Grave Deceptions
Julianna stepped into the shower as the hot water pounded on her aching back. Julianna had been working at the place every day to make sure the crops were planted by the first part of May. Jackson had commented on the fact that he felt she was working too much, but she said it did her good to stay busy. She was tired from the hours of backbreaking work and carrying around the extra thirty pounds. Day after day of hard work, but Jackson never offered to help her. He did his own thing during the day, and his interest in Julianna continually diminished. She felt as though she had gone through most of the pregnancy alone, and Jackson did not really care if she had a baby or not.
As she stepped out of the shower, she felt as though she was going to be sick. The nausea hit her so fast she barely made it to the toilet. As she hung her head over, heaving and gagging uncontrollably, she felt pressure on her lower abdomen. Suddenly a rush of warm fluid expelled from her body onto the floor. She sat down on the toilet and put her head between her knees to try to keep from passing out from the pain. She yelled for Jackson to help her. Julianna made her way to the bathroom door and yelled again. She took her towel and dried herself as she tried to reach her dresser. She grabbed the bag she had packed for the hospital. She tried to dress as the pain subsided. As she reached in the back of her closet, she noticed the lockbox had been moved. As she lifted the top, she could feel it was still locked, but she knew she had not moved it in several months. Before she could think about it anymore, the pain hit her again. She pulled herself to her feet and made it to the bedroom door.
“ Jackson, help me!” she screamed, and she buckled to the floor in pain.
Jackson was at her side within seconds. Jackson yelled for Maria to grab Julianna’s bag as he carried Julianna down the stairs to the truck. It was almost an hour’s drive to the hospital from the house. He instructed Maria to call Dr. Phillips and have him meet them at the hospital.
As the truck screeched to a halt at the back of the hospital, Dr. Phillips was standing at the entrance with a wheelchair. Julianna tried to stand as she made her way to the chair, but her knees buckled, and Jackson caught her. A few feet from the door, Julianna made them stop as the nausea started again, and she vomited in the shrubs along the wheelchair ramp. The contractions were coming so fast she could not get relief from the pain. Dr. Phillips wheeled Julianna into a private room where a nurse was waiting. Julianna was hooked to monitors and medications within seconds. They placed Julianna’s feet in the stirrups as she could feel the baby between her legs. Julianna pushed for what seemed like hours, but it was only a few minutes until she heard, “It’s a boy.”
“I don’t hear him crying,” Julianna said as the room started to spin around her. She saw Jackson and Dr. Phillips running out of the room as everything went black.
Julianna opened her eyes and saw the light shining through the blinds. She squinted as the brightness was unbearable. Her body ached as she tried to adjust herself and sit up in the bed. She looked over to see her mother sleeping in the chair beside the bed. Julianna could not imagine what time it was and why no one had awakened her to feed the baby. She buzzed for the nurse as her heart raced with anticipation to see her son. As the door opened, she saw Dr. Phillips and Jackson entering the room. Something was wrong. She could see it. She knew the baby was a few weeks early, but that should not have been a problem.
“What is it? Where is my baby?” she begged as she looked at both of them.
“Julianna”—Dr. Phillips sat on the side of the bed and took her hand—“I don’t know how . . .” Dr. Phillips took a deep breath as he looked at Jackson. “Julianna, the baby did not make it.”
“What? What happened?” Julianna was shaking all over, and her head was pounding.
“The baby was stillborn, Julianna. It was nothing you did.”
“No! That is impossible. I felt him move yesterday,” Julianna cried. “This can’t be happening. My baby, oh god, no, not our baby,” she screamed at both of them as they sat beside her. Julianna’s mother ran to her side, holding her as she cried. “Get out of here, both of you!” Julianna screamed.
“Julianna, I am so sorry. I will send the nurse in with something to calm you down.”
“I don’t want to fucking calm down. I want my baby,” she sobbed in her mother’s arms. “Oh god, Mama, what have I done? What have I done?” “Julianna, look at me, baby.” Her mother grabbed Julianna’s face in her hands. “It is nothing you did, Julianna. Sometimes these things just happen. There is no reason.”
“But I know I felt the baby move. He moved yesterday. Did you see him?
Did they let you see him?”
“No, Julianna. They took the baby downstairs. You know . . . I can’t see him, Julianna. I can’t.”
“I have to see him, Mama. I have to see for myself.” The door opened, and the nurse came in with a sedative. “I don’t want that. I want to see my baby.”
“Please, Julianna, rest now. We will see about that when you wake up.” Mary rubbed Julianna’s forehead as the nurse turned and left the room. The tears streamed down Julianna’s face as she tried to fight the sleep. She turned to her mother as her eyes closed and whispered, “Blake.”
Enchanted Spirit
Catherine reached for the phone as she stirred the spaghetti sauce. She was planning a very special dinner tonight for their anniversary. They had been married only six months, but it was by far the most wonderful six months of her life. The voice on the phone was not familiar to her.
“May I speak to Catherine Vance, please?”
“This is Catherine.”
“Catherine, this is Abby Cole. I’m a nurse at University Medical Center.”
Catherine was not sure what else the nurse said. All she knew was that she was now in her car, driving to the hospital at an incredibly high rate of speed. Her heart was racing, and her face was hot. The tears were stinging her cheeks as she tried to keep them wiped away so she could see the road. She slid to a halt at the ER entrance and ran inside to the nurses’ station.
“I’m Catherine Vance. A nurse called and said my husband was brought here.”
“Catherine?” a familiar voice said from behind her. The relief was so great she fell to her knees beside him.
“Oh my god, honey, what happened?”
“I had a little fender bender on the interstate, but I am fi ne. No need to panic.”
“The nurse called and said I needed to get to the hospital. You know, I don’t even know what she said after she told me who she was and where she was calling from. I just jumped in the car and drove. I have no idea what she told me.”
“I knew that would scare you. I tried to get them to let me call, but they wanted to evaluate me,” he said, making quotation marks in the air with his fingers. “They said it was a miracle I wasn’t hurt any worse than a few bumps and scrapes.”
“Mrs. Vance, your husband is a hardheaded man. I tried to tell him he needs a few more tests, but he won’t hear of it. He said he has to go home tonight.” The nurse was pushing him toward the exit as she explained. “Yes, it’s our anniversary. But, honey, if she thinks you should stay, we can celebrate tomorrow.”
“No!” he snapped as he stood from the wheelchair.
“Mr. Vance, you need to sit down until I get you out the door.”
“I’m fine,” he said, more calmly now, as he took Catherine’s hand and turned toward the door. His knees buckled under him, and he grabbed the arm of the wheelchair. He sat quickly, knowing he was going down. The blood erupted from him like a burst pipe, and it covered the floor.
The vomiting continued as nurses yelled for help and rushed him toward a trauma room. Catherine stood, covered in the blood of her husband, as she tried to take it all in. It happened so fast she had not had time to react.
Slowly she walked to the door of the trauma room as she watched them work on him. She knew without anyone telling her that this was it. She had seen enough on television to know that this was as bad as it could get, and he was not responding to anything they were doing. Finally, all the activity stopped, and the team of nurses and doctors looked at one another with faces of defeat and the question of who was going to go and tell the wife.
Catherine’s world went dark at that moment.