and gather proof to show Eric’s evil plan. I gathered evidence and recorded talks while I waited for the right time to act.
The time had come for Eric’s family and friends to say their last goodbyes at the hospital. When I played the tape, Eric’s sneaky plan was revealed to everyone. There was confusion in the room, and Eric’s family was shocked and angry.
When the cops showed up, Eric, Dr. Matthews, and Victoria were all arrested. I asked for a divorce and started over with my life. When I thought about what had happened, I saw that the stranger’s advice had kept me from a life of pain and lies.
I went back to the hospital to look for the person who had saved my life. She kept sitting on the same bench and watched the sun go down. She smiled and said, “Sometimes, the illnesses that kill you aren’t the worst.” I thanked her for the advice. Those are the ones that slowly spread in the hearts of the people we care about, eating away at our trust until it’s gone.
As I drove home that night, I felt like the day was over and I value strangers’ kindness even more now. The event taught me that the people nearest to us aren’t always the ones who hurt us the most, but the good in other people can save us from the bad.
