LOVE BEYOND TIME
by
Robert Dominguez Jr.
October 30th, 2004
“Samuel!” screamed Isabella as she turned to grab his arm. Samuel awoke startled and confused. He looked up at his fiancée and then to the clock which read 3:00 a.m.
“Isabella, are you okay what’s the matter?” Isabella sat in her white gown with drops of sweat flowing from her long black hair. She was slender and beautiful with large brown eyes. She screamed again as the contractions commenced.
“Samuel I think it’s time.” Samuel who was proficient at waking during all hours of the night rolled out of bed and hurried to the closet. He was well built and kept in shape since working in the fire department was such a demanding career. He then pulled a blue suitcase from the closet and placed it on the floor.
“Ella, what else do you need?” Samuel always called her Ella since they first met. Isabella then stepped off the bed to put on her slippers when the sound of thunder filled the entire room.
“Ella, we’ve got to hurry.” Samuel was also a paramedic so if push came to shove he could always deliver the child himself, but being that this was his son he would gladly leave the responsibilities to those at the hospital. Isabella started to make her way to the hallway when the contractions came on again. The sound of thunder sounded louder and crisp.
“Samuel, I think it could be any minute now.” This was their first child so the constant fear that something might go wrong always lingered.
“Ella, I’m going to go outside and pull the car to the front. I’ll be right back.” Samuel then opened the front door where he was met by a terrible downpour of rain that fought its way into the house. The wind was horrid shoveling trash through the streets and knocking down tree limbs in the front yard. Finally he made it to the car and pulled it to the front, then exiting the vehicle he helped Isabella in with one hand while the other held an umbrella.
“Thank you honey,” said Isabella with a slight smile.
The two then proceeded to the area emergency room where Isabella had been receiving her prenatal care. The windshield wipers ran across their view numerous times wiping heavy rain drops and sheets of water every second. The radio was off and the only sound was that of thuds that constantly hit the roof of the car.
“Ella, how are the contractions?” asked Samuel.
“They’re getting better.” At that moment the world didn’t exist for Isabella. All her focus was on her love as he drove through the storm. She laid the side of her head against the leather seat and locked her gaze upon him.
“Why are you so good to me?”
“What are you talking about?” asked Samuel who thought that the pain had made Isabella delirious.
“Ever since we first met,” Isabella stopped and waited for a response.
“I know eight years ago, why do you think I always forget?”
“Your right, eight years ago. And I don’t think you always forget, I just like to hear you say it. But from the start you’ve always been so kind to me, and sometimes I don’t think I deserve it.” Samuel held two hands on the wheel as he listened to what she said. After a slight pause of silence he exchanged looks between her and the road.
“Ella you should always expect nothing but good no matter who you’re with. You’re a very beautiful person and you deserve all that is given to you.” Just as he finished his last statement they pulled into the loading dock at the emergency room, where he urgently retrieved a wheelchair and began to help her out of the vehicle. The two then proceeded into the hospital where her room was already set to accommodate her needs. The doctors administered some pain medicine which put her fast asleep. Samuel looked at the clock that hung right above the doorway which read 5:30 a.m. She wasn’t due for another month, so that fact alone made Samuel weary. He decided to go to the waiting area in the lounge where he located an old beat up coffee machine. He dug into his pockets and pulled out some change along with a receipt that fell to the floor. A large smile extended across his face when he realized how close he was to getting caught. All Isabella had to do was find this piece of paper to figure out from the store name and price that it was a wedding ring. No need to worry, he carefully folded the evidence and placed it in his wallet. Then he pondered over whether he should get decaf or the strong stuff. Since they’ve been together, Isabella has gotten him to switch to decaf, but under the present circumstance he decided against it and gladly pushed the caffeinated button. The lounge was empty and quite with many seats. Soon the rest of the family would arrive to extend their cheer of happiness and hugs. Then in the corner of his eye Samuel could see their doctor, Dr. Mendez enter the room. Samuel stood up and extended his hand.
“Good morning doctor how’s everything going?”
“No need to get up Samuel, I know you’ve had a long night.” Dr. Mendez took a seat next to Samuel and sat quietly for many seconds. He then began to look at both of his hands as if trying to find the right words. Samuel seeing this broke the silence by speaking first.
“Dr. Mendez is there something you’d like to tell me?” asked Samuel with slight hesitation. The doctor then turned to face him.
“There really isn’t any way to put this. For reasons unknown your wife has loss a large amount of blood since she first arrived. We put her through some tests and found that if she delivers the baby, she will not survive.” Samuel’s eyes turned bright red as he tried to fight back the tears. What could have happened, what did they do, or why didn’t he see this coming? He sat perplexed at the thought of losing his wife. He yearned to strike at something solid, wanting to scream out and yell.
