by: Marty Chrisman

Shelby groaned as she struggled to shove herself to her feet. She was almost in her eighth month and was big enough that it was hard to get around. She felt awkward and clumsy. Dr Applebee had told her at her last appointment that he wanted her to stay off her feet as much as possible. She was trying to follow his orders but she felt like she was going crazy not being able to do anything. The boys were out in the fields helping Jesse and Daisy was at work, so she had the house to herself.

Trying to find something to occupy her mind, she picked up a photo album she found lying on a bookshelf and began flipping through it. She smiled at the pictures of Bo, Luke and Daisy as children. There were a lot of pictures of them together, alone and with Uncle Jesse. They all looked so happy.

In the back of the album was an envelope with pictures in it that had not been put in the album. When Shelby glanced through them, she realized that they were pictures that had been taken of Luke and Kelly on their wedding day. Self consciously, Shelby put the pictures back in the envelope and put it back where she had found it. Luke had looked so happy in those pictures and so had Kelly. Little did either one of them know that before that day ended, so would their entire world.

Sighing, she went into the kitchen to find something to eat. She had just opened the refrigerator door when she felt a sharp pain in the small of her back. She’d had backaches throughout her pregnancy, especially the bigger she got, but this was different somehow. She took a deep slow breath and exhaled slowly, waiting for the pain to pass. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost noon, the boys and Jesse should be in from the fields soon for lunch.

As she turned to walk back to the living room so she could sit down, another sharp pain ripped through her body, doubling her over with its intensity. Losing her balance she felt herself falling. She threw out her arm to try and break her fall and her head hit the edge of the table hard, hard enough to knock her out. She slumped to the floor unconscious.

Ten minutes later, Jesse and the boys came in from the fields. They been hard at work all morning and they still had a lot more work to do before the day was over. Luke went into the house first. He immediately saw Shelby lying on the kitchen floor, unconscious, bleeding from a gash on her forehead. “Uncle Jesse!” he yelled frantically “Shelby’s hurt!” He ran to her side and gently gathered her into his arms. His eyes quickly swept over her body looking for other injuries but he didn’t see any.

Jesse and Bo both came running into the kitchen. Jesse took in the scene in one glance and barked, “We have to get her to the hospital. Bo, grab that comforter off the couch and lay it out in the back of the truck!” As Bo did as he was told, Luke picked Shelby up in his arms and carried her outside. His heart was pounding but he managed to keep his fear under control. Bo and Jesse quickly spread the comforter out in the bed of the pickup and Luke gently lay Shelby down. He sat down beside her, cradling her head in his lap. Bo and Jesse climbed into the cab of the truck and they sped off, heading for the closest hospital which was over an hour away in Capital City. Jesse made it there in just over thirty minutes.

Luke kept saying Shelby’s name, trying to wake her up on the way to the hospital but she did not respond. He felt the fear clutching at his heart, fear not only for Shelby but fear for their unborn children. He had no idea what had happened although it looked like she had slipped and hit her head on the table. He should have stayed with her that morning instead of helping in the fields. If anything happened to her or to the twins, he knew that he would never be able to forgive himself.

At the hospital, Shelby was immediately taken into the emergency room. A nurse tried to stop Luke from following her but backed down when she saw the fire in his eyes. Shelby was taken into a private examining room and this time a doctor blocked Luke’s way, refusing to let him go in with her. Luke argued at first but then backed down when he realized he couldn’t do anything more to help Shelby or the twins. It was up to the doctors now. Reluctantly, he allowed himself to be escorted back out to the waiting room.

Jesse and Bo sat on one of the battered old couches in the waiting room, while Luke paced the floor anxiously. His mind kept flashing back to the last time he was in this waiting room waiting for news about another woman’s condition. This was the hospital where Kelly had died and being here like this brought all of those painful memories flooding back to the surface.

Finally a doctor came out of the emergency room and walked over to them.

“Are you the Dukes?” he asked

“Yes,” Luke said hastily “Are Shelby and the babies alright”

“Are you the husband?”

“Yes,” Luke said, not bothering to correct the doctor’s mistake.

“I’m Doctor Burrows. Your wife has a serious concussion but she should be alright in a few days. But I’m afraid we’re going to have to do an emergency caesarean and delivery the babies right now.”

“Are the twins going to be alright?” Luke asked trying to control the sudden surge of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him.

“They should be. I’ll let you know after your wife is out of surgery.” With those words the doctor disappeared back into the emergency room.

Luke slumped down on a chair and buried his face in his hands, consumed with worry not only for Shelby but for his unborn children as well. God please take Shelby and the babies. Don’t let anything happen to any of them. I love them all so much, I don’t want to lose any of them. Luke felt Uncle Jesse’s hand on his shoulder but he didn’t look up, still he was comforted by his Uncle’s touch. Bo had gone down the hall to call Daisy at work so he could tell her what was going on.

Jesse could feel Luke’s pain and his fear. And he knew that being here like this was bringing back memories of being in this same place with Kelly. But Jesse had faith that this time things would turn out differently. Shelby and the babies would be alright. Luke would not have to go through the nightmare of losing any of them the way he did Kelly.