In the Blink of an Eye

6 Years Later

The smell of pine filled John's senses as he shifted the gears of his blue BMW. He then reached his hand over and gently caressed Karen's pregnant belly.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm so glad your mom lives near us," Karen joked and flashed him a wide smile then gazed at the crescent moon.

"It's so nice just to get out of the house, you know? With the little one on the way, we're not going to get much sleep for a while. Josie is a handful already," Karen rambled. Her radiant smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown and furrowed brows. She placed her hands on her belly and cried out, "Ow!"

John looked over at Karen, grasped her hand and questioned, "Are you okay? Are you having contractions again?"

Karen looked over at him with penetrating eyes. "I've had quite a few since this morning. The baby is coming soon. The contractions are still too far apart, though," Karen replied with a smile. A bright light illuminated her face. That smile of hers froze in time, forever ingrained in John's memory before it all went black.

~~~

"Okay, tell me what happened," a woman with a nagging voice demanded.

"Car crash off route 67. Karen Wheeler. Lacerations to the chest and neck. BP was 60 over 40 but we pushed four of Epi and started CPR. She's 38 weeks pregnant," a burly man briefly explained.

The woman called out, "Page OB and Plastics and get me an Echo stat." The short woman looked Karen in the eyes and guaranteed, "We're going to take good care of you okay, Karen?"

Karen opened her mouth to speak, but a sharp pain in her back and belly prohibited her from doing so. "Everything will be okay," the doctor advised. Karen nodded. Karen's eyes focused on the doctor's name tag. Her blurry vision made out, 'Dr. Blackwood.'

The wheels of the gurney squeaked as Dr. Blackwood wheeled Karen through the hospital floor.

"Karen, honey? Where's Karen? Karen!" a familiar voice called out.

John.

"Over there," Karen overheard someone answer him. Footsteps pounded on the ground towards Karen.

"Karen, are you okay? Is she okay?" he asked Dr. Blackwood in a shaky voice. The doctor raced down the hall while John followed closely behind. She looked back at him.

"Sir, you're bleeding... Dr. Kelly, come and help Mr. Wheeler," Dr. Blackwood ordered.

"No, I'm fine," he insisted.

"Sir-" she began, but John interrupted her.

"I said no... Now, what's going on with my wife?" he persisted.

Dr. Blackwood slowed down and entered a vacant room. She took a deep breath and explained, "She has severe cuts on her chest and neck. Her blood pressure is low. Right now, we are going to do a full workup and check your baby's vitals."

"What's wrong with the baby?" John questioned.

"I don't know yet, so I need you to please step aside and let me examine her," Dr. Blackwood advised him.

"I'm not going anywhere," John answered.

Dr. Blackwood considered this for a moment and gave in, "You can stay but I need you to stay out of the way. Can you do that?"

John nodded.

"I was paged? What happened?" a tall, blonde, curly-haired woman with a white lab coat questioned when she entered the room.

"There was a car accident. Her BP was 60 over 40 in the rig. She has severe lacerations to the chest and neck. She's due in two weeks," Dr. Blackwood informed her. Beep, beep, beep. Dr. Blackwood's pager sounded; she excused herself and rushed out of the room.