EYES WIDE OPEN
By Kelly Moore
Part 1
Sirens wailed around him, but Tom didn't notice. He sat there holding
Cassy's hand as the EMT's worked on her.
"Hold on, Baby. Just hold on. We're almost there."
The ambulance sped through traffic on the way to the hospital.
He turned to the paramedic. "She's pregnant, did you know that?"
"Yes sir, you told us. Henry, her BP is dropping. What's our ETA?"
"Three minutes."
"Make it two. This lady may not have three minutes."
The ambulance pulled in front of the hospital and Cassy was rushed inside
with Tom right behind her. They wheeled her into the operating room but Tom
was stopped at the door.
He walked around for a couple of minutes then sat down in the waiting room.
"Mr. Ryan?"
He looked up and saw a nurse standing there. "Yes?"
"Can you come with me?"
Tom felt his heart fall to his knees. He grabbed the sides of the chair for
support. "Why?"
"I need you to fill out forms."
Relief washed over him. "Of course." He followed the nurse back to her
station.
She handed him a clipboard of papers. As he stood there filling out papers,
he could hear the sound of life going on around him. He handed the papers
back to the nurse and headed back to the waiting room. He tried to put some
money into the coffee machine, but his hands were shaking too hard.
"Mr. Ryan?"
He looked over and saw the same nurse standing there.
"Mr. Ryan, we need Miss St. John's insurance card and another form of ID."
Confused, Tom stared at the nurse.
"You can probably find them in her purse."
He followed her gaze and realized he still had Cassy's purse tucked under
his arm.
"Right. Her insurance card?"
"And another form of ID. A driver's license would be just fine."
He sat down and opened the purse. In all the years he had known her, he had
never seen the inside of her purse. She had always been adamant about that.
He looked around as if he expected her to come and scold him for it. He
opened her wallet. All her credit cards were in alphabetical order.
Typical, he thought. Any other time the thought would have made him smile.
He pulled out her insurance card. Her driver's license
was in the middle of the wallet in it's own plastic holder. It took several
attempts, but he finally got it loose. He handed the documents to the
nurse.
"Thanks, I'll make copies and bring them right back to you." She walked
away. Within a minute she was back with the items. "Thanks."
"Sure thing." He started to put back the driver's license when he noticed
she had another driver's license underneath. *Why would she have two
driver's license?* he asked himself. Confused, he pulled it out. The
name on it caught his breath.
Cassandra St. John Ryan. He closed his eyes and could feel a tear drop. He
opened his eyes and took another look at the license. It was real all
right. He traced her signature with his finger. Cassandra S. Ryan. One of the
first things she did after the divorce was to change her name back. So why
was she still holding on to this thing? He looked at her picture. She
seemed so much younger and yet no time had passed.
He turned it over and gasped at what he saw. It was their wedding picture.
She had taped their wedding picture to the back of her old driver's
license. He couldn't believe it. After all the horrible things they said to each
other during that time, she still kept it. So much of his stuff ended up in
the trash or so she had said. But had it? Maybe she did the same thing he
did. . .boxed it up and stuck it somewhere out of sight.
What did this mean? Did it mean she still had feelings for him? That she
regretted leaving him? That she still loved him?
"Tom?"
Tom looked up and saw Harry standing there.
"How is she?"
He closed her wallet, placed it back in her purse and stood up. "I don't know anything. They keep telling me that she's in surgery and the doctor
will be with me as soon as he can." He could feel his throat tighten up. "I
don't even know where the bullet hit or how serious it is." He looked Harry
in the eyes. "Am I going to loose her?"
Harry could see the pain and fear in him. "Cassy is one strong lady. I
have always said that. She can do anything if she wants it bad enough. She
can take care of herself. Here, I brought you a clean shirt." He handed it
to him.
He looked down and realized his shirt was covered in blood. Cassy's blood.
He quickly changed.
He sat down and put his head in his hands. "There is something you need to
know."
Harry sat down beside him. "Yes?"
He raised his head and Harry could see the tears in his eyes. "She's
pregnant, Harry."
Harry was stunned. "Pregnant? Are you sure?"
"Positive." Tom stood and walked to the window.
"How could I have not known this?"
He turned and faced Harry. "Because we weren't ready to tell people yet."
Harry stood up and headed towards Tom. "We? We? You mean..."
"Yeah, it's my baby." He turned away from Harry so he wouldn't see the
tears falling. "And now I may have lost them both."
"Mr. Ryan?" The same nurse appeared.
Tom wiped his eyes. "Yeah?"
"The doctor would like to see you now."
Tom and Harry followed the nurse. Dr. Buchanan introduced himself to Tom
and Harry.
"Cassandra was very lucky. The bullet missed her heart by a fraction of an
inch. It was a clean entry. We were able to remove the bullet without
damaging any of the major arteries."
Another wave of relief washed over Tom. "And the baby?"
"Her pregnancy is still viable."
Harry looked confused. "Viable? What does that mean?"
"It means that Cassandra is still pregnant. There doesn't seem to be any
damage done to the baby. As I said, Cassandra is a very lucky woman,
but..."
Tom clutched Harry's shoulder. "But what?"
"She was unconscious when we got her. We've repaired the damage and the
pregnancy is still in tact, but now it's up to her."
Tom's hand was bruising his Captain's shoulder. Harry removed it.
"Doctor, are you saying that Cassy might not wake up?"
"No, we have every reason to believe she'll recover. But it will be up to
her when."
"What can we do for her?" Tom asked in a whispered voice.
"All I can suggest is for you to let her know you're here for her." He gave
them a reassuring smile and left.
End of part 1