her ridiculous mistakes.

  When Presley asked what she meant, she merely said in time he would find out and he left it alone. They spent the final day at the hospital holding hands and Presley dreaded the foreseen future he was about to play a major part in. He helped Michelle into a wheel chair and drove her twenty-five miles back home to her house. During the drive Michelle opened her heart to him, as if it was their last time together, and confessed she would be leaving Jake and all his bad influences behind.

  “Presley…I want to tell you something that I swear during the rest of my life I will never repeat again.” Presley drove staring at the road but not seeing what was ahead of him. “The day in the hospital when I fainted I realized something that caused my body to completely shut down. When I saw by baby’s face on that ultra sound, and I saw those little fingers and little feet I wanted to instantly give her everything. I wanted her to have the world, I wanted to make her feel special and teach her how she should be treated, like a princess. I wanted her to never want for anything, not anything at all. I wanted her to live life believing that she was loved and cared for no matter what.” Presley listened intently and Michelle continued.

  “I couldn’t believe what I was saying to myself. I would look out the window and say, yes I can have his baby, and yes he will be a great father. Yes Jake and I will get married and he will supply my baby and me with all of those wonderful things.” She stopped and he could hear the tears in her voice.

  “But you know what Presley? I was looking for something I already had.” She sniffed. “I was searching for a peace, for a love that was always there. I was searching for kindness and stability when it was surrounding me. I was searching for life, and life worth living and I was standing in it.” She cried some more. “It was you Presley, the whole time it was you.” She looked over at him and Presley looked at her speechlessly. Here I truly believed she had chosen Jake over me, and I had become accustomed to losing and she was telling me, pleading with me to forgive her. She realized it all on her own.

  Presley smiled at her and slowed the car to a stop at the red light. He leaned over and kissed her cheek then hugged her lifting his eyes to the window. The truck never stopped, it just kept coming and before Presley knew what had happened their car was struck hard and it rolled uncontrollably into a ditch.

   Presley

  Presley awoke to sirens, and he opened his eyes where a blinding light caused him to shut them again. He tried to speak, there was a sharp and sudden pain that went from his jaw to his brain and he cried out instantly. He tried to stand up but his body was flat as a board on something hard and sturdy. His head was held captive, frozen in a box of hard plastic and he could hear shouts around him.

  He closed his eyes and tried to drown out the pain, the sound, the noise. He was tossed quickly into a moving van and paramedics were all over him trying to help him survive the accident. He tried to speak and ask where Michelle and the baby were but he couldn’t manage a word. He just lay there, crying inside hoping and praying that the baby and his long lost love would survive.

  It seemed like hours before the doctors and nurses stopped hovering over him and stabbing him with knives and needles. He was not hurt very badly at all, but his own condition was the furthest from his mind. His only concern was Michelle. After constant bribing and begging he was able to get the information of where she was and how bad her condition was.

  Apparently she was doing better than him and her body was in the perfect position when in his expedition. Michelle and the baby were both alive but asleep. The doctors begged him to go home and get some rest while they kept Michelle under close observation. Presley refused to leave the hospital bed until she was out of surgery. The doctor told him she would be fine, just a few cuts and scrapes and soon she would be on her way.

  Then the devastation began. As soon as Presley became comfortable Jake charged into the hospital. Jake rummaged through rooms without checking at the front desk and spotted Presley sitting in a hospital bed, but there was no Michelle in sight. He only said three words to Presley and didn’t give two dead flies if he or Michelle had survived unscathed.

  “Where’s my baby?” he spat and Presley gave him a look of death. Presley ignored his question so he asked again and before Presley was able to answer Jake stepped over in one long stride to his bed. He braced himself then pulled back an arm and punched Presley in the jaw.

  They scuffled and Presley used his recent situation, and the love he had for Michelle to beat Jake into the hospital floor and stomp on his body, not trying to stop until Jake’s entire existence was ten feet underground. The doctors and nurses hurried to stop them and break the fight apart. Presley yelled at them for stopping him since they didn’t understand how much the disgraceful bastard deserved it.

