Darlene and David had not even made it to the end of their wedding reception when the unthinkable had happened. Dan had not felt good all day, but had tried to ignore how sick he really was because his daughter Darlene was getting married. There was nothing that he wanted more than to walk her down the aisle.
Then there was the baby. His baby was having a baby and although he didn't let anyone else know he was excited. His Rosie knew how he felt. Sometimes when a man and woman have been married as long as they had been some things didn't have to be said. This had been the case with the baby.
Dan had been very upset to find out that Darlene was going to have a baby at such a young age. He knew what it was like to work days and days of overtime to keep the family with food and shelter. Many nights he had walked the floor worrying about his family. But they had survived and this was Darlene's big day.
He had two daughters and had honestly looked forward to walking them both down the aisle. But Becky had done the unthinkable and had run off with Mark and come home later married. This had been especially hard on Roseanne since she never got to see the wedding. Becky had eloped and there was no way that Darlene wasn't going to have a proper wedding.
Dan had taken money out of his 401k to pay for the wedding and reception. As he had gone through everything that he owned he had been embarrassed by the little that he owned. He had managed to save some bonds and had given them to Darlene for the baby. It had been a gift that he had wanted her to have. She had promised not to tell Roseanne about it.
But as the day had gone by Dan was starting to feel really bad. He was now having trouble breathing and he was sweating as though it was ninety something degrees out when in reality it was just barely seventy-five. Some of the guests had been chilly and told him that. The wedding and reception had been held outside and the rain had held back. But it was indeed chilly unless you were out in the sun.
Dan had been sitting in the back of where the wedding had been held. He was trying to watch the people and his daughter and David danced, but he was too sick. When Roseanne had come over to check on him he tried to keep a brave face. But without warning he went down. Dan was a big man and went he went down everyone at the wedding heard the chairs crash.
Roseanne let out a scream and people came running over. DJ had just taken a CPR course at school and felt for a pulse and tried to listen for any signs of life. As Roseanne sent one of the guests to the nearest phone to call an ambulance DJ began giving his father CPR. One of the men provided the much needed oxygen to Dan by giving him mouth to mouth.
The man that ran to the nearest phone had been told to stay by the phone and lead the ambulance to where Dan was. Roseanne stood there in total shock as DJ and the man counted and tried to bring Dan back to life.
The ambulance arrived on the scene within a few minutes and began to give him oxygen. They put paddles up to his chest and as the machine made a loud hum they tried to shock Dan's heart back to life. After two attempts they heard a heartbeat and put Dan into the ambulance.
Roseanne and her family watched in terror as Dan was put into the ambulance and rushed to the nearby hospital. There the doctors were ready for Dan and tried to give him some medicine to keep the heart going. The heart was not going fast enough to sustain life and Dan had now been over a half an hour with no measurable heartbeat.
Roseanne and her children and Jackie of course all went to the emergency room. There they helped Roseanne fill out papers and answer questions about Dan and any health issues that he had. But for the most part they just sat there waiting to hear any news. Poor Darlene was sitting there still in her wedding dress. She had never had the father daughter dance with her dad . It had been something that she had been looking forward to.
But the clock was ticking and Dan was not responding to any treatments that the doctor gave him. They called Roseanne into the room where Dan was and spoke to her. "I am sorry but your husband has a heartbeat that will not support his life. He has been over an hour now and we have been unsuccessful with bringing him back. At this moment the only thing we can do is either let him die or put him in life support..
This was something that no one wants to ever hear about their loved one. 'What kind of life was Dan going to have tied to a life support machine? He had always said don't do that to me Roseanne let me go.' Roseanne took Dan's hand and lovingly told him that she would make sure that everything was all right and that he could go in peace. With that she gave him a kiss on the cheek and the doctor ordered the nurse to stop the CPR.
As Roseanne walked into the little room where the family had now gathered she shook her head. The doctor explained that the damage to Dan's heart had been too severe and there was nothing that he could do. Dan died in peace just two hours after Darlene and David had gotten married.
There were no bells. There was no miracle. There was just the sad death of a loved one. But the Conner family was strong and they would survive this loss.