Waking up in the middle of the night, the wife noticed that her husband had fallen asleep at the computer again: she walked over to wake him and turn off the glowing screen, but suddenly she saw something that filled her with terror 
Waking in the middle of the night, she felt a sharp, unpleasant light — so bright that it pierced through her closed eyelids.
Her husband had probably fallen asleep at the computer again, as had happened so often lately. He had been working late, staying up in the evenings, and sometimes simply fell asleep without making it to bed. She had gotten used to it and blamed it on exhaustion. The clock showed 2:30 a.m.
She got up, wrapped herself in her warm robe, and quietly approached the desk to wake her husband and take him to bed. He was sleeping with his face buried in his hands, his breathing uneven. She was just about to touch his shoulder when her gaze fell behind the screen.
On the bright monitor, something caught her attention. She leaned closer — and was horrified by what she saw.
Her husband had been hiding a terrible secret from her, a secret she was never meant to know Continued in the first comment 
A bright blue chat window glowed on the screen. The sender’s name — “Dr. Antonova.” The latest message was blinking as unread.
She leaned in — and in that moment her heart tightened painfully.
“Stage four. Dizziness and fainting — expected symptoms. We have very little time left. I strongly advise you to tell your wife and prepare the documents. Treatment at a clinic in Israel may slow the process, but the chances are almost zero…”
She stood frozen, as though the world around her had stopped. On the left side of the chat window, several tabs were open. Their titles seemed to scream:
“Best international cancer centers”
“Urgent treatment quotas”
“Patient reviews. Stage 4”
“How to relieve pain at home”
On several pages she saw something that took her breath away: loan application forms, requests to charitable foundations, letters asking for consultations. The dates were recent. He had been doing all of this in secret, at night, while she slept beside him, unaware.
The wife slowly sank into a chair. Her hands trembled, her eyes filled with tears. He hadn’t hidden an affair or a double life — he had hidden death itself, which had quietly approached their home.
She looked at her husband — his tired face, the hollowed cheeks, the grayish skin she had previously blamed on stress. Now everything became clear.
He didn’t want to scare her. He didn’t want her to suffer before the time came. He wanted to fight alone, for as long as he had the strength.
