Dreams Unleashed by Linda Hawley

prompted me to take a few steps away from Elinor as we spoke.
    "How is he?" I asked her, as she turned me so that my back was to Elinor.
    "Armond is about to arrive. He is conscious and asking for you."
    "Thank God," I exclaimed.
    "I must warn you Ann, he's critical. He has several fractures and very serious internal injuries."
    I couldn't hold back the dam of tears I had successfully kept at bay for Elinor's sake.
    "I'm sorry," I blurted to the rescue worker.
    "Oh, it's okay. You have every reason to be emotional. You must prepare yourself, though. It's pretty bad," she warned.
    Is this it ? Is this all I get...all Elinor gets ? How can I finish raising her without you ? I asked Armond silently.
    "Ann, I can keep Elinor with me while you see him," the rescue worker said, interrupting my thoughts.
    That, more than anything else she had said, chilled me, numbness creeping into my hands, my legs, my face. "Is he that bad, that she can't see him too?"
    "Yes."
    "Give me a minute to think," I asked, trying to calm my racing thoughts.
    After a minute of silence, I said, "Armond has a Do Not Resuscitate order filed with his doctor. He would want you to know that," I said flatly, trying to let my mind take the lead over my emotions.
    "Okay. Just a minute Ann," she responded with a nod.
    She radioed the rescue extraction team.
    "Ten-four on the DNR," I heard them confirm by radio.
    "I would like you to keep my daughter with you when Armond arrives, but I need to ask you to keep her somewhere close where she can at least see him from a ways off. Okay?" I asked her.
    "Yes of course, Ann; I'll do that."
    "Let me tell Elinor," I said.
    I turned around and walked back to Elinor while the rescue worker followed.
    She saw it on my face, eyes widening, and she began to shake her head emphatically. I rushed the last few feet and hugged her hard.
    "Oh sweetie, sweetie, my darling," I consoled her.
    After a few minutes in our sorrowful embrace, I took Elinor's arms and held her face-to-face with me. "When daddy gets here, I'm gonna go over there and see him. You'll stay here with this rescue worker..."
    "What's your name?" I turned my head, asking her.
    "Cosette."
    "...Cosette will stay here with you for a few minutes while I see Daddy. Let me see how he is first, okay?"
    "No, I want to stay with you, Mommy," Elinor pleaded, small and vulnerable, a little girl again, instead of our awkward teenager.
    I hugged her again, holding on, thinking.
    "Give me just a minute with Daddy alone, then Cosette will bring you over, okay?" I asked her.
    "Okay, Mommy," she responded, acquiescing.
    I kissed her on the forehead once more, then put my cheek to her head, looking over to Cosette in a silent plea to take care of my Elinor.
    After releasing her, I rushed over to the staging area, after seeing the rescue sled approach.
    As the team stopped, they lifted Armond onto the emergency assessment table, where a medical team waited. Armond saw me. Our eyes locked. Around him, the rescuers were quickly relaying vitals to the medical staff, but I only saw my beloved. Without permission, I moved to his head.
    "It's okay babe, I know," I whispered to him, choking the words out through my tears.
    "I'm sorry," he labored, with a weak raspy breath.
    "Don't you leave! We haven't had enough time..." I pleaded with him.
    "Love you both," he softly interrupted.
    "Don't. Don't. We need you," I begged, realizing he was saying goodbye.
    His eyes blazed into mine. As I moved to kiss him, I heard him barely whisper, "The Herkimer. Believe..." My lips grazed his forehead, cold and clammy, and I drew back, but he was gone, eyes staring past and through me, vacant.
    Sorrow took control of every cell of my being, and I could only respond with heaving sobs. There was no thought, no language, no time, only tormented wailing that erupted from me as our two souls were torn apart, one in this world, one departing for the next.
    The medical team quietly backed away.
    I held my husband as