Word Count: 2185
Summary: A blink, and everything changed.
Disclaimer: I don't own Superstore or the characters.

She only blinked.

In one moment she was talking to him about paper towels, and in the next, he was falling to the ground whilst grabbing his chest. The redness of his shirt was alarming, especially when she realized that his shirt was blue. She fell to his side and tried her best to stop the bleeding, no matter how many times he told her to hide. It didn't matter to her that there were people screaming, or the way the gunshot made everyone scream even louder. Maybe she would do the same if he wasn't one of the wounded.

She felt his hand grabbing her wrist and Amy could only look at him. His eyes were no longer with that sparkle, she could only notice he was scared, the way Parker would look at her when he had a nightmare. They were so similar, even though they weren't related whatsoever. She knew he was trying to breathe as best as he could, but his breath was shallow, his chest wasn't rising as it should. He was trying to do his best so that he could go back to their home, so that his last breath wasn't at that store. So that she wouldn't think she didn't do her best.

"It's okay." He looked peaceful. Too peaceful. Like he was in bed, and it was a Sunday and none of them had to go to work. They were just waking up and she would roll over to his side and he was still asleep. That peaceful. But it wasn't Sunday, they weren't in bed and he wasn't asleep. And he was still bleeding, no matter how much pressure Amy applied to the wound.

"Shut up. This is not the time for you to tell me what to do!" She keeps hearing more screams, gunshots, and the distinct sound of people crashing to the floor. She closes her eyes for a moment, trying to gather enough air to make Jonah feel safe. As best as she could.

"Amy…" He stops to take a breath before continuing "it's okay." His hand goes to her face, and he passes his thumb through her cheek, taking a few tears away. "I love you."

She cries harder now, knowing very well that there's almost no chance he'll make it out of there alive.

"I love you too." She places her hand against the one that is on her face, and she smiles.

Amy notices that the gunshots have stopped, and that there were cops at the entrance. People started gathering near people that were hurt, and Amy could only make sure that there was someone to take Jonah to the hospital, because that way maybe she wouldn't have to tell her kids that Jonah would never come home again. She didn't think Parker would understand. He was still too young.

Jonah looked comfortable, his head on her lap, his hand being held by hers. If it wasn't for the enormous amount of blood on his chest, it might just look like they were chilling out.

When she saw the paramedics arrived with a gurney and huge bags, she sighed of relief. Jonah must have realize that, because he smiled and tried to get up which only caused him to groan when Amy told him to lie back down – also, it hurt a lot to get up because of the huge hole he had in his chest.

The paramedics told her to leave his side so they could work on him, and she reluctantly did what they asked. She looked from afar as they did almost the exact thing as she had, except they weren't shaking because there wasn't a gunman near them, or the person they were with wasn't their husband, a man she loved so much, a man that could calm her better than most people she knew. Better than her previous husband.

Eventually they put him on the gurney and rushed him to the ambulance, not leaving her anytime to ask if she could go with him or to what hospital they were taking him to.

Amy quickly jumped to her car, not really caring about the cops that were taking everyone's statements or Glenn that was asking her what was going on inside – he had been with Dina in a conference for the last couple of days.

She drove her car as fast as she could to the nearest hospital. Being married to Jonah made her no facts that she otherwise would be oblivious to. Also, she watched too many TV shows, which made her know some things.

Once she arrived there and finally got a parking spot, she ran as fast as she could to the reception and told the nurse who she was and who she was there to see. The nurse explained he was still in surgery and would take a few more hours for her to be able to know how he was.

Sighing, she dragged herself to the waiting area, and called Adam to tell him what happened and ask if he could stay with Parker for the next few nights so she could stay in the hospital with Jonah. He immediately said he was fine with staying with his son, and Amy proceeded to call Glenn and tell him that Jonah was hurt and in surgery. As soon as she hanged up, her daughter was calling to ask if she was okay. It never went through Emma's mind that her stepfather could have gotten hurt as well.

"He was going to be my next call." She explains, as tears stream down her face, easily noticed by Amy that could hear her daughter's sniffles. "I'll be right there."

After Amy told her what hospital they were in, the phone call was disconnected. It was no more than twenty minutes that Emma ran to her mother's arms, and both women were now crying in each other's arms, reliving over and over the last time they had been together with the man that was now between life and death.

"Where's Parker?" Emma asked, as she sat down in a chair near her mom.

"You dad said Park will be with him for as long as I need him to. And… before you ask, no, he doesn't know yet. At least not from me."

They stayed there for a long time, maybe even a couple of hours, until a nurse came to their side. Emma had just gotten back from getting coffee, and sat down as soon as she saw the nurse arriving.

"Any news?" The youngest women asked.

"Are you both relatives to Jonah Simms?"

"Yes. Is he okay? Can we see him?"

