the perfect wife

by Gilad elbom



If it wasn’t for the cardiac arrest, she could have been a captivating success story, an inspiring tale of astounding transformation: from a fat high-school kid, a recluse, an introverted outcast, to a slender community-college student, a girl with a boyfriend, her first romantic interest. He was nice to her, kissed her, married her, saved her from her own virginity, a hardworking man, an altruistic angel who called an ambulance right away when, following a period of rapid weight loss, she collapsed on the floor. Irreparably brain-damaged, a comatose beauty resistant to treatment, she continues to perform her role as the perfect wife, the pretty little thing who never talks back, never forgets to smile, and always waits in bed.

Her father insists on hope. Keep the motor running, redemption is at hand. Don’t pull the plug. She wants to live, she said so herself, many times in the past. She wouldn’t have it any other way. Unconditional faith in the Almighty, an imminent miracle, the everlasting reliability of a well-made life support machine. Her husband sits by her bed. No cognition, no perception, no awareness. She’s blind, she’s drooling, prognosis is poor. She would have wanted to die, she said so herself, many times in the past, he has witnesses, he’s determined to keep his promise.

Her father goes to court. The nation holds its breath as numerous appeals are rejected. The governor intervenes, the president, the pope, the people. To no avail. Despite hordes of protesters marching in front of the hospital, insisting that she does respond to her surroundings, that she sometimes tries to communicate, that she follows limited commands, that she physically distances herself from irritating or painful stimulations, and that she watches loved ones as they move around her, the judge rules in favor of the husband. The father, a devout Catholic, may have raised his daughter to believe in the sanctity of human life, but once the decision was made to give her hand in marriage, he is, as they say, out of the picture.

Legal options exhausted, she receives the Eucharist for the last time: a drop of wine through the feeding tube, just before its permanent removal. Now, six feet under, she can finally enjoy the mythic status of similar monsters immortalized in an endless series of popular films: Night of the Living Dead, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, Revenge of the Zombie, Terror from the Grave. The question is, naturally, who will be the victim of her vengeance: her father, the man who tortured her, or her husband, the man who killed her? Who will feel her wrath: the cruel parent who insisted on prolonging her misery or the evil spouse who drove the wooden stake through her heart?

About The Author

Gilad Elbom was born in Israel in 1968. Upon graduating from several academic, military, and medical institutions, mostly in the Jerusalem area, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he attended the Graduate Writing Program at Otis College of Art and Design. His first novel, Scream Queens of the Dead Sea, was published by Thunder's Mouth Press in 2004. He is currently a doctoral student at the University of North Dakota.

Top of page