Haunted by His Memory

“Good morning, honey,” a voice said from the other side of the bed. Grace stirred in her side of the bed. Regie was awake. A smile spread across her lips and she opened her eyes. “Good morning, sweetheart,” she replied, rolling over and planting a kiss on his lips. He returned the kiss, gently. “You have a busy day today, dear. You have to go with me to the doctor and then be at work at two and I have to go to the store and to visit my mother and…” Regie hushed her by placing a finger over her mouth. “Shhh, shhhh. Can we just relax for right now? Can we just lie here and forget about the world for a little while?” He sounded so sincere, and she would give him whatever he wanted. “Of course,” she smiled, curling against his side. His arms wrapped around her and held her close to him. All was silent except for the sound of their breathing, perfectly in sync. The moment was beautiful.

An hour later, Regie and Grace had both gotten dressed and migrated to the kitchen were Grace was fixing breakfast. She was making all of Regie’s favorites – chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage links, and toast. After setting plates for both of them he joined her at the kitchen table with his morning paper. This was their routine. Once they would wake up they would spend some time just cuddling, then it was breakfast, then eventually they would head off to work or wherever else they needed to go. “How are you feeling this morning?” Regie asked Grace, worry obvious in his voice. She would never understand why he was always so worried about her. She was not that fragile but that didn’t stop Regie from treating her like she was made of glass. Now that she was possibly carrying their child, he was much more protective than usual. “I’m feeling fine. I slept good last night. And you?” “Well I’m doing alright. Honestly I’m just really excited about this appointment!” From that point on the conversation faded into talk of babies and nurseries and happiness. Two plates of food and lots of talking later, Regie and Grace exited the house and walked down to their car parked on the street. He helped her into her seat and closed her door before getting in himself. He was always such a perfect gentleman with her and she loved it.

The car started and Regie turned onto Main Street, making his way toward the hospital. This was no normal appointment; this was a very special one, one he was very excited for. They were going to find out if Grace was pregnant or not. Maybe there was a tiny little miracle inside of her and they weren’t far from finding out. “I think if we are pregnant, it’s going to be a boy,” Regie announced proudly to his wife. “Oh? I would like a girl… but I guess it doesn’t matter as long as it’s healthy!” He had to agree with her there. Either gender would be wonderful as long as it was healthy. Regie was beaming, grinning ear to ear when he looked over at Grace. In that moment, that one split-second when he looked away from the road, everything changed. In that exact moment, another driver decided to run a stop light. In that moment, Grace’s life was changed forever. She smiled, but the expression soon changed to one of horror when she saw the car speeding toward them. Grace’s smile was the last thing Regie saw before everything faded away. Grace clamped her eyes shut. The sound of metal crunching against metal was the last sound she heard. Then there was nothing.