Thoughts and Answers

As I was helping my husband complete a dosage calculations exam (He was allowed to use any resources at his disposal including his not entirely unintelligent wife; we weren't cheating.), we actually had the following conversation concerning a problem.

Scene: We sit, both furiously setting lead to paper to discover how many ml/hr the nurse should infuse.

Me: 18.

Justin: What?

Me: It's 18.

Justin: What's 18?

Me: The number that goes in the answer box. It's 18.

Justin: (with a quizzical expression) Why?

Me: Because we only have 76 minutes and 35 seconds to complete the test.

Justin: No, I mean I want to know how you got 18 as the answer.

Me: (with a quizzical expression) Why?

Justin: I just want to know why you put the 'X' on top of the 75mg, not the other way around.

Me: (mournfully) I don't know! I just lined up the numbers and at the end an 18 popped out!

Justin: (about to argue, but seeing the anguish on my face, holds his tongue)

Me: Didn't you say nurses don't actually do these calculations on the floor anymore? Don't the pharmacists do that?

Justin: Yes. It just frustrates me.

Me: But we have the answer.

Justin: But I want to know why.

Me: (Knowing this means he is a better person than I am, I drop my head and desperately try to figure out how I got 18 [which was in fact the right answer], while miserably watching seconds tick away on the test timer.)

All I have ever wanted is the right answer in the box. He wants to know why. I admire that. I am almost sure it means he is much more intelligent than me... Or at least much braver. I want to be smart. He wants to think. 

Reason #732 why I love him.