September 1990

Abigail first noticed that she had a slight headache as she was driving home from the grocery store. At first it wasn't much at all, a slight niggling behind one eye, almost as if she itched in a place she couldn't scratch. As the cashier rang up her purchases, she tried to ignore it, hoping that it would go away, but as she strapped four-year-old Jackson and two-year-old Julie into their car seats, it persisted.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are gray," she sang on the way home. Jackson sang along with her while Julie babbled.

Reaching the house at last, Abigail found that her headache had grown to a sizable throb. She unfastened Jackson from his car seat as quickly as she could, hoping to get the children and groceries into the house before the headache was too severe for her to bear.

As soon as she'd set little Jackson's feet on the ground, she slumped to the pavement, convulsing.

"Mommy! Mommy!" cried Jackson. "Wake up!" Julie, still strapped into her car seat, began to wail.

A moment later, Abigail's eyes fluttered open. She was amazed to find herself lying on the sidewalk beside the car. The last thing she remembered was taking Jackson out of his car seat. Now Julie was wailing and Jackson was shaking her desperately and calling to her.

"My God! What happened?" she asked herself.

"You fell down and I couldn't wake you up," Jackson told his mother.

Gingerly Abigail stood, took Julie out of her car seat, and began taking the groceries into the house. Quickly she put everything away, then sat at the table with her head in her hands.

She and the children were alone. Jack was in the state's capital, lobbying for more stringent physical education graduation requirements. She waited until the evening, then called Joanie.

"Abigail! What's up, hon?" Joanie asked as soon as she heard her friend's voice.

"Something just happened that really scared me," Abigail told her. "I'd just come back from the grocery store and was about to go inside when I guess I must have blacked out because the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground." Abigail began to sob. "I'm scared, Joanie."

"When is Jack coming home?" asked Joanie.

"Day after tomorrow," said Abigail. "Oh, Joanie, I'm scared to stay in this house with two kids by myself for two days. What if it happens again?"

"You're more than welcome to stay with Chachi and me until Jack gets back home," Joanie assured her. "I'll be right over to pick you up."

Joanie drove to Abigail's house right away. Abigail quickly packed what she and the children would need for a couple of days and switched the children's car seats from her own car to Joanie's, and Joanie drove the three of them back to her house.

"I really appreciate your letting us stay here for a couple of days," Abigail told Joanie and Chachi.

"It's no problem at all," Chachi assured her. "We want you and the children to be safe, and with both Tony and Lisa away at college, we have plenty of extra room."

By now Jackson and Julie were both very drowsy, so Abigail got them both settled for the night. Then she went to sit in the living room with Joanie and Chachi.

"What happened to me today just seems too similar to what happened to me in high school," she told them. "I'm just so afraid the same thing's gonna happen again."

"But you regained consciousness right away this time," Joanie pointed out.

"But it might happen again," said Abigail. "What if I don't regain consciousness next time?"