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From the New York Times and WBUR Boston, this is Modern Love.

Stories of Love, Lost, and Redemption.

I'm your host, Megna Chakrabardi.

The Reckoning Every relationship eventually has one of those pivotal moments,

an experience that either binds two people together or pulls them apart.

This week, Harry Lennox of NBC's The Blacklist takes us into one of these moments.

Here he is reading Tim McEwan's essay, In a Small Bag She Packed All Our Hopes.

Three and a half years ago, while my fiance Sarah and I were having sex, I had a heart attack.

It took a little less than seven minutes from the time Sarah dial 911 until the EMTs were in our apartment.

During the short wait, I sat propped up on the bed while Sarah relayed questions from the emergency dispatcher.

What were my symptoms? Was I properly elevated? Had I chewed the aspirin?

Throughout the conversation, our cat, Finneon, was lying on a pillow next to me. His eyes half closed, purring.

Sarah was remarkably composed throughout. It surprised me a little, her Buddha-like calm,

because she hates not knowing how things turn out. She won't even watch an episode of Deadwood without first reading the summary,

even though we've seen the whole series at least three times.

When the EMTs arrived, they confirmed I had suffered a myocardial infarction.

After asking me about the circumstances surrounding the incident, like whether or not I had taken any erection enhancement medication,

just so you know I had not. Then they loaded me onto a gurney.

The rest of my memory of that night is lost in amorphine haze.

I'm sure it was a far more difficult night for Sarah than for me.

I was either unconscious or heavily sedated while Sarah had nothing to do but wait and worry.

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