The woman I hired to care for my paralyzed husband — 500 pounds a night. But on the fifth night, someone called me She’s on top of your husband!’ — When I got home, I was paralyzed by what I saw…
Lena, 35, works grueling shifts at a Dallas garment factory. Her husband Tom—once strong and joyful—was paralyzed in a car accident last year. She cares for him alone: feeding, cleaning, medicating. Exhaustion breaks her; some nights she collapses beside his bed.
Neighbor Mrs. Harper, a widowed ex-nurse’s aide, offers night help for $500. Lena trusts her kindness. Tom says Harper’s stories ease his nights. Lena is grateful.
Fifth night: neighbor Mrs. Carter calls in panic—“She’s on top of your husband!” Lena races home through rain.
She bursts in: Tom motionless, Harper bent over him under a blanket, flushed and crying. Mrs. Carter trembles behind.
Harper sobs: “I thought he couldn’t breathe—I was doing chest compressions!”
Tom whispers, “I just wanted to remember… her…”
Harper confesses: Tom resembles her late husband. In grief, she hallucinated. She apologizes, shattered.
Lena forgives. “I’ll care for him myself.”
Harper leaves into the storm. Lena quits full-time work, stays home evenings. Harper later moves in with her sister.
Rainy nights, Lena remembers: sorrow can blur reality.
Holding Tom’s hand, she vows, “No one will ever be alone here again.”
