With Faith & Love

\"Richard, what was that,\" Vickie yelled, jumping off the couch. Richard opened the shades and looked out the window.

\"Sounded like a car crash,\" he said, flying towards the door. Janese came down the stairs with Justin in armsarms. She and Vickie walked out on to the porch and looked down the street. By that time, the neighbors were already investigating themselves. Their next door neighbor ran up to them with the report. She was known to know everyone\'s business.

\"Janese, doesn\'t your man drive a blue Benz,\" she asked. Janese\'s heart was pounding fast and her head was ringing.

\"Yea.\" She handed Justin to her mother and stepped off the prorch.

\"That\'s his car in that accident. They say the driver was drunk.\" Janese felt her legs break from under her and the tears streamed like a waterfall. She heard someone scream but wasn\'t sure if it came from her own mouth. The ambulance came from around the corner and went flying past her house.

\"Vickie, Janese! Come on we gotta get to the hospital! That\'s Jett\'s car,\" Richard yelled, running up to the house. \"Vick, go get Justin\'s bag and he keys and Janese...Janese!\" He knelt down beside her and grabbed her shoulders.

\"Does he look bad,\" she asked through sobs.

\"Baby, I got J\'s stuff,\" Vickie said, walking out the house and closed the door behind her.

\"All right, you and Justing get in the car, I\'ll get Janese.\" He pulled her to heet eet and walked her to the car.

\"Wait, I have to get my phone and call his parents.\"

\"You can use mine. We have to be ready to go when the ambulance is ready. Now come on.\" Once they were settled, Richard backed his Jeep Grand Cherokee out of the driveway and sat a couple hundred feet behind the ambulance. Janese caught a glimpse of his blood soaked shirt and the blood smeared over his face. Richard pulled up beside a police cruiser and rolled his window down. \"Excuse me officer, do you now where they\'ll be taking him?\"

\"Southern Maryland. Are you related to the victim,\" the officer asked.

\"He\'s engaged to my daughter.\"

\"Good, we need to know how to get in touch with his family.\"

\"We\'re gonna be contacting them on our way to the hospital.\"

\"I could give you an escort,\" the officer voluntered, walking towards his driver seat. Richard opened his mouth to answer but stopped when he saw the driver responsible sitting in the backseat of the cruiser. He stared right back at them and didn\'t look the least bit drunk. The man mouthed wordwords that looked like \"I missed.\" Janese glared at him and the pain and anger rose inside.

\"Dad, we need to get going. I have to call Jett\'s parents and nana,\" Janese said, touching his shoulder. Richard drove and left the officer to himself

~*~*~*

\"Wood and Nana will be here abought ght and Jules won\'t be here \'til tonight,\" Janeseorteorted. Richard, Vickie, Janese, and the baby had been at Southern Maryland since one in the morning and it was going on three forty-five. They had one report on Jett\'s condition; he had to go into surgery for his head wound, arms, and some other stuff Janese couldn\'t understand.

\"Rich, I need to take Justin home,\" Vickie said, after she put him down in his stroller.

\"Janese, would you be okay by yourself,\" Richard asked.

\"I don\'t think that\'ll be good,\" Vickie said.

\"Ma, I\'ll be alright. I want to be here when the doctor comes out from Jett\'s surgery and I want to be here for Jett,\" Janese said. Vickie didn\'t like the idea of her daughter being in the hospital by herself. Especially for something this serious. What if the doctor came back with a bad report and Janese was here all by herself? This was one of those moments Vickie dreaded for her daughter.

\"Come on Vick, she\'ll be okay,\" Richard said, preparing Justin.

\"Here, take my phone and call us as soon as you hear about something,\" Vickie said, kissing Janese on her forehead. Once they were gone, Janese took a seat and ted ted praying again.

About two hours later a man in a white coat approached Janese.

\"Are you here for Jett Jackson,\" he asked. Janese stood and shook his hand.

\"Yes, I\'m his fiance, Janese Aultmon.\"

\"I\'m Dr. Ratliff. I performed the surgery on Jett\'s head and we had another doctor fix his broken armd rid ribs.\" Janese had to sit down to absord all of the information. Dr. Ratliff sat next to her. \"Jett was very fortunate. His broken ribs almost punctured his lungs.\"

\"How is he doing? Can I see him?\"

\"Of course you can see him,\" Dr. Ratliff stated. \"He\'s unconscious right now but he can still hear you. Come on, I\'ll show you to his room.\" Janese stood and followed the doctor down the hall. \"So, you said you two are engaged,\" he asked, trying to make small talk. \"How old are you two?\"

\"Jett turned eighteen in March and I did yesturday.\" Dr. Ratliff nodded his head and they continued walking down a ramp and around a corner. They finally came to a stop in front of room two eleven.

\"Wait, I have to tell you what Jett looks like so you won\'t be surprised. We placed a tube down his throat so he can breath easier, his ribcage is bandaged and both of his arms are in casts. There\'s IV tubes along side of his bed.\" Janese took a deep breath and put her hand on the door handle. \"Would you like me to go in with you?\" She shook her head and smiled. Dr. Ratliff gave her a smile and headed down the hall to do some more rounds. Janese slowly opened the door and peeked in. The steady beat of the heart monitor eased her greatly. She opened the door a little wider and walked up along side his bed. Janese sat down beside Jett and touched his face. There were tiny scratches on his face from the broken windshield. All the tubes and bandages made here stomach turn but she had to stay strong for Jett.

\"Jett, baby, I know you can hear me.\" She stroked his hair with her fingernails. \"Your parents and Miss Coretta are on their way.\" Janese felt her throat tighten and the tears rolled down her face. \"Jett...\" her voice trailed off and she buried her face in his chest. \"I almost lost you, Jett. Baby, I don\'t want to lose you! I can\'t! Baby, you have ake ake it through this so we can get married and have children. Oh God!\" Janese let the tears flow and before long she was asleep. Jett opened his eyes and looked down at Janese, silently letting tears of his own fall to the pillow.