Emma nibbled on Saltine crackers and sipped hot tea from her favorite mug. The sun had just set and the air was warm. Leaves rustled in the wind indicating that yet another thunderstorm might be on the way. Emma had always loved storms. There was something about them that she found comforting in a strange way. Mostly she loved cuddling up next to Gerry as the thunder rolled, the lightning struck and raindrops fell on the roof.

It had started off an uneventful day. The previous night she had gone to bed early due to the nagging symptoms of a stomach and headache. Over the counter medicine hadn't been that much help and she'd actually felt worse that morning. Still she had trudged off to work but by noon, she was miserable.

"Sugar, you don't sound too good", Gerry had said when he had called her office. "Still not feeling any better?"

"I'll be okay. Probably just a bug going around."

"Why don't you come home and rest?"

"Gerry, I'll be fine."

"I don't know. You don't sound fine. I'm worried about you. You should come home, take a load off, take some more medicine and try to sleep it off."

Sleep did sound heavenly.

"I don't know, honey. I have work to do here, besides I don't want to be all doped up during your presentation this evening at Tech."

"Emma, I don't think you should go. If you're not feeling up to it then I understand."

"Gerry, I'll be fine. Really. It's your shining moment baby and I don't want to miss it. That's what doctors are for anyway. If I feel worse tomorrow then I'll go see a doctor."

"Okay but I still think you should come home."

By two that afternoon, she could no longer take it. She definitely felt worse and suddenly medicine and sleep was the only option.

"Gerry, sweetie, I feel awful about missing your speech tonight. I was really looking forward to it and I know you were counting on me being there."

"Sugar, you're sick...I understand that. Sure I'll miss you tonight but there will be other nights. I promise to tell you all about it when I get home. Coach Yoast found out he'd be able to come with me after all so I won't be completely alone. It'll be alright."

"Are you sure? Gerry, I am so sorry."

"I'm fine, Emma. It's okay. I don't want you to be sorry just take care of yourself and hurry up and get well, okay. I want you to be all rested up for our camping trip next week."

She smiled and he kissed her forehead then her lips.

"I love you, Gerry."

"I love you too, sugar. Now feel better."

"I will. I'll wait up for you."

He grinned, then wheeled towards the door. As he opened it, he gave her a lingering look before waving good bye. Emma watched him drive off then took a nap on the couch. She awakened around 8:30 and enjoyed tea and crackers, the one combination she was able to keep down. She smiled as she noticed campsite brochures Gerry had left at the kitchen table. He was so excited about their upcoming trip and she couldn't help but to happy as well. She knew it would be a good time as long as they were together and it was nice to see him looking forward to it. Thinking happy thoughts, she took the brochures back to the couch where she browsed over them until she found herself nodding off again. It felt like she was asleep only for a few seconds when she heard pounding on the front door. It jolted her awake. The digital clock read 1:11 a.m. Gerry should have been home. Maybe he was but she doubted it as she frowned. Surely he would have woken her up. There was more frantic knocking at the door. Maybe that was him and he had forgotten his key, she thought as she went to open it. Emma opened the front door and there was Coach Bill Yoast. He didn't say anything at first, he only looked at her. She had seen that look once before on his face and it conjured up dreadful memories. It made her remember the night of the accident that had paralyzed Gerry. It only took a few seconds for her to put two and two together.

"Emma...", he began softly.

"No", she said quietly, backing away from the door.

"Emma..."

"No. No, Coach Yoast. Not Gerry. Not my Gerry."

"Emma, there was an accident", the Coach said solemnly.

His heart broke into a thousand pieces as he watched the young woman clutch at her pink bathrobe. In her few years she had already experienced more tragedy than most people dealt with in a lifetime. It all seemed so unfair...so cruel.

"Is Gerry...is he alright?"

In her heart she knew he wasn't.

"It's bad, Emma. I won't lie to you. You might want to get dressed and get to the hospital as soon as possible. He was hit by a drunk driver and...I don't know but it didn't look good."

Emma nodded, eerily calm.

"Okay. Let me get dressed, Coach. I'll call Julius and Jean."

"Please Lord...Father in Heaven, let my boy be okay", Jean prayed out loud through her tears.

Julius wrapped a big arm around her, not quite knowing what to say. The hours in the Emergency Room were a wretched déjà vu for Gerry's loved ones. The time had been spent once again with lots of tears, prayer and finally deafening silence. Emma could no longer take it. The waiting, the not knowing, was far worse than knowing something bad. She slipped off to the back where hospital staff worked on patients. A door was slightly ajar in the trauma room where she saw doctors and nurses working on her husband. There was lots of blood and tubes and fancy looking machinery. The staff feverishly worked to save his life.

"He's crashing!" she heard someone yell.

"Stand clear!"

A doctor grabbed the paddles and tried to shock his heart. This went on for a few minutes until finally there was a flat line on the monitor.

"How long has he been down?"

"A half hour."

"There's nothing more we can do."

With those words, Emma walked right into the room, right up to the table on which her husband lay.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry but you can't be in here", a nurse said.

"Gerry...", Emma whispered.

The lead doctor knew instinctively the look of a wife. She was so beautiful...so young. Certainly too young to be a widow.

"Mrs. Bertier?"

Emma looked the older man straight in the eye.

"Yes?"

"Mrs. Bertier, I'm sorry. Your husband suffered fatal wounds in the crash..."

"Yeah...I know."

She did not cry. She could not cry. Once again in the face of disaster, Emma Hoyt Bertier was the picture of strength and fortitude.

The doctor was amazed, taken aback. He hadn't known the young couple personally but he knew of them. Their love story and life's journey was legend in Alexandria. They had been through so much, overcome so many obstacles...now this. The doctor, a 31 year veteran who had seen more blood, guts, gore and death than he cared to admit, could no longer control his own tears.

"I...I'm sorry."

With a shaking hand, Emma reached up and let her fingertips trace the older man's tears. Then her eyes diverted back to the table where Gerry lay.

"Mrs. Bertier, come with me", a nurse gently prodded.

"I don't want to leave him."

"Just for a minute. They'll clean him up then you can sit with him for a while."

"Okay."

"Should I tell his mother and his friends?"

"No. I will but not yet."

The nurse nodded and patted Emma on the back. A few minutes later she was allowed to return to her husband's side. Emma couldn't help but smile. He looked so big, so strong like he was only sleeping. She placed a kiss on his cheek. Gerry's wallet, watch and wedding ring lay on a nearby table. He never went without that ring, not since the day she had so lovingly placed it on his finger. Emma picked it up and put it back on the fourth finger of his left hand and kissed him again. Only then could she let the tears fall.