This is Chapter 5 of Jake & Jessica. It is short but holds a lot of content. Thanks to Todger65 who edited my story.
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Chapter 5: Pain & Sadness.
It was a beautiful evening in Georgia as Anne and Jim were heading to a resort in northwest Georgia. They were going to spend the weekend there and relax. Anne was one month from her due date of September 3rd. The last few months had gone by quickly as she sat and rested once school was out. They had just left an hour ago and it being a Friday, traffic was heavy. They didn't start making up any time until they hit Highway 140. They figured this would be their last break for at least few years seeing as they were going to be busy raising another child. Anne looked over to Jim.
"So, are we going to discuss names?" Anne asked.
"Sure, you want to name her after your mother?" Jim asked.
"No, I was thinking about something a little different. How about we name her Jill?"
"You think Jill would be ok with that?"
"Yeah, I think she would love it. Jill has been a big part of our lives. I was thinking Jill Susanna Edwards. That way all our children would have JSE as their initials." Anne said smiling.
"You're something Anne, I love you very..." Jim was unable to finish as a tractor trailer ran into the Dodge Ram 1500.
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Mike slowly walked to the door with two uniformed officers behind him. One of them was from the Atlanta Police Department and the other was from the Georgia State Patrol. He moved his shaking hand and rang the door bell to the Edwards home. A few seconds later Jake opened the door.
"Hey Mike!" Seeing the officers behind Mike, he asked. "What's wrong!?"
"Jake, can we come in?" The officers and Mike walked into the living room.
"Yeah. Jessica!! Come to the living room, Mike is here." As the officers stood, Mike sat down while waiting for Jessica. She came in and stood next to Jake.
"What? What is it?" Jessica asked just as tears started flowing from Mike's ever reddening eyes.
The Georgia State Patrol Trooper was the one to have to tell them. "Mr. and Ms. Edwards, your parents were involved in a crash on Highway 140 about 2 hours ago. I regret to inform you that your father died as a result of the crash. I'm sorry."
Jake felt as though he were hit in the stomach. He didn't want to believe what he just heard. His father was killed in a crash. He looked to Jessica and could see her pain. He grabbed her into a hug as she screamed out in agony and fell to the ground.
"NOOOOOOO!!" She screamed. It was all Jake could do was to hold her. He knew he had to be strong for her. She was crying and sobbing in his arms. He thought about his mother.
"What about our mother?"
"Sir, your mother was airlifted to North Fulton Hospital with serve trauma. I know she was being rushed into surgery. That is all I know." Jake was in tears as he held Jessica listening to the Trooper tell them about their mother.
"I'm also here to give you an escort to the hospital." The trooper added. Jake looked up and nodded his head to the Trooper.
"Jessica, I know it hurts but we need to go to the hospital." Jake said to her.
She got to her feet as Jake helped pull her up. She was going to the door as Jake held her but turned and ran to the kitchen. She made it to the trash can and puked. Jake followed her and put his hand on her back.
"I'm alright Jake." She said while silently crying.
They went out to the APD Tahoe and got in. Mike sat in the front and was visibly distraught over the death of his best friend. The GSP patrol car led the way with lights and sirens as they made their way to the North Fulton Hospital. Jake and Jessica were both sad and crying knowing their father who loved and cared for them was dead. Their mother was in the hospital and her condition unknown to them.
They made it to the hospital in short time. They got out and went into the ER and asked the desk person about their mother.
"We're Anne Edward's children. Is she in surgery?" Jake asked.
The nurse looked at the computer screen. "She is currently in surgery. You can wait in the waiting room on the 3rd floor." She told them and Mike led them to the elevators.
"I called Jill and told her. She is picking up Amy and they will be coming here." Mike told them as they were in the elevator. They made it to the 3rd floor and told the person at the desk that they were Anne's family and were waiting.
They waited and waited with 45 minutes going by when Jill and Amy exited the elevator. Jill went to hug Mike who had his hands on his head looking down at the floor. Amy came to Jake and Jessica who were hugging one another.
"I'm so sorry you guys." She said to them as she was crying.
They waited another 30 minutes when the elevator chimed and revealed Jack to them. He was accompanied by another APD officer. Jack was visibly crying and very sad. He had been up in the helicopter and didn't learn of the crash until he was back at the Air Operations Center once he landed. Major Samson told him what happened. He fell apart right there in the briefing room. He cried not knowing the fate of his sister. The officer with him drove him to the hospital.
They waited another hour before the doors to the OR ward opened and out walked two doctors and a nurse.
"Family for Anne Edwards?" At hearing that, everyone stood and walked to the doctors with Jake and Jessica leading the way.
"I'm Jake and this is my sister Jessica. We are her children. This is my Uncle Jack." Jake stated to the doctors and nurse.
"I'm Doctor Norton and this is Doctor Johnson and Nurse Adams. Your mother was airlifted here and came in with severe trauma from a car collision. She had lacerations to her head. The paramedics told us she never regained consciousness. She showed signs of major blood loss. We had to perform emergency surgery which revealed her spleen had ruptured. She had a collapsed lung from a piece of metal that had penetrated her left lung. Her left leg was broken. Upon beginning surgery, we had to perform an emergency C-Section to save the baby who was also showing sign of distress due to Anne's blood loss. We did that and stopped the bleeding and removed the piece of metal.
She lost a lot of blood and her heart stopped. We were able to restart it. It was really close for awhile there. She is in critical condition and the next 24 hours will be crucial. It is going to be a long night for her. We are also going to keep her in a medically induced coma for the next 48 hours."
"Thank you doctors. What about the baby?" Jessica asked.
The nurse stepped forward and said. "The baby is in the NICU. The placenta protected the baby from the crash. She is one month early but should be ok. I can walk you up to see her nurse." Jessica nodded her head that she would like that.
Jack asked "Can we see Anne?"
Doctor Norton responded. "I understand you would want to see her but due to her current state and the possibility for infection we have to keep her away from family. I'm sorry sir." Jack nodded and he understood.
Jessica along with Jill and Amy went with the nurse to the 5th floor to check on the baby. Nurse Holland talked to them regarding little Ms. Edwards.
"She is doing well other than being fussy right now. We are going to keep her in the NICU until tomorrow just to keep an eye on her vitals. She will have to stay at the nursery down the hall for a week." Jessica just looked at her baby sister. She was perhaps the only good to come out of this day. Jill came up behind Jessica and hugged her.
"They will be ok Jessica. You just have to believe Jess."
While they were upstairs, the Police chief arrived to hear the news and to give his condolences.
"Jake, I'm sorry about your father and we are all praying for your mother and hoping that she will pull through. If there is anything you or your sister need, just ask. Jack the same goes for you and don't worry about work. Your shifts are covered and you too Mike. The chief left and went upstairs to relay the same message to Jessica and Mike went with him.
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"I'm sorry about your father Jake. He was a good man and caring person. I will truly miss him. All we can do is pray and hope that Anne makes it through this." Jack said while hugging Jake.
He just sat down in the chair and cried. He let his emotions run free as he didn't have to hold it together for Jessica since she was upstairs. Ten minutes went by before he heard the elevator open and Jessica and the rest of them were coming back. Jack saw them and told Jake.
"Jake, you need to be strong now. Jessica is going to need you, your mom is going to need you and your family needs you." As they approached Jake wiped away his tears.
"How is the little one?" Jack asked.
"She is doing ok; they are going to be keeping her for a week." Jessica responded and moved next to Jake and hugged him. She needed him as much as Jake needed her.