No Escape

Dan’s phone rang loud in his pocket as he drove the car to 75mph, it was Lisa who called him, and he ignored it. He didn’t want to talk to her again, he thought explaining her that he wasn’t happy and the marriage is not working for him would only make things worse. Instantly he got a text message, it was from Lisa. He couldn’t help but notice the screen as it lit up, it said, ‘Severe pain in my stomach, I fell off from the bed, where are you? I need some help.’

That certainly wasn’t the message he was expecting from Lisa, it made it all come back, and his moments were gone. He couldn’t ignore the message, his wife is in agony, she was carrying his child, and his heart started feeling the ache again; he needed to go to her. But if he went to her, he feared that he might not have another chance to get his life back. But it was his child who would also be in pain, the very thought of that made his heart feel the excruciating pain. He decided to get back, take her to the hospital and hit the road again.

As Dan reached his home, he got out of the car; he rushed to the entry door of his house. He knocked on the door calling out for Lisa. His wife lifted herself up with the support of their coffee table and took slow steps towards the door. “Lisa, open up,” cried Dan, as he knocked on the door again. Lisa opened the door and found support on Dan’s strong arms. Dan held her tightly as he asked “What happened Lisa? How did this happen?”

“I made some coffee for me when I woke up, as I came here, I fell down as I slipped on the shirt that I made for our baby, it was lying on the floor, I don’t know how it got here,” said Lisa pointing to the little black shirt which was lying on the floor, she didn’t know that Dan left it off when he packed his stuff to leave.

“Okay, let’s waste no time, I’ll take you to the hospital, come on,” said Dan, as he supported Lisa to walk the side yard to the car. It was just as he left, with the door open.

“Whose car is this Dan?” inquired Lisa as she held the seat for support.

“We don’t have time for that Lisa, I’ll tell you later. You need to hold on, we’ll be there in five,” convinced Dan.

The thoughts of executing his plan were still running on Dan’s mind as he drove the car faster than he did usually. He loved his baby, whom his wife was carrying with all his heart, he was certain of that. But he wasn’t certain if he still loved his wife, or if he hated her. But he tried to focus only on making it to the hospital as soon as he can.

Dan opened the back door of his car as he lifted Lisa up from the seat and made her sit in the wheel chair. There arrived two nurses who took her in and immediately to the emergency room. Dan was informed that his wife will be taken care of and that Dr. Westfield will be attending her soon.

Dan sat there in the waiting room with his heart pounding at a rate faster than normal. After almost an hour, he was soon relieved as Dr. Westfield came to him with a smile on his face. Dan inquired him nervously, “What has happened Doctor? Is she alright? Is it anything serious?”

“You can relax Mr. Lewis, she’s totally fine. She has fell and landed on the second right on her coccyx and there is nothing to worry, she might have some pain due to her cramping, other than that, she is perfectly all right,” said Dr. Westfield in a calm and soothing manner.

“Is the baby okay?” inquired Dan.

“Yes, I checked the baby’s movements and it is perfectly okay. As this is her eighth month, I think you should be a little more careful, my advice would be not to let her alone, try to be by her side whenever you could,” advised Dr. Westfield.

“I’ll make sure of that Doctor,” Dan lied at that moment.

Dan opened the door to find Lisa lying on the bed, easing off with her eyes closed. He went close to her; he held her hand and asked “Are you okay, baby?” in a low caring tone.

“Yeah, I think I am,” replied Lisa in a tired voice making a smile out of her lips.

“I asked the Doctor the same and what he replied was that the baby is perfectly alright and there is no need to worry. You can relax.” assured Dan.

“I’m still afraid Dan, please stay with me,” said Lisa as she clenched Dan’s hand.

Dan couldn’t refuse anymore. He wanted to leave the place and hit the road again, make for his journey. But something stopped him, it wasn’t the love for his wife, they used to be such kind of lovers, seeing whom even Shakespeare would have written a poem but at that moment he wasn’t sure whether if he loved her even a bit. But he couldn’t refuse as he said, “Okay baby, I’ll stay. You get some rest, alright?” Dan made up his mind; he was not going to run anymore, even if it wasn’t for her, he was going to stay for his child that was to be born.

He sat at the waiting room thinking about the alternate reality where he was a man with ambitions, living his life to the fullest with no regrets whatsoever. We often reach for an escape from the world that we live in but only to realize that sometimes life only has one reality that we need to face.