Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Tuesday June 7, 2016
9:13 a.m.
Joe’s POV

“Cut! Just one more take Johnny and then we’ll wrap this scene up.” I said into the megaphone as Johnny and the extras went back to their starting spots. “Action!” I said and the scene started again.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I quietly pulled it out. Mom. I gave my co-director, Brian, the reigns and slipped away into the break room.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Honey, Marie just called me, Melissa’s in labor.” She said.

“Thanks Mom.” I said, snapping my phone shut and running back out to the set. I grabbed my hoodie and started to run out.

“Joe? Where are you going?” Brian called.

“My wife’s in labor! I have to pick up my daughter and get to the hospital!” I shouted, running out as everyone cheered for me.

I got to the school as fast as I could, running to the main office. The assistant smiled up at me and her jaw dropped when she realized who I was. Great… a former fan.

“Mr. Jonas. How can I help you?” she asked.

“I’m here to pick up my daughter. My wife’s in labor.”

“Oh okay. Hold on,” she said. She went to the intercom system and flipped a few switches. “Miss Miller?”

“Yes?” I heard crackle through the speakers.

“Can you send Alexandra Jonas to the office with all of her things? Her father is here to pick her up.”

“Of course.”

“Thank you.” she said and then flipped the switches back. “She should be right here.”

“Thanks,” I said, walking back to the door and watching down the hallway for Lexi. Soon I saw her brown head appear as she turned a corner, her backpack on her back and she smiled at me.

“Daddy, what are you doing here?” she asked. I scooped her up and walked out of the school, waving at the assistant on our way out.

“Mommy’s having the baby.”

“Yay!” she cried as I put her in her car seat.

****
Still Joe’s POV
9:57 a.m.

I dashed down the hallway, Lexi in my arms, to see the entire family in the waiting room minus my mother and mother-in-law. Lana smiled at me as I handed Lexi to her and I waved before turning to go the rest of the way. I told Lexi in the car that she couldn’t go in until the baby was born and she was upset at first but she’s fine now since she gets to hang out with her aunts and uncles.

“I’m here!” I exclaimed, dashing into the room. Lyss had her face scrunched in pain as she squeezed her mother’s hand, a contraction ripping through her body.

“Just in time.” Mom said, handing me a gown. I slipped it on and she tied it for me and I walked over to Lyss’ other side, taking her hand.

“Hey baby,” I said, kissing her forehead.

“Hi,” she said, breathlessly.

“How you doing?”

“Not so good,” she said, leaning forward with another contraction and falling back on the pillows when it subsided.

“Melissa,” Dr. Lockhart said, walking into the room, pulling on some gloves. “Do you want an epidural?”

“No… no drugs.” She panted. “No offense Mom… both of you… can I just have Joe in here?”

“Of course sweetheart,” my mother-in-law said kissing her on the cheek. “We’ll be waiting.”
She and my mother stepped out of the room and a nurse closed the door.

“Okay Melissa, you’re crowning.” Dr. Lockhart said. “On your next contraction I need you to bear down and push. Ready… push.”

Lyss struggled, pushing as hard as she could. I only reached 8 when she sat back, her head rolling back and forth on the pillow, panting for breath. Her forehead was beaded with sweat.

“I can’t do it.” She said, breathing deeply. “It hurts too…”

“Melissa?” Dr. Lockhart said. She didn’t respond.

“Lyss?” I asked, smoothing her hair back. Soon a monitor started beeping and I looked up, eyes wide.

“She’s crashing!” one of the nurses cried.

“Check the fetal monitor!” Dr. Lockhart cried.

“Baby’s heart rate’s fine.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Joe, I’m sorry but you’re going to have to step out.” Dr. Lockhart said.

“No! Someone tell me what is going on with my wife!” I screamed as the nurses rushed around.

“Joe, Melissa is in a lot of trouble. If we don’t act quickly you could lose her and the baby. We don’t want that to happen. In order to stop that from happening we need as much room as we can get so I’m asking you to step out.” She said as I breathed deeply. I stepped to Lyss and kissed her forehead before walking out of the room into the hallway… not before I heard “Prep an OR!” being shouted in the room.

