Mirrors

She's pregnant with my baby, and I shattered her heart to the point of having a mental break down. Jacob snatched the coffee cup off the table on his way out. He was determined to repair what he broke, to make it up to her in any way he could.

The clouds had finally begun to clear out, and the sun was beginning to dry up the puddles of water which littered the roads. Regardless of the changing weather the atmosphere still felt heavy and sad. The drive to the hospital was a blurred; traffic passed by him, the lights changed directing traffic around him, and pedestrians passed by, but Jacob could not remember a single one of them. Even the parking garage seemed darker and danker than normal.

After wondering the halls of the hospital in a mental tailspin Jacob finally located her room but was stopped by another officer of the law. Anger, guilt, and concern boiled his blood, and he almost snapped at the officer before he could say a single word.

"I'm sorry I can't allow anyone in." The officer held up his hand in an attempt to sway Jacob from proceeding.

"My name is Jacob Mantles, I'm Katie Summers fiancé."

"I'm sorry, but you are not on the list. "

"You didn't even look at the list!" Jacob snapped.

"There are only two names on this list. Both women and one's already in the room, and I doubt you're her aunt since you already said you were her fiancé."

"Mr. Mantles," a soft female voice called from behind him.

Jacob glared at the officer, then turned to look over to the nurse's station. There he saw a slight older woman half smiling at him and waving him over.

"They're not gonna let you in. But since you're on her emergency contact list and we have you on the file as able to receive medical information, I can tell you what's happening with her... medically."

"Yes, please." An audible sigh of relief escape Jacob's tight lips. "Any information would be greatly appreciated."

"First, her nose is broken. They have reset and wrapped it. She has a grade two concussion. She's being monitored for that, but they don't believe there will be any lasting issues. Really, the biggest concern is over her mental state. She was awake when they brought her in, but she wouldn't talk. She did, however, scream and cry. They had to sedate her pretty heavily." The nurse stopped for a minute as if contemplating how to tell him. "The baby..."

"The baby..." Jacob repeated, feeling tears threatening to fall. Buck up Jacob, he chided himself. Men don't lose control over their emotions in public.

"The baby is fine, for now. The OB is monitoring the situation. They will be slowly reducing her sedation starting in the morning. But for now, there is nothing you can do here. You might as well go home and come back in the morning."

"I'm not going anywhere until I see her."

"Oh," the nurse started to mumble. "They found this in her hand. They tossed it in the trash, but I had the strangest feeling it was important, so I kept it aside. It was strange, almost like it called my name."

The nurse fumbled around in a drawer and pulled out a plastic zip lock baggy. Jacob audibly gasped as he took the baggy from her. In it was a long shard of the mirror. It was almost three inches long and at least an inch wide. How had he not seen this in her hand at the house? As he took the shard out of the bag he was surprised at how warm it felt, glass always felt cold. Warm and gently pulsating, as if were breathing.

"Mr. Mantles," Jacob recognized the voice as Officer Blake. The asshole who questioned them at the house. Quickly Jacob replaced the shard back into the bag and slipped it in his jacket pocket before turning around.

"What?" he snapped back.

"We've been able to verify your alibi and you've been added to the list as being able to see Miss. Summers. However, before you do, we have a couple questions to ask."

"I'm not answering any more questions without a lawyer present. Anyhow you just said you've cleared me."

"No, this isn't about that. It's about Miss. Summers. First, we can't locate a next of kin. Do you by chance know anyone in her family we can contact?"

"Yes, I have her aunts phone number. I'll give her a call. Do you have a card, or number, that I can give her to contact you?" How could they have her on the visitors list and not know she was Katies aunt? Be wilderment was all he could feel over this. Police bureaucracy, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

After a few more questions about Katies mental health, work status, and why she may have cause to hurt herself Jacob called Katie's aunt. Since she was only two hours away, she decided to make the drive to find out for herself what was going on.

"Cheri...:" Jacob whispered as he entered the room. "How's she doing?"

"Why the fuck do you care? She's here, like this, because of you!" The pure hatred coming from the petite young woman was almost tangible.

Jacob's stomach turned sour, as if he had eaten rotten fish. He didn't know if it was the antiseptic smell of the sterile room, or the verbal dagger Cheri had just mercilessly stabbed him with. What he did know was that he loved Katie with every fiber of his being and the thought of living his life without her felt like death.

"I made a grievous error by listening to my mother, but I love her and wanted to fix it. That's why I was there."

"Fix it," she snorted a contemptuous smirk at Jacob. "Yesterday she was walking on air and planning this grand romantic way of telling you that you're gonna be a father and today she's bloody and comatose and who the hell knows what's going to happen to HER baby! You can't fix it."

"I'll do anything she wants, do anything she needs, fly in specialists from anywhere in the world to get her and the baby anything they need. She will recover from this if I have to spend every cent I have to make it happen."

"Money can only do so much, she needs more than that. She needs to know, to feel, safe. And you stole that from her."

"Tell me what I can do to repair that."

"Well, leave and never return is my first thought but since I realize that's not going to happen you could go to her house and get somethings that will make her more comfortable. Maybe her pillow and blanket, or something that will warm up this room for when she does wake up."

"I can do that. By the way Tracy is on her way. I spoke with her a few minutes ago and she'll be here in about two hours."

Jacob took Katie's hand. "I love you, please know that deep in your heart. I'll be back with your stuff."

With that Jacob turn and left headed back to Katie's house.