Theresa went into the hospital on a Monday morning for a routine surgery. “Nothing to be worried about,” her doctor assured her. Since her boyfriend, Alan, had just finished medical school, he was able to put her mind even more at ease.

When she woke up groggy a few hours later, Dr. Morris and a nurse, both in scrubs and masks, were in the room.

“How am I doing, Doctor?” Theresa asked.

“Oh, fine. Just fine,” Dr. Morris said. “The surgery went great, but there’s something that we need to show you. Nurse?”

The doctor gestured to the male nurse, who nodded and clipped an X-ray onto the  viewing screen. He flipped a switch, the screen lit up  and the X-ray was visible.

“You see this thing?” Dr. Morris asked.

He pointed at something small on the screen.

Theresa squinted her eyes. She saw the X-ray vision of her bones and then unmistakably, the outline of a ring.

“Wha…?” she said confused. “That looks like…”

Just then, the nurse removed his mask and it wasn’t a nurse at all. It was Alan. 

“A ring?” Alan asked. 

There was a beat of silence as Theresa just stared at him in shock.

“Will you marry me?” Alan asked.

“Is this a joke?” Theresa asked back.

“No joke,” he replied.

Theresa looked at Dr. Morris and he nodded at her as if to confirm Alan’s statement.

“The ring is…inside me?” she asked in horror.

“No, no! We just put it in for a second to take the X-ray,” Alan assured her as he pulled out a small box from his pocket.

For some reason, hearing this made Theresa feel better.

Alan opened the box, revealing a gorgeous diamond. Theresa looked down at the ring that had been inside her body only a short time before. She was scared to touch it.

“Don’t worry,” Alan said. “It’s been sterilized.”

Reality was setting in for Theresa.

“Oh, Alan. Of course, I’ll marry you,” she replied.

Alan slid the ring on her finger. As he leaned over her hospital bed to kiss her, Dr. Morris snapped a photo to capture the moment.

“Wait a minute,” Theresa said, breaking away from the kiss.

“What is it, darling?” Alan asked.

“Did I even need surgery?”

There was a beat of silence as Alan and Dr. Morris exchanged an awkward glance. 

He turned to her and stammered, “Uh……”

* * * *

Should Theresa reconsider and decline this ridiculous marriage proposal?
What would you do?