Halfway to forever by Karen Kingsbury

to mother a little girl?
"I'm sorry." The technician looked surprised. "I thought you
knew." She looked back at the screen and pointed to the baby
"There's no doubt about it. You're having a girl, Mrs. Eastman." Jade blinked back the tears and closed
her eyes, allowing herself a moment's privacy God was going to let her survive after all.
Otherwise He wouldn't have blessed her with a little girl; He
wouldn't have let the baby live this long, past the point when Jade had miscarried the last time. Happiness
shot through her veins, infusing hope to every part of her being. Yes, she was going to survive. She could
hardly wait to tell Tanner.
An hour later she was home, fixing pasta on the stove, when an unspeakable pain shot through her head,
dimming her senses and shading her eyes in a cloak of sudden black. She sank to the floor and fought for
the strength to shout for help.
133 "Tanner!" Her voice was weak and fading. "Help..."
He should be home any minute, but that wouldn't help her now Her heartbeats came in short bursts without
any sense of pattern, and the pain intensified as she collapsed. The cold tile floor smacked against her
arms and face, and she lay there, unable to move.
Terror gripped her heart, her mind. If Tanner didn't get there
soon, these might be her last moments alive. Their daughter's last
moments. God, I'm not ready to die! I haven't said good-bye to Tanner
or Ty or...
The pain doubled its intensity and jade moaned. "Tanner!"
The thought that she might not live through the seizure was
sadder than anything jade could imagine. Not because she had
fears about where she'd spend eternity, but because she'd miss out
on telling Tanner what was supposed to be the happiest news
they'd had in a month.
That the precious child inside her was a little girl.
Even if Tanner arrived in time, the seizure meant everything
had changed. She tried to call out again, but it was no use. Her
breathing was infrequent and shallow and there was nothing she
could do to help herself. Her body was rebelling against an invasion
deep in her brain. An invasion that could only mean one
thing.
The tumor was growing.
Tanner heard jade's soft cries the moment he opened the door. `Jade?" He sprinted for the kitchen. Steam
filtered up from the
stove where a pot of boiling water spilled onto a flame-red burner. 'Jade, where are-"
Something on the floor caught his attention and he stared at
her. "Dear God, no...not again."
132
H A L F W A Y T O F 0 R E V E R
He raced to her, turning off the stove and reaching for the phone as he fell to his knees beside her. Fear
made breathing next to impossible. `Jade, baby, wake up!"
Her eyes were wide open, unblinking, and her arms and fingers were frozen stiff. She was still shaking,
her limbs jumping off the floor, and he could do nothing to help her stop. It took less than fifteen seconds
to call the ambulance; then he remembered Dr. Layton's advice from last time she had a seizure.
Lay her flat... check her pulse, her inhalations. Don't administer CPR unless she's stopped breathing on her