The white washed walls of the hospital waiting room offered no comfort to the grieving people it encased. Helen paced the floor in front of me nervously kneading her hands together. Down the hall doctors were desperately trying to save her whole family.

            There had been an awful accident. The officer told us that a truck had plowed through an intersection and straight into the Jackson’s family van. The other driver had been 2 times over the legal alcohol limit and had run the red light at 75 miles per hour and totaled both cars.

            Matt was the luckiest out of all of them. He only had a broken leg and a fractured wrist, which the doctor had already set and he was resting in the pediatric ward. Danny was almost as well off but was under close surveillance after suffering a mild concussion and 3 cracked ribs. I was so relieved that they were going to be okay and thanked the heavens that they would live to see the next day.

            My eyes followed Helen’s path. Tears had gathered in her eyes and she wiped them away before they had a chance to fall. We were both worried about Mark and Megan. The nurse told us that Mark and Megan had both been on the side of the impact. Megan was in the OR and the doctors were trying to stop internal bleeding in the 3 year old’s tiny body.

            In the room next to Megan was Mark. His air bag had failed to deploy and glass was shattered all over him. He had hit his head with a great force and now his brain was swelling.

            A doctor walked over to us and I stood up and put my hand on Helen’s shoulder to provide some support.

            “Jackson family, I presume?” We both nodded and the doctor continued. “We were able to stop the bleeding in Megan and she has been moved to the ICU and should wake up in a couple hours. She has to stay here for at least a week for observation but I believe given time and love she should recover to her normal self eventually. We’ll come get you when she wakes up so you can see her but visits are limited.”

            “Thank you so much. You’re sure she’s okay?” Helen now let her tears fall and was smiling.

            “Yes, your little girl is a strong fighter. If you have any questions you can talk to Ms. Herman and get updates on her condition.”

            The doctor walked away and I sat down in my chair. Helen sighed and put her head in her hands.

            “I almost lost my little girl. She was that close, Madison, that close to dying and leaving me.”

            “You heard the doctor, Helen, she’s gonna be just fine.”

            The relief didn’t last long. About half an hour later another doctor still dressed in scrubs approached us. “Jackson?”

            We stood up and I noticed that this doctor looked solemn. Right away I knew something was wrong. “I’m Doctor Weber; I was the doctor in charge of Mr. Jackson’s operation. I’m sorry, there was no way to save him, he had lost too much blood and the brain damage was too extensive.”

            Helen gasped and grabbed my hand. I stared at the doctor completely shocked. This morning Mark had been fine, joking around with the kids and kissing Helen and now he was gone. Just like that.

            “I’m very sorry for your loss, we did everything we could.” Dr. Weber looked at Helen who was still staring at him in disbelief.

            Helen looked the doctor in the eye and asked him if Mark’s organs could be used to save other lives. Dr. Weber nodded and asked a nurse to bring him the organ donor forms that she would need to fill out when she could.

            I couldn’t believe it. Just when I was starting to feel like apart of their family and God had to take away Mark. I watched Helen leave with the doctor after telling her I would be fine. I sank to my knees and cried. What would happen to me now? Would Helen send me away? How do we tell the kids that their daddy had gone to heaven and was never coming back? I buried my face in my hands and sobs took over my body as I let my grief and misery out. Why was life so unfair, all I wanted was was a family that would love me and that was taken away, again.