The veteran leaves his fiancée so as not to be a burden to her and ruin her life. But the next day she shows up on his porch with a priest and says something that makes tears flow down his cheeks.
How far are you willing to go for someone you love? And have you ever loved someone enough to let them go?
Alex was like that, and for the sake of his beloved, he disappeared without saying anything to his fiancée. He didn’t want to be a burden.
Alex was the happiest man alive two years ago when he proposed to Laura. He looked forward to seeing her in her wedding dress and when she would say yes to him. He looked forward to them being together as husband and wife.
But Alex’s injury shattered his dreams. He had lost his legs in combat, which had confined him to a wheelchair and robbed him of his ability to serve his country. A cripple, that’s what he called himself. He could not ruin Laura’s life either, so he decided to leave her. But did she feel the same way?
Laura and Alex have very different backgrounds. Laura’s parents were rich and wanted their daughter to marry the rich lawyer they had chosen for her. But Laura decided that Alex was the one and she would never look at another man.
When he asked her to marry him, she immediately said yes. Then Alex received a summons from the army and had to return to duty. But he promised Laura that he would come back and they would have the wedding of their dreams.
“What if one day you find out he’s never coming back? You must break up with him! He’s not for you, Laura!” her mother was serious.
“No, Mother,” Laura said confidently. “Alex will come back. He will come back to me… he will not break his promise.”
And so Alex returned from the battlefield. But he was no longer the same. Nothing was the same…
Alex didn’t tell Laura that he was back. She knew nothing about him or his injury. One day she got a message from his best friend.
“Stay away from Alex. He’s breaking up with you. He doesn’t want to see you…”.
Laura thought her heart stopped, but then she realised it might have been a prank. Alex was always like that! He was just teasing her to see how scared and nervous she would get about something like that.
Laura was determined not to fall for it this time.
“I know it’s one of your silly jokes!” she wrote. “Sorry, but it won’t work this time!”
“No!” his friend Ron replied. “Just don’t…”
This time Laura didn’t even bother to read Ron’s whole message. She got ready and went to Alex’s house. She had her spare keys with her, and she decided to surprise him.
But when she arrived, her heart raced with fear. The whole house was dark, dirty and dusty, as if no one had ever lived in it. And she found an envelope on the front table with a letter in it. A letter that Laura hoped did not exist, because the words contained in it made her feel as if someone had sucked all the life out of her.
“I knew you’d come here after you got Ron’s message. I’m sorry, Laura. I just couldn’t burden you. I’m leaving you. Again, it’s not because of you, it’s because I don’t want you to suffer living next to a cripple. You were made for a better life. All I ask for is one thing; forgive me if you can.
– Alex.”
In tears, Laura pulled out her mobile phone and called Alex, but he didn’t answer. She called him again, and then again, and a few more times, but he still didn’t pick up.
Then she read Ron’s message saying that Alex had lost his legs and didn’t want her to suffer with him because he was in a wheelchair.
“You think you can decide this for both of us, Alex? How dare you! You never loved me! You’re selfish! You can’t leave like that!”
Laura wasn’t going to give up her love. She would bring Alex back and tell him that he would not be a burden. When you love someone, they will never be a burden on you, no matter what. And Laura knew what she would do next.
“Are you mad, Laura? Are you leaving home for a man who doesn’t want you?” her mother shouted when she saw Laura packing her things.
In tears Laura told her parents about everything and said she would find Alex at any cost. Her parents were outraged and threatened to cut her out of the will, but Laura didn’t care.
She left her parents’ house knowing where she would go next.
***
The next morning Alex woke up to a loud knock on the door.
“Who is it there at this hour?” he asked himself, sitting down in his wheelchair next to the bed.
When he opened the door, he was surprised.
Laura was standing on his porch crying, and next to her was Father John, whom Laura and Alex often met when they attended church on Sundays.
“Laura… how… how did you know I was here?” asked Alex, but Laura did not say a word. She knelt down and hugged him.
“I will never forgive you for that stupid letter you left me if you don’t marry me! You think you’re the only smart person here, don’t you? A friend of Dad’s from the police helped trace your phone! I’m not giving up on our love, Alex. Let’s start a new life together…”.
“Laura…” Alex couldn’t hold back the tears. “You don’t deserve this. Look at me. I can’t even walk. I’ll be in a wheelchair all my life! I wanted you to be my wife, not a nurse for some cripple. Please go away. I’m just a burden.”
“And I want to spend the rest of my life with the person I love. I don’t mind if I have to take care of him for the rest of my life, because that’s what love is all about. Alex, love is being there for each other. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you… And no, you’re not a burden,” she added, wiping away her tears. “Lovers are never a burden!”
“Alex, my child,” Father John interjected, “Laura is right. Love is pure. It is patient and kind. You are a lucky man, for you have a woman like her who cares for you. Don’t lose heart, young man…”.
Three years have passed since then. Alex and Laura finally got married, they had two beautiful daughters and Laura’s parents welcomed Alex and their granddaughters.
Love changes people.