The nurse takes a moment, before looking to the two woman in front of her.

"Unfortunately, the doctors weren't able to stop the bleeding. I'm sorry to inform you…" Amy stopped listening then and started to shake her head.

"No, no, you're lying. Jonah is fine! He was alive when I left him! Let me see him!" Amy starts yelling to the nurse, and her daughter gets up and hugs her mom while both cry.

"It's okay mom. We'll be okay."

Amy stayed with her parents for a few days, until the funeral day arrived. She couldn't get herself to walk inside the house they both had lived together for so many years. There were too many memories there, from her son's first steps to that time Jonah fell down a ladder when he was trying to change a lightbulb. She was not in a mood to laugh.

In all those days, she looked like a zombie, walking around the house with her feet dragging across the floor. Emma was there with her, and Parker was still with Adam without seeing his mother because she simply couldn't bear to see someone so similar to the one she had just lost.

When the funeral day arrived, everyone she worked with showed up at the funeral. Cloud 9 workers, his parents and siblings, and her family. Even Adam showed up bringing their son with him.

Amy was in the front row, sitting in the middle of her children, and not even one tear fell from her eyes. Both children were doing the same as their mother, all those days enough to be able to keep the tears at bay for a couple of hours.

Amy could only remember the way her husband looked as he fell to the ground, how scared he was, scared for him, for her, for his parents, for her kids. For their kids, Emma and Parker were almost as much her kids as they were his.

She also remembered the way he sang the song on the radio that same morning when they were arriving at work, how he complained with a smile on his face when she turned the car off and the song ended abruptly. How happy of a smile he had on his face when she rolled her eyes and turned the car on. How everyone stared at them as they both sang that stupid song and laughed as a couple of crazy people. How could they know that a day that began so happy would end that way?

And when his coffin entered the ground, she said her last goodbyes, and with that, her last shreds of happiness went six feet under.

Everyone said they were sorry as she approached them, and she saw her family looking at her with sad eyes. She could see Garrett with a sad face, no longer able to make fun of his annoying friend like he had done so many times before. She saw Mateo with his arm in a sling thinking about Jonah and how lucky he was that he was alive. She saw Dina, Cheyenne, Glenn, Dina, Sandra. She saw them all there, so many people that had met her husband and would forever miss him, but not as much as she would.

Amy felt someone touch her arm, and once she looked to the person, she noticed it was her son. Dropping to the floor so she could be his height, she asked what he needed.

"Dad told me about what happened. Does it mean I'll never see daddy again?" Amy could only smile at her son's innocence and to the way he had found to call both Adam and Jonah his dads.

"Yes, sweetie. It means you won't see him again." She tries to dry her tears before continuing. "But he will always be by your side, and you won't ever have to forget him. He'll always be with you. Okay?" After he nods, she smiles. "He loved you very much, Park. Don't ever forget that."

Parker then hugs his mom, making her cry even harder.

"I miss him, mommy."

"I know sweetie. I miss him too."

It still took her a few weeks to be able to go back to her own house. Not only it took her a few weeks, it also took her daughter tell her she should try to at least go there and pick a few clothes. Baby steps, she had said. So, there she was.

She entered the house and Emma closed the door, making them both the only two people in that area. The widow froze in her place, not being able to move. But only a few moments later, she was laughing, making her daughter scared.

"Mom? What is it? Is everything okay?" Emma asked, placing a hand on her mom's shoulder.

"No." Amy responded, but continued to laugh. After a moment to take a breath, she continued. "I remembered that moment when I took his chair when he got up and then he tried to sit down but he fell." She started to laugh again, and even Emma laughs, but not as much as her mom. "I miss him." She bows her head, looking to the ground.

"I know you do. But you don't have to stay here if you don't want to. Or ever come back. You can sell the house or…"

"Sell the house?" Amy interrupted. "Why would I sell this house? No, I'm not selling. I just need a few more days or weeks, to feel better. I need to cling to this house for as long as I can. I need it. It's one connection that I still have of him. I can't let go on it."

"Okay. You don't have to do something you don't want to."

"Last time I let go of something of his, I let go of his hand." Amy took a deep breath, and Emma could see the tears appearing in her mom's eyes once again. "And then I lost it forever."

Emma could only stare at her mom, as she broke down in front of her. She saw as she fell to the ground and grabbed her own face, trying to keep herself together and losing that fight. The one person that made her feel okay and safe was no longer there.

And all it took for everything to fall apart,

was a blink.

The End

Ouch! It was a little hard to write this story, especially while I imagined it. Worse is when I thought of scenes that if I wrote I would not hold myself together. I felt like I could have written more about everyone else, but it would draw the focus away from Amy and her pain, so I decided not to. Also, hope it doesn't happen on the show or anything, cause Amy has gone through enough and I don't want to see Jonah die.

Hope everyone likes it!