“Dr. Mendez there must be some mistake. We took care of everything, she took all her vitamins and we never missed a prenatal visit. Just two weeks ago you said yourself that everything looked great.” Samuels tone went from disbelief to a mild form of rage.
“I understand but sometimes these things do happen. It is rare but nonetheless they do happen. And it tears me up inside to see it happen to such good people such as yourselves. Please understand that it there was anything I could do, then I give you my word it would be done. Unfortunately there’s nothing.” Dr. Mendez sat quietly waiting for what Samuel had to say.
“Then I’ll tell my wife that she can’t have the baby. As cold as that may sound I don’t want to lose her. She’s everything to me and losing her is something I don’t know if I could bounce back from.” Samuel stood up from his seat and began to make his way to her room when the doctor reached out and grabbed his arm.
“I’m sorry Samuel, but your wife has opted to deliver your son. Her choice supercedes that of anyone else’s.” The doctor rose from his chair and left the room leaving Samuel alone with his thoughts. A million images flooded his vision, how could she do this to him? It was then that he noticed someone enter the room.
“You don’t have to try to make me feel better doctor, I fully understand everything.”
“I’ve never been called a doctor before,” said a burly man who appeared to be in his late fifties dressed in rags for clothing. Samuel was thrown off by the figure with a long white beard who then took a seat next to him.
“I don’t have any money and this is a really bad time, so if you don’t mind could you please beg somewhere else.” Samuel seemed upset when he spoke. But the older gentleman just sat still and stared at him.
“I’m not here for any of your money, furthermore how dare you judge others that you just met? Is it the clothes that I wear that give such an impression? How arrogant of you to adhere a title of beggar to someone you’ve never spoke to.” The older gentleman spoke with authority and discontent. Samuel realizing that he upset the older man offered his apology.
“I’m sorry sir, but tonight happens to the worst night of my life.” The old man fixed his stare at Samuel for a long period of time. His eyes transformed from anger to wonder as he gazed at Samuel as if he were a wounded animal. Seconds later the old man’s eyes began to form tears.
“I’m sorry Samuel for your troubles, my intentions were to ask you something but I seem to have forgotten. So if you’ll excuse me I must be off. It was a pleasure to meet you and I do hope that everything works out for you.” And with that the old man left the lounge. Samuel sat in his chair a little confused by what just took place. Eventually his mind regained focus on what was happening. How could she give up her life in spite of what he thought? Then it donned on him that she loved him so much that she was willing to give up everything including their love to give him a son. It was at that moment that a thought blazed through his mind; he decided that he would marry her before she would go into labor. It was the least he could do if he couldn’t change her mind. It would be an event that they would remember no matter where the other went.
Samuel ran out to the nurse’s station and asked the charge nurse how his wife was doing.
“She’s asleep for now, but if she keeps dilating the she is then we expect her to be delivering in another hour or two.”
“Could you please call me on my cell phone if anything changes?” asked Samuel with a sense of urgency.
“Yes sir. If your heading out be careful, supposedly there’s a tornado coming.”
“Thanks for the tip.” And with that Samuel left letting the doors swing shut behind him.
Samuel ran downstairs and getting into his car hurried home to bring back the ring that he wanted to give her so much. The rain was worse than before; it was just past six in the morning but not an ounce of daylight could break through the dark sheet of clouds that loomed across the sky. He finally made it home and went straight for the kitchen. He found an old cookie jar that resembled a cat and after lifting the head extracted a large black velvet box. He opened it carefully and examined a beautiful diamond ring with a platinum band. He knew this would make her happy, but it still wasn’t enough to ease his pain. Time was running out and soon she would be delivering. He got back in his car and started down the road and eventually entered the onramp to the freeway. He began to remember when they first met in their first year of college. It was autumn, he knew this because her hair had a red tint back then that resembled the new fallen leaves. He could remember her laughter and how she smiled at the simple things. His fondest memory was that of their first kiss. She was late for a midterm and was a little upset with him from the previous night. He thought he was going to lose her to an argument over nothing. As she turned to leave him for what might have been the last time, he grabbed her by the arm and swung her around and kissed her passionately underneath a large oak staircase in front of the school library. It seemed an eternity as the two became lost in love and time. That was the day that Samuel would do everything in his power to bring nothing but joy and happiness to both their lives.
“HONK . . . HONK!!!!!” Samuel must have fallen asleep as the sound of an oncoming semi blasted its horn just before impact. Samuels last image was that of Isabella and how extraordinarily beautiful she has always been, and always will be. The two vehicles collided with such great force that the car Samuel was driving was thrown at least a hundred yards off the road. The semi received minimal damage as the driver was able to walk away. Samuel on the other hand had a different fate.
“Copyright © 2004 by Robert Dominguez Jr. All Rights Reserved.”