Prologue

Aurora and Michael's lives are thrown upside down after a tragic accident.

Prologue

Aurora, a twenty-year old orphan, moved to Boulder, Colorado to make a better and prosperous life for herself. She had chestnut brown hair and soft, sepia brown radiant skin, and she also had the body of a dancer, lithe and beautiful. Shortly after moving, she met a man named Michael Stern, a thirty-year-old, chocolate man while on a lunch date in The Buff Restaurant with her best friend. She could not help but notice him when he walked in with an elderly woman who she later found out was his grandmother. His cheeks chiseled like an intricately carved statue and his short black deep waved hair. Wearing a loose fit black t-shirt with blue jeans showing off his firm and perfectly fit physique. She blushed and looked away as their eyes met. his eyes not focusing on the menu he had just opened as Aurora and Tori join two other women one with a distinct Firey  red hair. He thought it was cute as Aurora blushed and turned. He walked over and the rest was history as it was love at first sight and they married soon after.

Two years later…

“Wanna get something to eat before we get to the center?” Michael asks sitting in the driver’s seat. Driving them to Aurora’s doctor’s appointment.  He looks over to her and makes her laugh as she points to the road.

"Yeah sure I will, love you too." Aurora says giggling.

She hangs up the phone and sits back in the seat closing her eyes. She was happy to talk to her bestie, Tori, to calm down before the appointment. Living so far away from Michaels family, made Aurora  worrisome over the pregnancy. They had recently moved to be closer to the center in case any complications from the pregnancy. She did not know if she had any preexisting conditions that would make her pregnancy at risk, but watching what if videos about pregnancy on YouTube made her a little over cautious.

"She just wants to know how the appointment goes." Michael says with a laugh as he places his hand on her stomach. She smiles and leans over to give him a kiss on his cheek.

"Yeah, I know, I was already nervous, but I’m glad she called. I just wish she were coming with us. Outside of you and your family she’s the only real family I have." She says playing with a toy box in her lap.

"My family is your real family too. "
He says as he scoops up her hand then kissing it before resting it on his lap.

“Yes, I know. I am sorry.” She says as she lets out a nervous laugh then leaning over to give him another kiss.

Sitting back into her seat she opens the box and music starts to play.

“I’ve never seen you open it.” He says looking over at the small, square wooden box in her lap. “What song is that? I always hear you humming it.”

She closes the box and then opens it again starting the lullaby over. As the music plays, she sings along.

 “Hush, little baby does not say a word. Mamas going to buy you a mockingbird….” He listens to her sing the song as she rubs her belly.

“How can you not know Hush little baby? It is like top three of lullabies you should know” she says laughing at him. “But no, this is the only thing I have ever gotten from my birth parents. They only thing I wanted to know was about their history as far as health other than that I have never reached out or tried to contact them, but this box means a so much to me because the song represents what I want to be for my children and their children’s children. I want them to pass it down to them as well.”

“I mean the only lullabies I have heard were way back in like daycare, so I don’t be knowing.”

 

He laughs stopping at the red light. At only Twenty weeks, she starts thinking about how their baby will look in a couple of months. Will he or she have her eyes or his, color of their hair or what they would be like. The light turns green as Michael lets off the brake   and eases onto the gas. She begins to say something to him, but suddenly a truck appears coming straight to Michael’s side and bashes into the car. She goes in and out of consciousness as she feels the car start to spin and her body feel like a feather as it flings into a never-ending circle within her seat belt.

 

Everything seems to stop and slow down as their SUV begins to start tumbling. The sound of metal scraping as the SUV crumples like paper. Glass spraying over the road as the car flipped and   down the road. Tires screech as the driver slams his feet on the brakes. The tumbling car comes to a halt as the truck swerves off to the right.

Aurora opens her eyes slowly as she looks around to see what had just happened. The car ended upside down. She looks over to Michael and sees he is still breathing but is unconscious. His side of the car looked like a metal crumbled wall with no doors. Her vision was blurry as she started looking for her seat belt to take it off. She stops as she feels pain in her stomach. Aurora touches where she feels the pain and stares in terror and alarmed at her hand covered in blood.

 

"Michael! Michael" She yells with tears in her eyes. She starts shaking him with her hand but then stops as it makes the pain in her stomach hurt worst. She starts looking around on her side to see if she could see anyone. It was so early in the morning that not more than four stores were open.

“HELP! PLEASE HELP US!” she starts screaming hoping someone or the truck driver was ok would come to their aid.

