Always Have, Always Will

Chapter 12: But I don't know

It all felt like a bad dream. One minute, everything is perfect in the world, and the next, it's completely obliterated.

Evie and Doug had decided to take their honeymoon in September, just a few short months before the baby was to arrive. They spent time on the beach, ate delicious food, saw the sights of the land, but most importantly, they were together, just the two of them. Things were going so well, until the fateful night of the car accident.

Doug was driving them back to their hotel, right hand intertwined with Evie's as she sat and stared out the window, singing softly to the music that was playing on the radio. Doug looked over at the love of his wife, joy on her face and the love in her heart, taking in the view. They were maybe five minutes away from their destination when a truck swerved into their lane, and hit their car head on. All the world went silent, as if it too were unable to fathom what had just happened.

Both parties were rushed to the emergency room, the driver of the other car was severely intoxicated, slurring words and not being able to walk straight. Doug woke up and looked around the foreign room he was placed in. White walls, blue itchy blanket on top of him, IV in his arm, and a small bandage around his head. The heart monitor he was hooked up to started beeping as he realized where he was, and that he couldn't see Evie.

"Evie, Evie where are you?" He tried to get up out of bed as he ripped off all of the cords that were holding him back. The nurse runs in and tries to calm him down, but to no avail.

His head was pounding, eye sight getting blurry as he moved around. Doug ran from each and every room in the emergency room to find his wife, but she was no where to be seen. The nurses had finally caught up to him, and said they needed to check and make sure that he was okay, and that once they  were finished, they would answer any questions he had to the best of their ability. Doug agreed and walked slowly back to his white room, tears stinging his eyes. They checked all of his vitals, drew some blood, and gave him a little pain medication to help with his throbbing headache.

"Okay, I'm fine as you can see. Now can someone please tell me where the hell my wife is," he spat out spitefully.

They wheeled Doug up two floors to the intensive care unit, as he looked around very confused. He glanced through a small window to the right of him, and low and behold, there lay the love of his life, with all the cords he had on previously, and so many more. She had a large tube down her throat to help her breath, and her left arm was in a sling.

Doug could feel his heart breaking as she lay there. He got up out of the wheelchair and walked into Evie's ICU room. It was quiet, the only thing you could hear were the soft beeps from the machines that appeared to be keeping his wife alive. There was a small knock at the door, as Doug's attention quickly shifted. The doctor came in with tears in his eyes, and Doug was scared to ask why.

"You must be her husband, Doug. She kept asking for you when they brought her to me," the doctor smiled slightly.

Doug nods his head quickly as he sits in the chair positioned dirrectly on the side of Evie's bed.

"I have some news for you, if you'd like to hear it," he paused and waited for any hesitation, but when he found none, he continued. "Your wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl."

Doug's head snapped so quickly up to the doctor he was hit by a dizzy spell. "Pardon me?" He asked.

"When your wife came in, she was in real bad shape. She had internal bleeding, a broken shoulder, and we couldn't operate safely without getting that baby out. Doug, we could have lost both of them, but your wife made the decision to save that baby, that tiny fragile, premature baby, even if that meant it was her life in jeopardy after the fact."

Doug's head was spinning now, and it wasn't for the fact that he had a slight concussion. "Doctor, I can't lose her."

"She is getting stronger everyday, just be patient. For now, I think there is someone who wants to meet you down in the NICU," the doctor smiled as he walked out.

"Evie, it's time to wake up. I need you here, I need you to come and meet our daughter, I need your help raising her, please. I love you," he said between sobs.

This horrible nightmare needed to end.