Filling The Void

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Danny, what are you doing?" Eileen questioned with amused eyes as she watched Danny do a cartwheel on the roof of their apartment. "And be careful, would you?"

Danny looked at his wife with a grin on his face, and Eileen, despite trying, was not able to keep up the stern look she was trying to convey. But how could she, when her husband looked so gleeful?

"I'm just so happy, Eileen," he said, not knowing how to convey his feelings. "I can't tell you how blessed I feel right now.” Walking towards Eileen, he extended his hand for her to grab, which she did. After lifting her from the ground, he placed his forehead against hers. Focusing on playing with his wife's hands, Danny mumbled, “we're gonna have a baby.” Danny still had a tough time believing that he—he—was going to be a father. The new job, his new apartment, his wife being pregnant, it all seemed so surreal to him. He was afraid that all the events taking place in his life were just part of a dream; if that was the case, then he hoped to never wake up. “I'm going to be a father.” Placing a hand on Eileen's stomach, Danny felt his eyes dampen.

“Danny are...are you crying?” Placing her hands on her husband's face, Eileen put some distance between her and Danny. As she had suspected, his eyes were moist and a frown graced his face. “Didn't you just claim to be happy about... I don't know, five seconds ago?” She felt herself relax—she hadn't even realized that she was tense—when she saw Danny's lips slightly curl upward.

“Just because I'm crying, it doesn't automatically mean I'm sad, you know,” he replied. “These,” he pointed towards his face, “are tears of happiness.” He understood that his answer wasn't enough for Eileen, if her lifted eyebrow was any indication. Sighing, he led her to sit on the ground and leaned against the walls that encased the staircase of the building. Danny was confused on how to word his emotions and not seem like an overly-sentimental person, but he also wanted his wife to know what he was thinking.

“It just seems that recent events in my life have happened on such suitable timings,” he started. “It feels as if it all was written out, you know? For example, on the day I graduated, I already knew that I was going to get this job and this apartment. But then you come and surprise me with the fact that you have a baby inside of you, when I finally can actually afford such expenses. It feels like God had all of this planned. And I can't thank the Lord enough for this.” Standing up, he walked towards the boundary wall of the rooftop and leaned his arms against it. Although his eyes were looking forward, his thoughts were in some other dimension.

“It just baffles me, you know? I've never been too religious—I say I'm God-fearing but I've never really practiced religion much, as in going to the church and stuff like that—yet still He chose to help me out and make things easy for me. I mean, why me out of all people? What have I ever done to deserve such a thing?” Sighing, he lifted his body from the boundary wall and turned around to go back to his wife. But then his foot slipped from the water that he had not noticed was there and he tripped backwards. And the moment of happiness that the two had been sharing a few seconds had completely turned tables. Eileen watched with horror as his body lost balance and he fell from the roof.

“Danny!”

Eileen's eyes opened in panic, her heartbeat accelerated to a rate that could not possibly be considered normal. Oh, thank God, she thought, it was just a dream. Taking deep breaths, she observed her surroundings. She was lying on a bed and staring at a ceiling, she knew that for sure, but that was all she could comprehend. Blinking her eyes, she tried to clear her vision before attempting to sit up. From all the elements that surrounded her—like the ECG monitor and the IV drip attached to her hand—she concluded she was in a hospital.