I Don't Want Them Back

Cancer was killing me, and my husband worked through every night building a human cryonics program to save my life.

Before they put me under, he held the baby I had nearly died giving birth to, and said through tears:

"Lina Virga, our son and I will wait together for the day you can wake up.

Seven years from now, a drug that can treat my illness exist, and the hospital brings me back.

When the nurse asked me to settle the bill, I stared at her blankly and asked her to call my husband for me.

"Contact Vito Ranieri of the Lucchese family. Tell him his wife is awake."

But the nurse laughed under her breath.

"Please, don't joke. Mr. Ranieri and Miss Bellini have a son who's seven years old. Everyone in Sicily knows they’re a devoted couple.

"I'll have the neurologist come by and evaluate you shortly."

I assumed she was teasing me. I didn't give it another thought.

Then Nora Bellini arrived, hired as a photographer to document me, the medical miracle.

Vito's interview was playing on the television, and I said it with pride.

"That's my husband. The best researcher there is."

Nora's brows lifted in surprise, and the corners of her mouth dipped.

"As far as I'm aware, Vito has exactly one wife. Me.

"So how is it I've never heard about anyone else?"