For the Betterment of Sarah Williams - Chapter Nine

Once the court order was given. Sarah had to wait for the results of the test. Part of her was hoping that the patient was not her husband. If he was her husband, there was no guarantee that he would ever feel the same way about her that he did before. Sarah thought that that might be worse than death. Either way, she would have to start all over again.

Finally the results came back. The technician on the other end of the phone assured her that the patient was not her husband. The DNA samples did not match. Sarah felt a wave of relief. She called the lawyer and had him reschedule the hearing. This time the lawyer sounded confident that Sarah would get the ruling that she wanted. She would still have to wait several weeks, but there was little doubt in the lawyers mind that Sarah had done enough to search for her husband.

The semester at school ended and with it her study groups. The good news was that she passed all her classes and was well on her way to getting her degree. There was a sense of accomplishment and Sarah was proud of herself for sticking it out. The bad news was that she might not see the young man who had respectfully paid her attention from a distance. Sarah secretly enjoyed the attention and realized that would be something she would miss. Still, there are other fish in the sea, so to speak and a whole world of possibilities.

Sarah spent more time with her kids. She had finally gotten to the place where she could give them the attention they deserved without feeling drained. She helped them with their homework and she played games with them. She talked with them about their day and started to enjoy their company. She wasn’t fighting with them like she was before. They were better now and she was better herself. There was just one thing holding her back, and that was that she was still legally married. She could petition for divorce and would probably easily get it, but she didn’t believe in divorce. She wanted people to remember her husband the way he was and if they divorced, she felt it would somehow taint his memory.

The day of the hearing came. The lawyer explained the police report. He produced witnesses that all said her husband was there one second and the next second he was gone. The detectives explained the procedures they took to locate him, searching hospitals and morgues. The lawyer described Sarah own attempts at searching for her husband and described the patient at the rehabilitation facility that was a possible match but ultimately turn out to be false. The Judge listened to all the evidence and retired to his chambers to think about all the things he had heard. The lawyer was confident that he had presented enough evidence to convince the judge. He tried to reassure Sarah that everything would be alright.

The judge returned from his chambers after thinking for a long time. The lawyer said it was a bad sign that the judge had to take such a long time and wasn’t as confident as he had previously been. The longer it takes to decide the more likely the decision will be no. The judge started to make a speech describing his ruling. When he started Sarah went into a daze. She hardly heard any of the words that were spoken. It’s like she was frozen in time. Before she knew it, it was over. The judge had stopped speaking and everyone got ready to leave. The lawyer looked at Sarah and congratulated her. Sarah asked the lawyer what just happened. The lawyer said that the judge approved the petition and that her husband was now legally dead. She was now a widow and that she could now get on with the rest of her life.