The Ghosts of Your Past Haunt Me

Zak

I pace the floor as I wait impatiently for the doctors to tell me something about Katie. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Nick and Hailey walking into the lobby, but I don’t bother going to meet them. Right now I was worried about Katie and Zachariah. What if something had gone wrong? What if one of them didn’t make it? Or both? The thought sent me to my knees. I felt like my world was crashing down around me as these thoughts overwhelmed me.

“Zak!” Nick’s voice sounded far away.

Tears streamed down my face as I felt two sets of hands on me.

“Wh-what if th-they don’t m-make it?” I choked out.

The hands lifted me off the ground and helped me over to a chair before releasing me.

“Zak, sweetheart, don’t think like that. You have to stay positive,” Hailey said in a soothing tone.

I looked up at her, “Hailey, I can’t lose them. I can’t lose her.”

She rubbed my shoulder gently, “You’re not going to lose either of them, okay?”

“I called Hailey’s parents, they’re going to call Katie’s and let them know what’s going on. I’m about to call Aaron,” Nick announced before dialing Aaron’s number.

I slowly leaned back in my chair as the world around me sped up, but I stayed in slow motion. This was something I couldn’t control. This wasn’t a ghost or a demon, something I could easily get rid of with the help of a priest. This was out of my hands. I could do nothing to help Katie or Zachariah.

“Wilson?”

My head snapped up in the direction of the voice, “Yes?”

An older man with sandy hair and glasses in blue scrubs was standing about a foot away from us. I pushed myself up and walked over to him.

“I’m her fiancé and the baby’s father,” I told him.

“I’m Dr. Walker. Miss Wilson went into premature labor. We had to do an emergency C-section to get the baby out,” he started, but I cut him off.

“Are they alright?”

“Miss Wilson is fine, she’s being stitched up as we speak,” he said, wringing his hands as he spoke.

My heart sank, “A-and the baby?”

He looked up at me with sad eyes, “He’s not doing so well. We’ve placed him on a breathing machine because his lungs aren’t functioning properly. We’re going to monitor him and see how he progresses. He’s a strong little fellow though so I’m sure he’ll make a fast recovery.”

I felt my legs turn to Jell-O as I started to hit the ground. Luckily Nick caught me before I did.

“I’m so sorry. I’ll let you know as soon as Miss Wilson is able to have visitors,” Dr. Walker said before walking off.

My world was crumbling again. Zachariah was having lung problems. He was on a breathing machine because he couldn’t breathe on his own. Nick placed me back in my former chair and I collapsed. Tears streamed down my face as I spiraled out of control in my head while my body stayed motionless.



Katie

Zak sat in nursery holding baby Zachariah. He had arrived a week after our wedding and we couldn’t be happier. Yeah we had to post-pone the honeymoon, but it was all worth it. Hailey and Nick told us they would keep him for us so we could go and of course our parents, but Zak and I didn’t want to leave his side.

“Look babe, he’s asleep,” Zak whispered, bringing me back from my thoughts.

I smiled at the two and walked over to him. Zach had his daddy’s hair and his momma’s bluish-green eyes. He already had the ‘shark fin’ going as his hair stayed up in the front, but laid down everywhere else. He was absolutely gorgeous. Zak stood carefully and placed him in his crib before placing a blanket over him. Zak slipped his arm around my waist as he kissed my neck up to my cheek.

“We made a beautiful baby,” he whispered in my ear.

I shivered as his breath tickled my ear, “Yes we did.”

He continued kissing down my cheek to the base of my neck causing more shivers to roll down my spine.

“Zak stop! We can’t do that in here,” I giggled.

Suddenly he stopped and I turned around to face him, but he was gone. My face twisted in confusion as I turned to check on baby Zach, he disappeared as well. Panic surged through my body as I ran out the door, screaming for Zak. Tears pricked my eyes as I realized that they were nowhere to be found.

“Zak!” I yelled again.

My eyes fluttered open as I gasped for air and tried to find baby Zach and Zak.

“Katie! Baby, I’m here! It’s okay,” Zak’s voice reassured me.

Tears sprang to my eyes as I sobbed into his shoulder, ‘Wh-where’s Zachariah?”

Zak went still before slowly pulling away from me. The look on his face as it met mine told me it wasn’t good. Panic, fear, and anger surged through my body.

“He came early and the doctor said his lungs weren’t doing too well. They’ve got him on a breathing machine and they’re going to monitor him over night,” he explained.

I saw Hailey and Nick out of the corner of my eye along with my dad and Zak’s parents.

“Daddy,” I sobbed out.

He came running over to me and I wrapped myself around him. Zak looked hurt, but he moved out of the way. My dad cradled my as best he could and rocked me back in forth as he soothed me like I was a child. I wanted to go back to my childhood at this very moment and just pretend I had scraped my knee and my dad soothing me would make it all better.