I paced the hallway. Waiting… waiting. It seemed like forever had passed as countless doctors and nurses walked past me. I didn’t know if they had taken Lyss to the O.R. or not, the double doors I had gone through were too far from the room she had been in. I was about to slouch down against the wall when Dr. Lockhart walked through bringing me to full attention. She pulled the cap off of her head and looked me in the eyes.

“Joe… I’m sorry. We did all we could but… she was losing too much blood and her heart rate was rapidly declining. This pregnancy was worse than we thought and I have no explanation for you. I’m truly sorry.”

I staggered backwards against the wall. My stomach flipped. I swear all blood left my face… I must’ve looked insane to her.

“No,” I whispered, hot tears springing to my eyes. I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyeballs to keep them in.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“No!” I shouted. “No… where is she. I want to see my wife!”

“She’s still in the O.R. I have to prepare you. There will be a lot of blood.” She said as we slowly walked down the hallway, my body shaking. “Because she lost consciousness we had to intubate her so the tube will still be down her throat. We performed an emergency C-section so the sheets over her will look bloody. She will have various IV lines in her arms.” She said, stopping outside of the room.

She slowly pushed open the door for me and I walked in, my hand instantly clutching onto Lyss’. It was cold. Her eyelids were closed, her body pale. I bent down, placing my forehead on hers, closing my eyes. I sobbed. I didn’t cry… I sobbed. This was real. This happened. All my nightmares… they were true. I turned and looked down her body at the blood stained sheets on her stomach. We performed an emergency C-section… the baby. I stood up, placing one last lingering kiss on Lyss’ forehead and reluctantly walked back out into the hallway.

“The baby?” I asked. She nodded her head and brought me further down to the nursery. She had me stay in the hallway and soon returned with a small blue bundle.

“Joe, meet your son,” she said, handing him to me. A lump formed in my throat as I looked down at him. He yawned and turned his head towards my body and the tears flooded over. “He needs a name.” she whispered.

“Jacob.” I choked out. “Jacob Christopher Jonas.”

“It’s beautiful,” she said, slowly turning and walking back into the nursery.

I backed up into the wall and slouched down to the floor. Jacob still in my arms. I held him to me gently and cried, my tears staining the blue blanket. I rocked back and forth as my sobs shook throughout my body.

****
Still Joe’s POV
11:05 a.m.

I eventually had to hand Jacob back to the nurses in the nursery. They all smiled sympathetically at me but I’m sure my face was stone cold. I have to tell my family. Oh God… Lexi. I walked down the hallway… taking each step one at a time… my legs felt heavy, like I could collapse at any moment. I turned the corner and saw them all, talking and laughing. Lexi was twirling around and singing. Shit.

“Daddy!” she cried, running over as soon as she saw me. I bent down and collected her in my arms, burying my face in her hair. I held her tight to me and she tried to squirm away. “Daddy?”

“Joe… what’s wrong?” Lauren asked, walking closer.

“Um…” I said, clearing my throat and standing up… taking Lexi in my arms. I walked back over to the chairs and sat down, setting her in my lap. I took a deep breath and looked up into the eyes of my family. My in-laws were looking at me so worried.

“Just… spit it out Joe.” Kevin said, bouncing a fussy Brody on his knee.

“Can you all sit down? Please?” I asked… barely above a whisper. They all exchanged confused looks and sat down. “Okay… well… it’s a boy.” I said, glancing around… a small smile on my face.

No one but Lexi was excited. She bounced up and down in my lap clapping her hands. My mother-in-law’s eyes were boring into the side of my head… waiting for me to continue.

“And?” Lauren pressed in a whisper.

“And… Lyss is… gone.” I whispered the last bit. My mother-in-law full out sobbed and turned her body into my father-in-laws arms.

“Why is Grandma crying?” Lexi asked, turning to look at me, a smile still on her face. It was at that point that my mother, Lauren, and Lana started crying as well… my brothers and father too. A tear slipped down my face as Lexi looked in my eyes. “Why are you crying Daddy?” she asked, wiping away my tear. I kissed the palm of her hand and held her to me.

“Baby… Mommy has been very sick. While she was having the baby… she got hurt… and was bleeding a lot. The doctor’s tried to make it better but… it didn’t work and God took her up to heaven. She’s gone.”

