End of Innocence- November 1963

Parkland Hospital

The Presidential limousine races to Parkland Hospital at speeds in excess of 100 mph with Secret Service Agent Clint Hill spread eagle over the First Couple as Jackie continued to speak to Jack, "Jack, stay with me, I love you Jack!"

As the limousine screeched to a stop in front of the Emergency and Trauma section of the hospital, men clad in white descended onto the vehicle in an attempt to assist the unbelievable carnage that lay before them. Governor Connally, lying in the front jump-seat in-front of the President, had to be assisted out of the vehicle before Secret Service Agents and hospital personnel could attempt to assist the President. 

Cradling her husband's head in her arms, Jackie refused to let go as tears streamed down her cheeks.  "Mrs. Kennedy, please, we need to get the president out of here," Mr. Hill begged. "Please Mrs. Kennedy, let them take him," he continued in desperation. Unwilling to waver to his pleas, Mr. Hill realized that Mrs. Kennedy has shielding her husband's head with her body as people gathered around the vehicle in hopes of helping the president. Quickly removing his jacket, Mr. Hill placed it over the president's head, initiating a response from Mrs. Kennedy in loosening her grip on him and finally releasing him to the care of the Secret Service and hospital staff standing by to take him into the emergency room.

Leaping out of the limousine to follow the gurney into the hospital, Jackie held tight to the jacket that covered her husband's wounded head as they raced into Trauma Room 1. Suddenly confronted with a slew of doctors and nurses, Jackie was thrust out of the room as emergency personnel began the daunting task of saving the presidents life. 

There she stood, among the people, in the empty corridor, she was completely alone! Covered in her husband's blood, she stood against a wall, in shock, as nurses and doctors rushed in and out of the room where her husband lay, fighting for his life. A Dallas policeman came and brought her a chair to sit in. Lady Bird Johnson came and exclaimed, "Oh my dear Jackie, God help us all," as she embraced the blood soaked First Lady. Dave Powers came and burst into tears as he set his sights upon Jackie, her legs and hands covered in his friend's blood. There she sat, all alone, in a corridor filled with a hundred people. 

Suddenly, the promise she made some 7 years prior, when he had his back operation in Columbia, came rushing back to her as she saw people rush in and out of the trauma room with saline solution and other things, that never again would she be kept from him when he needed her and she leaped from her seat and rushed into the room where he lay surrounded by doctors and nurses and tubes and monitors all around him. As she began to enter the room, a large female nurse grabbed hold of her and exclaimed, "Mrs. Kennedy, you can't go in there," as she began to push her back through the doorway. Fighting her way back in, Mrs. Kennedy demanded, "He's my husband, his blood is all over me, you're not going to keep me away from him, get out of my way, I'm going to be with my husband when he needs me!"  

Observing the exchange, Dr. Burkley, the president's physician, intervened, trying to keep Mrs. Kennedy calm, announcing to the over baring nurse, "It's her prerogative," as he forced Jackie through the door, "It's her prerogative, let her through!"

Kneeling beside the bed, on the floor covered with Jack's blood, Jackie clasped her hands, closed her eyes, bowed her head and began to pray "Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to take mercy up on Jack, I beg you, please don't take him from me, from our children, from his family, from all the people that love him and need him. He's suffered so much through his life and has fought so hard to be the man he is today, it would be unjust for a bullet to end his life, for you to take him from us when he still has so much to do and accomplish. Father, I lay my heart and my soul upon your feet in hopes that you spare him. I promise to love him and take care of him and make him happy each and every day of our lives. This I pray in your Holy name, Amen." Crossing herself, she began to rise to her feet, when a nurse yelled, "Dr. Perry, we have a heart beat!"