Fully

Chapter 4

Jamie and Mark sat on the bench for nearly an hour, trying to sort out what they had just heard. When Jamie was sure she could cry no more, they returned back to their room. After a sleepless night, Jamie woke early and began to quickly pack all of their items in their suit cases.

Awoken by the noise, Mark sat up in bed and asked sleepily, "Jamie, what on earth are you doing sweetheart?" Jamie finished folding a shirt before tossing it into her suitcase. "I'm packing." She said simply.

"That's not what I mean darling." Mark chuckled. "Why are you packing all of our stuff up? We still have three days here." Jamie continued folding clothes. "Mark, I need to go home. I need to see Hazel and make sure everything is alright."

Mark lowered his head slightly, and suddenly Jamie felt bad. "Mark I'm sorry. I'm not trying to ruin or cut short our honeymoon." Jamie sat on the bed. "No, Jamie! I'm not upset! I just wish you would have asked me. I would've been fine." Mark smiled at Jamie and leaned over to rub her back.

"Well, I promise to ask in the future." Jamie said and kissed Mark on the nose. "Now come on, we've got some packing and flying home to do!" Mark lifted Jamie off the bed and the two were soon dancing around the room, stopping here and there to pick up an item to pack.
~~~~~
The next few hours were a whirlwind for Jamie. First, their airline couldn't switch their flights, and it took a two hour conversation with someone who understood little English to get them switched. When everything seemed to be working out, the flights got delayed due to terrible rain.

When Jamie and Mark finally boarded their plane late in the afternoon on the day after Hazel's call, Jamie fell asleep, finally. However, it wasn't a peaceful sleep, and eight hours later, Jamie found herself sleepier than she was earlier that morning. More delays awaited them at the next airport.

"I'm sorry sir, but it seems one of your suitcases is missing." Mark put his face in his hands and stormed away from the receptionist desk. "Mark it's okay." Jamie tried to reassure him. "I'm sure they'll find it! How about we go get some coffee." Mark laughed at that, because most people don't get coffee at 8 PM.

Jamie and Mark strolled arm in arm to the Starbucks in the airport. "I'll have a Java chip frappuccino." Jamie ordered first. "And what's the name?" The barista asked. Jamie thought for a moment and said, "Captain America." Mark looked at her and she could tell he was doing all he could to hold in his laughter.

"And for you?" The barista asked. Mark scanned the menu before deciding on a hot chocolate. When asked for his name, Mark looked mischievously at his wife before saying, "Thor." The barista glanced once more at the odd couple before calling the next person to the line.

Jamie and Mark waited in another line for their drinks. "You didn't get a coffee?" Mark shook his head. "I've never really liked the taste of coffee." Jamie pretended to be shocked and gasped aloud, and in doing so, started coughing. She recovered quickly and suddenly started laughing at herself.

"Hulk and Captain America?" A barista called into the crowd. Mark made his way up to the counter and returned with their drinks. "Here you go, Captain America." He winked at Jamie. When they were out of the store, the laughter they had been holding in came out, and the two stood laughing in the middle of the airport.

Their laughter was interrupted by a call from Hazel. Jamie answered quickly. "Hey Hazel, what's up?" Jamie walked around in circles for close to five minutes, listening as Hazel carefully updated her about the situation.

When the phone call finally ended, Jamie was in tears. "Oh no, Jamie what's wrong?" Mark asked pulling his wife into a gentle embrace. Through the tears, Jamie said, "Hazel said she's still in a lot of pain, and the doctors haven't concluded their examination yet. They did give her pain medication though, and Hazel said it's helped a lot."

Mark hugged Jamie tight, and kissed her forehead. "Jamie look at me." Jamie tilted her head up so that their eyes met. Her blue eyes were rimmed with tears and around her eyes it was puffy from crying and exhaustion. Mark kissed her nose.

"I promise that everything is going to be alright. Remember what Paul says in Romans 8:28?" Jamie nodded her head slowly and began to recite the familiar verse. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Mark smiled.

"See darling? God knows what he's doing and he will bring us all through this. Think back to Lamentations 3:32 where it says, "Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love." God will bring us compassion. We just have to stay strong and trust him." Jamie smiled, suddenly extremely grateful for the wonderful man of God she had married.

Mark kissed her gently before letting her go. "Now come on, we have a plane to catch!"
~~~~~
It was 4 AM two days after the call when Jamie and Mark finally pulled into the driveway of their home. Before the wedding, they had bought it and started to fixed it up, but had never lived in it together, honoring their commitment to stay pure until their marriage. They both walked like zombies up the stairs and collapsed onto the bed into a deep exhaustion.

Morning came too quickly, and not even three cups of coffee could fully wake up Jamie. She felt like she was living in a fog. God, what's going on? I just got married only two weeks ago and now it feels like everything in my life is going wrong! Jamie laid her head on the table, giving away her feelings.

"Jamie, baby, what's wrong?" Mark stroked her back softly. Jamie just moaned in response. "Jamie, maybe it's time we go see Hazel. It might help you both." Jamie nodded and dressed quickly, eager to see her best friend.

Jamie made her way to the little white car and smiled. She remembered back to the day of Mark's accident. She was on her way to a double date over a year ago when Mark sped through a red light and into the intersection, crashing into a motorcyclist. The doctors said that if Jamie hadn't honked her horn causing Mark to frantically brake and slow down as fast as he did, he probably wouldn't have come out of the accident alive.

He'd lived, but his car didn't, and this was his replacement. Jamie stepped into the passenger seat and buckled up, eagerly waiting for Mark to come out to the car. When he finally walked out of the door, he laughed at the sight of Jamie sitting in the passenger seat, waiting alone.

"Mark come on, let's go!" Jamie playfully commanded. Mark put the key into the ignition and went to start the car, but nothing happened. The engine started and sputtered but then turned off. "Mark what's wrong?" Jamie asked. Mark shook his head and tried to start the car three more times, to no avail.

"I'm gonna check under the hood. Why don't you call Hazel? This could take a while." Mark rolled up his sleeves and popped open the trunk of the car, starting to work immediately. Jamie took the opportunity and walked toward the front of the house, dialing Hazel's number along the way.

Hazel picked up on the third ring. "Hey Jamie! What's up?" Jamie explained about their car troubles and apologized that they would be running a little late. "You're fine. The doctors are about to do some scans anyway. They want to see if there were any internal injuries. This could take a while." Jamie nodded and continued to talk to Hazel.

After ten minutes, Mark signaled to Jamie that he had fixed the problem and that they were good to go. Jamie said good bye to Hazel, promising to be there as soon as they could and hopped back into the car. "Any news?" Mark asked.

"Not much. Her condition is improving, and she said the doctors were about so start some scans for internal injuries." Mark nodded. "At least she's better." He smiled slightly. Jamie could tell he was trying to make her feel better and returned his smile.

Mark started the car and rolled out of the driveway. All throughout the drive, Jamie poured out her heart into prayers. They had plenty of time to pray, as the traffic was terrible. I wonder how her scans are going.. Jamie wondered to herself.

"Let's hope the scans don't show anything too bad." Jamie said as they were pulling into the parking lot of the Children's Hospital. Mark and Jamie said one final prayer before leaving the car.

Walking towards the entrance, Jamie made one final prayer silently. Lord, please be with little Alla Mae...