  Then one of the nurses from Michelle’s surgery came in. “I need the husband of Michelle! Is he in here?” She looked at Presley who tried for the life of him to outtalk the idiot of a husband but legally he had no standing. Jake jumped in front of Presley and the nurse talked quickly.

  “We are having an extreme complication with your wife and she is going to need immediate surgery and a possible transplant from someone who is a positive blood match. Are you willing to test right now sir?” Jake fell silent.

  “Yes!” Presley screamed holding out his arm. “Take my blood.” He couldn’t be more alert. The nurse nodded and grabbed Presley leading him to the testing room. Presley emerged moments later and waited for the results. He guessed that Jake had gone in himself to get tested, since he didn’t see him when he came out of the room. He waited for his results and the nurse came out with Jake right behind her. She flipped a few pages and talked faster than before.

  “Ok, we had to do an emergency delivery of the baby she was carrying and the baby was a six out of six match for the transplant which means there is a great possibility that the father is also a match.” Presley looked over at Jake and he shot his nose up at him in anger. He looked and smelled drunk.

  “We can do this privately sir,” Said the nurse to Presley who cut her off and told her to yell his results for the whole of America to hear. She tried to fight against it but they were pressed for time. “It says here for Presley M. you are a 2 out of six match. I am sorry that’s not good enough, we won’t be able to use your blood. Thank you both for testing.” She said and ran off down the hall. So apparently Jake did test and Presley looked toward him but the fool was already walking down the opposite hallway of his wife and child.

  “Well?” Presley yelled after him. “Are you a match or what?” The no-good turned around and threw up five fingers then flipped Presley the bird. He was a five out of five match and was still heading in the wrong direction? Presley lost it. He charged down the hallway behind him at full speed and clutched the man’s throat ignoring all the pain and humiliation he was currently suffering.

  “How can you walk away?” Presley punched him in the jaw and Jake instantly began to bleed from his nose and mouth. “How can you leave her dying in there? She loved you, do you know that! Even to the end she loved you.” Presley punched him again. He tossed Jake into a room behind them and slammed the door in a quick motion locking Jake’s refuge outside. He grabbed Jake by the shoulders and slammed into the wall of the tiny office knocking over mugs and ink pens. He threw all his weight against Jake and the coward only squealed and dangled like a limp doll.

  “I would give my life for her if I could! I would give her everything! And you can’t even consider saving her life to make up for your miserable one! How pathetic of a man are you to leave her suffering in there when all she did this past year is dedicate her life to you!” Presley punched him again and the man wailed in pain and lifted his hands trying to defend himself.

  “S-she said I would need surgery! And they would cut out my kidney and I may die from it! You can’t tell me you would give it just so Michelle could live a few days anyway!” He cried like a baby.

  “I wouldn?
??t?” Presley lost complete control again. His eyes turned increasingly evil and he spoke death with every word. He was past anger and frustration, he was enraged. “I would give my last for a few minutes with her. I would give my last breathe so she could breathe long enough to see her daughter who is the one person in this life who can honestly thank you for spilling seed!” Presley could not hold back and he punched Jake again ignoring the shouts and banging outside the door.

  “I would give my life over and over for her, because she deserves to live, unlike you Jake!” Presley slammed Jake’s body against the door and began to kick, punch and stomp the man to death. His rage could not be controlled, not by the shouts of the security guards outside, not by the conversation Michelle had shared with him right before the accident, and certainly not the cries of this pathetic piece of worthless meat in front of him. Eventually he stopped, exhausted from fighting and his now severe injuries from the crash. Jake lay on the ground heaving and crying in pain. Presley crouched to the floor and put his head in his hands and cried.

  Presley cried and cried not knowing why his body held in so many tears for all this time. He cried for the day he saw Michelle get on the