Defining Moments (A Moments In Time Love Story 2) Read Online Free

baby had to live. Any thoughts to the contrary were unacceptable. Even if their daughter decided to step into their lives tonight, Melisa told herself, she would be only a few weeks early, and the doctors would be able to deliver her without a problem.
    “We’ll be there soon, sweetheart. You and our little girl will be just fine, you hear me?” Heat glanced at her but his jaw was set tight, and Melisa didn’t miss the fear that swam in his still-sleepy eyes.
    Melisa groaned, then gathered up the strength to say more. “Hurry… faster.” She now felt a growing pressure in her lower body, as if the baby were already trying to force itself out.
    “Okay, baby.” Heat edged over the speed limit. “I love you, Melisa. Just hang on a little longer.”
    Melisa gazed out the window, watching the multicolored city lights connecting in a blur, making her dizzy. Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to release them. What if crying was a way of accepting whatever bad luck hovered over her life? Even if it took every ounce of strength she had, she would remain positive. Even if she felt as if her insides were being wrung like a wet dish cloth. This baby was meant to live and nothing would stand in the way of that. Not even a lifetime of bad luck.
    Melisa extricated her gaze from the window and gripped the hem of her skirt. Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself for the next contraction. In that instant, something rammed into the rear of the car, sending it spinning. Suddenly, she was thrown with great force to one side. A ball of pain erupted inside her, but before she could react to it, she glanced out the window and saw a fire hydrant rushing toward them at great speed. As a scream formed inside her throat, there was a loud crash and crunching sound, and everything around her went black. The last thing she remembered was the screech of tires and smell of burning rubber.
    ***
    When Melisa opened her eyes again, she was in a hospital bed and her head felt heavy and at the same time as if it were floating above her body. A bald doctor and a young nurse stood near the door, gazing at a clipboard and talking in hushed tones.
    Melisa almost laughed. What kind of curse followed her? What the hell had happened this time?
    “Mrs. Dane, welcome back. Can you hear me?” The doctor, who seemed to have a permanent frown carved between his eyebrows, approached the bed. “Do you know where you are?”
    Melisa nodded. She’d been here enough times. She would recognize the place with her eyes closed. The first time had been the day Scott died and she had lost their baby. The second time had been the night she accidentally set the Oasis Shelter on fire and Heat had rescued her, reentering her life after many years, and insisting on teaching her to live again. She was admitted again when she fainted after an argument with her mother. Soon after, the doctor had told her she was pregnant.
    “Do you remember what happened?”
    She shook her head and then the memory dropped into her mind. Sudden panic arrested her. There had been an accident. Heat had been driving her to the hospital. “Accident… Oh, my God.” She placed a hand on her stomach and attempted to sit up, but soreness in the lower part of her body discouraged her. “My baby?”
    “Yes, Mrs. Dane, you were involved in a car accident, but you were very lucky. You’re going to be fine.”
    Melisa felt around her stomach, searching. Under her trembling fingers, it felt like a deflated balloon. “My baby? What happened to my… Oh God, no…” They didn’t need to say the words that would crush her world. She already knew. She turned to her side and curled up into a ball with her arms wrapped around her middle. Her stomach cramped up, but she didn’t care about the sting. Her physical torment was nothing. She tipped her head back and glared at them. “What happened to my baby?”
    The doctor glanced at the nurse, and her expression said it all.
    “And my husband?” Tears