Chapter One
"Honey, what is it? What's wrong?" Rick asked in concern as Melinda was clutching at her swollen, pregnant stomach as if she were in pain.
"I think I just felt..." Melinda's voice trailed away as she visibly winced.
"What? You felt what?"
"I think... ohhh, I think...Rick, something's wrong," Melinda stated.
Before she could say another word, she just collapsed. He barely caught her in his arms before she fell in a heap upon the floor. Immediately, all the color drained from Rick's face. It was just like the awful dreams Melinda had been having. She had been trying to hide it from him, but he knew.
She had been dreaming of death - a woman's death while bearing a child. "Ohhh no!" Rick gasped when he saw blood soaking through Melinda's clothing - a great deal of blood. He didn't waste a single moment. He called for an ambulance and begged them to save the woman he loved and his unborn child.
XxxOoo
The next couple of hours were utter torture. Paramedics came to the house and loaded Melinda into an ambulance. They tried to assure Rick that Melinda and the baby would be fine, but he didn't believe them. He just knew that something was terribly wrong. He could feel the heavy weight of it in the air - impending death like a looming shadow. It stole the breath from his lungs.
"Melinda, I am here. Hang on," he pleaded as he held her hand in the ambulance. All he could think about were those dreams - those dark and ominous dreams Melinda had been having for the past two months.
Night after night, Melinda would wake up with tears running down her cheeks...
Rick shuddered in terror as she sobbed with pain and sorrow.
"What happened?" he asked as he lay beside her in the bed.
"A dream...or a-a premonition. Someone's going to die."
When she spoke those words, Rick felt his skin crawl. Melinda had been known to have visions from the great beyond. It was one of her "gifts," along with her ability to see and speak to spirits.
"Who's going to die?"
"A woman... having a baby. Ohhh my God, it's so sad."
Melinda cried in agony as Rick held her, kissed her, and tried to comfort her. "It's just a dream," he said in a whisper.
"No, it's not..."
And here he was, living it. Melinda was bleeding profusely as the ambulance rushed to the hospital. He knew there was more to the dream, but Melinda never went into details. She would just hold Rick ever so tight, crying on his shoulder.
"We're going to be alright. You'll be alright," Rick said to her in the ambulance. He was willing it to be true, even though he didn't believe it could be. They had been so happy; so blessed. He couldn't lose her now. He couldn't lose their child either; their little lullaby. He loved them both so much and he hadn't said it enough. Over and over he whispered it to her on the way to the hospital.
Once they arrived at Grandview Memorial, they were separated. The doctor rushed to Melinda's side and said they had to take Melinda into surgery to save her life. "Will she be okay?" Rick asked, his eyes shiny with unshed tears.
"We'll do everything we can," the doctor promised before they wheeled Melinda into the operating room.
Rick had no other choice but to let go of Melinda's hand. As soon as she disappeared behind those metal, double doors, he sunk down onto the nearest bench. He lay his head in his hands. His emotions exploded as he cried.
XxxOoo
His buttocks ached from sitting on a thick, heavy bench. He had no clue how long it had been since the last time he had held Melinda's hand or gazed upon her face. He had little awareness of his own surroundings. All he could think of was Melinda and the pain she was going through.
"Is she...?" he asked the doctor when he was approached by a man who wore a long white coat. It was Melinda's OB-Gyn.
The doctor spoke as Rick's tears slid like hot bullets down his pale cheeks.