When They Found Out
Abby Keaton
By Elena Ridgeway
spunkie_2003@yahoo.com

Pakistan was a really good experience for me. It was the best thing I ever did, besides marrying Tom. I had met him in Pakistan. He was there for the same reason I was, and we hit it off well. We talked about everything, and got married on the spur of the moment. The best thing about it was our shared love for children. He worked at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, and when we got back he got me a job there. I became Chief of Pediatric Surgery soon after my arrival, and Tom became Chief of the Pediatric ER. People made jokes about how we ruled the hospital. I loved every minute of it. -

I missed John the first few weeks I was there. That's how Tom and I really got acquainted: he said I seemed kind of sad and asked me why. And I started telling him all about John. How he was kind of young, but so sweet and so thoughtful and that we had to break things off but I missed him. Tom listened and told me about his ex girlfriend. So I guess that you could say John was the reason Tom and I got together.

-I had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Tom and I were both on duty, but he filled my office with red roses and a big teddy bear. We went out for lunch and I surprised him with big news: I was pregnant. The day was perfect, especially since we were both off the next day. We went to bed, thrilled and content.

The next morning, Tom woke up before me. He had breakfast in bed and a concerned look on his face. I asked him what was wrong. He said he had just seen something on the news. I asked him what it was. He turned on the tv.

-

-"Dr. John Carter, a third-year emergency resident, is in critical but stable condition. He suffered two stab wounds on his back. He is expected to fully recover. Dr.Carter is the son of..." Tom clicked off the TV as I grabbed his hand, tears in my eyes.

"What..."

"Some psych patient stabbed him and a medical student. She died." I nodded my head. I couldn't believe it. Sweet, vulnerable, John Carter brutally attacked by some psycho with a knife. How could something like that happen, to someone like him? I tried to imagine him strong and healthy, but images of him hooked to machines in surgery swum through my mind. Tom put his arm around me and told me not to worry, that he was going to be all right. I knew he would be. He had determination and could handle it. But it did make me think. Think about how I was going to bring a child into this world. Made me think if I wanted to have a child in a world where someone as sweet as John could almost die.

So I cried.