 

Michael wakes up slowly opening his eyes blinking rapidly as he too realizes they've been in a wreck. Looking at her he shows a bloody smile of joy as she grabs a hold of his.

“Are you guys, ok?” Michael asks with an almost calm look in his eyes.

“Michael, I smell gas!” She screams as she starts trying to kick and wiggle her way out of her seat belt. He lets go of her hand and tries to help her out of her seat belt as they see smoke coming from the hood of the SUV. She stops trying to undo her seat belt and starts crying and screaming hysterically.

Michael grabs her hand holding it tight calming her down. They hear the footsteps of people as they approach the car.

“GET MY WIFE PLEASE!” Michael screams as the footsteps speed up and get closer.

 Two men came to the car first seeing if they could get Michael out. Aurora lets out a sigh of relieve.

“My wife first please! She is pregnant”

They go to Aurora’s side and try opening her door. It takes the strength of them both as the door finally gives and splats onto the ground. One of the men gets down and looks at Aurora.

“HURRY!” The other man yells as the front of the SUV catches flame.

" I need to reach across your lap and cut the belt off you" She nods her head as he pulls out a knife.

She sees Michael smile as the men get her out of her seat belt and gently pull her out and onto the road. She does not take her eyes off Michael as they gently carry her away.

“WAIT! STOP!” She screams and kicks as they drag her away from the burning car. “PLEASE HELP HIM!”

 Michael mouths ‘I love you’ as their eyes meet. The two men and Aurora blown forward and fall to the ground as the car explodes. Aurora hearts drops and all the sound around her stops as she gets up and starts staggering to the car. One of the men get up and start running after Aurora. Screaming Michael’s name as she staggers to the blazes of fire. She starts feeling a sharp pain in her back and stomach. She faints falling to the ground as blood starts flowing from her body.

“SOMEONE HELP HER!” Aurora hears a woman yell as the man reaches her and she sees a red-haired woman walk up and stand over her and the man. She passes out. The ambulance arrived soon after rushing her to the nearest hospital.

 

(Later in Aurora’s hospital room)

Its blurry and cold as Aurora opens her eyes, confused as she looks at the blue ceiling. She lays in a hospital bed in a blue room with machines hooked up to her and people walking outside. Realizing she is in a hospital she starts to sit up but stops as she starts feeling pain in her stomach. She begins to cry as it all starts coming back to her that she had been in a wreck and that her husband was gone. She felt something come over her as she lay back into the bed feeling empty. Tori runs into the room, puffy with bags underneath they are eyes. She hugs Aurora so tightly she could not breathe.

"Oh, my goodness I’m so happy you’re alright." Tori says wiping the tears from her face.

"He’s gone.” Aurora starts crying uncontrollably as tori just holds her. "Has anyone called Michael’s parents." She barley gets out as she continues to cry.

Auroras interrupted crying as her hospital door slowly starts creaking open. Tori hands her a tissue as Aurora sits up waiting so she could talk to the doctor.

"Hi, my name is Mr. welters. I will be your doctor during your recovery. It’ll take some time for you to recover from the injuries from your stomach and your head, but you should be out of here in a couple weeks or so. "

Aurora gets comfortable in bed and starts lifting her hospital dress. She rubs her hand across her bandage on her stomach.

"Is my stomach supposed to hurt this much?" She says flinching at her own touch.

“Yes, you will experience some pain, but it will mostly feel like intense cramps, and we will be prescribing pain medication for your head injury which should also help with any belly pain or discomfort.”

“What kind of pills? I do not want harmful medications for my baby.”

The doctor looks at her confused and then looks at Tori.

“What?” Aurora asks grabbing Tori’s hand and then looking back at the doctor.

"I’m sorry Mrs. Stern, your baby did not survive. We did everything we could, but the damage was too severe.”

“What�"what are you talking about?”

“When you arrived, you had three large pieces of glass Lodged inside of your stomach. We did an emergency labor procedure. We did the best we could, but your baby gravely injured, surcame to his injuries. I am so sorry for your loss.”

“His? A boy?” She starts breathing heavy as the room starts to get blurry.

 She breaks down crying as Tori wraps her arms around her.  She pushes Tori off her and starts ripping her IVs out. The doctor and Tori wrestle with her to stop, but she gets up and starts stumbling out of her room. “Nurse please!” He yells trying to get her to sit back down.

“Where is my baby!?” She screams as she clutches her stomach.

“Mrs. Stern please go back to your room before you hurt yourself.” A nurse says as she runs up to Aurora blocking her path.

“My baby where is he!? Please!” She yells as she passes out on the floor.