Cruel
Twists of Fate
2018
Lori lay awake
staring at the ceiling of her dark, lonely bedroom. Almost nine months
into her pregnancy, she had few sleeping options open except laying on her
back. That is, if you could call what Lori was doing sleep. She
spent most nights, between her frequent trips to the bathroom, praying that Nick
would make it home before the baby was born. She wasn't sure how he would
react when he did come home. Instead of returning to the slim, petite
woman he'd been married to for years, he would be returning to a woman only
weeks from delivering her first child. If he didn't make it home by the
delivery, he'd be returning to a child he didn't even know he
had.
She laughed to herself and
placed a hand on her swollen stomach. "Do you think you can hang on for a
while longer, little one? Or, do you want to give Daddy a surprise when he
comes home?"
Ring! The phone
startled Lori. With several minor curses, she managed to push herself up
and retreive the receiver. "Hello, Dr. Davis here." She tried not to
sound tired. The baby hadn't even been born yet, and she was already
bushed.
"Lori."
"Oh my God!" Lori's heart
quickened with excitement. He was coming home. He had to be coming
home! No, wait. If he were coming home, he would be there
already.
"The prodigal son,
no?"
"What...Where are
you?"
"They're on to me,
Loren. I don't know how much longer I can
run."
"Then come home for God's
sake." Her voice shook with emotion. "You swore you'd come home. You
promised me you wouldn't get yourself killed. Dammit! I'm not going
to let you die. You can't! We don't have to stay in Seattle.
We can leave. We can go anywhere you want. Just come home,
please!" They couldn't catch him. They couldn't. How could she
hope to raise this child on her own? How could she save him when she was
slowed by a pregnancy or a newborn? A sob rose in her throat. Life
wasn't fair.
"I can't, not
yet."
"But, if they catch
you..." Her voice cracked.
"I'll deal with it. What's the worst they can do, kill me?" He
laughed wryly.
"It's not
funny. You don't know what they'll do to you. It could be..."
Again her voice cracked. She couldn't lose him. She couldn't!
"I love you, Lori. You have
to know that. I love you more than anything in this world. You
remember that Orpheus story you read
me?"
"Yes." She answered
softly, afraid of the direction this conversation was
taking.
"He went to Underworld to
get his wife back, didn't he? Well, I'd be more than willing to do that
for you. I'd go to Hell and back for one night with you Lori, you have to
know that."
She sobbed again.
"I love you, too. But, honey, Orpheus didn't get his wife back. He
lost her." Lori paused, her throat clenching. There was no sound
from the other end of the phone, only silence. "Nick! Nick!
Come back, please! Oh God, make him come back!" She was overcome by
hysterics as the meaning of that silence struck her. He was dead.
Her husband was probably lying dead on the floor of the phone
booth.
Her heart-wrenching sobs were
interrupted by a violent stab of pain through her abdomen. Lori whimpered
and groped for the phone. Somehow, she managed to phone an
ambulance.
The paramedics tried
desperately to calm her as they took her to the nearest hospital. Nothing
seemed to be working, and they couldn't sedate a pregnant woman during
labor.
The doctors were waiting when
she arrived at the hospital. They worked tirelessly to calm and comfort
Loren as they helped her through her labor. With one final push, Lori
relaxed back against the pillow. Her hair was matted to her forehead with
sweat, the fatigue and grief were intense...still, there was an excitement in
her voice as she asked, "Boy or
girl?"
The doctor remained
silent. He simply stared at the infant in his hands with a world of
sadness in his eyes. She knew what that meant, even before he spoke.
Fate was saddistic. Her hysterical sobs started up again as the doctor
signaled at a nurse to sedate her. She was just beginning to feel the
effects of the drug when the physician found the courage to explain.
"Dr. Davis, your baby was still
born."
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