“But… but…” she said, her bottom lip quivering. I pulled her to me as she cried into my shoulder. “I want Mommy.”

“So do I baby. So do I.” I said, crying as well as I rocked our body’s back and forth.

****
Still Joe’s POV
12:36 p.m.

We were all now solemnly in the cafeteria of the hospital. I had finished arrangements… for what should happen with Lyss’ body. I had gotten Lexi to calm down and now Lana and Lauren were taking care of her. My parents’ main job right now was to console my in-laws… the four of them were off sitting in a corner… my mother-in-law looking incredibly pained. My brothers and I sat at our own table… near where the girls sat with Lexi and Brody. I picked apart at my sandwich… not hungry for anything. By the looks of it… neither were they.

“This really sucks.” Frankie said, finally breaking the silence.

“Tell me about it.” I scoffed, shoving my tray away from my body and placing my head on the table. I took a deep breath and looked up again. “This wasn’t supposed to happen… it wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

“Joe… try to eat something.” Kevin said, shoving an apple towards me. I ignored it and looked towards Lexi. She was hardly eating as well.

“What am I supposed to do?” I whispered. “I can’t raise two kids on my own.”

“Yes you can.” Nick said. “We’ll all help you for awhile. You’ll get the hang of it.”

“What if I don’t?” I asked, turning to look at him.

“Joe… I know you can. You’re my big brother… I learned so much from you… you can do anything.”

“I can second that.” Frankie said, patting my shoulder. I gave a slight smile and shook my head.

“You guys are dorks.”

“We learned it from you.”

It was silent for a moment as we all picked at our food. I was trying to process so much right now. My head was overflowing with new information and I felt like I was going to explode.

“What’s his name?” Nick asked.

“What?” I asked, shaking my head to clear my thoughts. His question had pulled me out of my reverie.

“My Godson… what’s his name?”

“Jacob Christopher.” I said, a smile pulling at the corner of my lips.

“Jake Jonas…” Kevin mused. “Nice stage name.”

“No.” I said firmly. “Neither of them is going into that. I don’t care how talented they are.” I said, looking over towards Lexi who truly had the makings of a future performer. I can’t let that happen… it’s not what we wanted for them.

****
Still Joe’s POV
8: 47 p.m.

I carried a sleeping Lexi into the house… up to her bedroom. Jake had to stay at the hospital overnight and Lexi just needed to be home. I placed her gently in her bed, pulling her covers over her and kissing her forehead.

“I love you Ally-Baby.” I whispered. “So much.”

I closed her door and walked back down to the dark front room where Lucky was whimpering. I opened her cage and she raced to the back door. I unlocked it and let her out to the backyard where she immediately searched for a spot to do her business. I stood out on the deck with my hands in my pockets. I could still feel the tearstains from earlier in the day on my cheeks. A breeze blew about me and I breathed in deep, inhaling the fresh scent. The sky was shining bright with stars… and L.A. lights. I felt another breeze around me, engulfing me in a rush of cold. I shivered and looked around. Everything else was still… none of the tree limbs were moving and the flowers were standing still.

“Lyss,” I whispered. I felt the breeze again and it freaked me out. “I miss you… so much.”

I looked up at the sky again. A star twinkled in the distance… like… it was winking at me. I smiled… believing in my heart that it was Lyss. Then a shooting star appeared, streaking across the sky so fast that I almost missed it. Let me raise my babies’ right I wished. I whistled for Lucky and she ran inside. I closed the door behind me, looking through the glass up at the sky one last time and the same star twinkled again.

“I love you too.” I whispered.

I locked Lucky in her cage again and climbed upstairs to my bedroom. It seemed so empty. Even though I’d slept in it alone the past two months it seemed so much different now. Because she wasn’t just gone temporarily now… this was forever. I stripped down to my boxers and climbed into her side of the bed, breathing in the scent still lingering on her pillow. Why God? What did I do? Why are you punishing us like this? My final thoughts before I drifted off to sleep… tears slowly cascading down my face yet again.

*****************************************************
It's not supposed to go like that
It's not intended to end that way
Life is a journey constantly turning
Down an unknown path
But it's not supposed to go like that
It's Not Supposed to Go Like That - Rascal Flatts