The next two months went by fast for Ambria, and tomorrow she was going for another MRI. Then after the test, she would have a sonogram, and if they were lucky, they would soon know the sex of their baby. By staying busy at work, she’d been able to keep her mind off the test, but now the time was upon her and she was scared.

She was relieved Dustin was going with her because she didn’t want to have to go by herself, as she was afraid the test was going to show the tumor had grown, as her headaches had returned. At first, they hadn’t been too painful and all she had to do was take a couple of Tylenol, and a few minutes later, it would be gone.

However, lately they were becoming terribly painful and the Tylenol wasn’t easing the pain any longer. She hadn’t told Dustin about them because she didn’t want him to worry, but she was planning to tell Dr. Howard about them when she saw him.

It was late, but she couldn’t go to sleep. Thinking of tomorrow and the tests had her nerves twisted into such a tight coil that she thought she was going to be sick. She continued to toss and turn, and it was early morning before sleep finally claimed her, and when it did, the dream began.

She stepped into the bank, getting in line behind a young woman and her little girl. The girl turned and looked up at Ambria, and she smiled down at the child.

“My name is Brooklyn Nicole.”

“Hello, Brooklyn. You have a very lovely name.”

“Thank you, my mommy named me.”

“She did a wonderful job.”

“I’m this many,” she said, holding up four fingers. “Today is my birthday.”

“Well, Happy Birthday, Brooklyn.”

“My daddy and little brother are at home. Today it’s just me and Mommy.”

“I hope you have a nice day.”

“Are you going to have a little girl like me?”

“A matter of fact, I am. I found out earlier today my baby is a girl.”

The next thing she knew all hell broke out as a gunman grabbed hold of the little girl’s mother and put a gun to her head.

“Everyone down on the floor! Anyone who doesn’t do as I say will be shot,” he yelled out.

When the mother of the child tried to escape, the gunman pointed his gun at her daughter, but before he could pull the trigger, Ambria quickly reached out towards the child. She pulled Brooklyn down to the floor with her, being careful not to crush the child, while at the same time, protecting her belly. She felt the bullet enter the back of her head and her last conscious thought was she was going to die and wouldn’t ever see her own daughter.

Ambria shot up in bed, her heart thumping in her chest and drenched in sweat. She looked over at Dustin and saw he was sound asleep. She didn’t want to wake him, so she quietly slipped out of bed, then walked into the bathroom so she could wash her face and arms. When she was done, she dried herself off and return to the bedroom to remove her saturated gown. Once she was dressed in a dry one, she returned to the bed, closed her eyes, and tried to think of pleasant things. She didn’t want to go back to sleep, too afraid she would go back to the nightmare she had been having, but she knew she needed her rest. She finally relaxed and fell back to sleep, sleeping the rest of the night without having any nightmares.

The next morning Ambria woke without any memories of her dream, then she woke Dustin, and they both got ready for the day. As they ate breakfast, they talked about the sex of their baby and what names they each wanted, and for some unknown reason, Ambria told her husband, she wanted the name Brooklyn Nicole if the baby was a girl.

After they were done with breakfast, they drove in silence to the doctor’s building. Dustin took hold of her hand and they walked into the office together. Ambria checked in, then sat down next to Dustin to wait. A few minutes later, the technician called her name.

As she laid there for the procedure, thoughts of her having a baby girl filled her mind. She was unsure why, but maybe it was because a girl was what she wanted the most. A little boy who looked like his daddy would be great, but she really wanted a little girl.

Soon the technician told her to return to the waiting room. After she sat down next to Dustin, she took hold of his hand as they waited to hear the results and five minutes later, Dr. Howard stepped into the room. Ambria looked at his face expecting to see his smile, but instead she saw a look of sorrow. Then she knew he had unpleasant news to tell them.

“Let’s go across the hall to my office so we can talk privately.”

After they stood, Dustin put his arm around Ambria and they followed the doctor. They entered his office and he closed the door behind them.

“Make yourself comfortable.”

After everyone had sat down, the doctor looked at Ambria and sighed loudly. “I guess you know the news isn’t good.”

Ambria nodded, she couldn’t speak as for trying to fight back her tears. “I thought as much since the headaches have returned,” Ambria said, then began crying softly.

“Ambria, why didn’t you tell me?” Dustin asked in a pain-filled voice.

She sadly looked at him. “I didn’t want you to worry.”

“What do you think we should do?” Dustin asked the doctor. He was frustrated with their situation, afraid he was going to lose his wife and their child.

“Other than it shouldn’t be growing in your wife’s head, we still don’t know what we’re dealing with. We have several options, and none of them has to be decided on today. The first option is to have surgery to remove the tumor. The risks would be minimal if the tumor is benign. If it’s malignant, we will have to wait until after Ambria has the baby, then start radiation and chemotherapy. The last option is . . .” he stopped, as when he looked at Ambria’s sad face, he couldn’t continue with what he was going to say. “Never mind.”

“It’s all right Dr. Howard. I know what it was you’re trying to say. I wouldn’t want to do anything that drastic. I want this baby, even if it means it could cost me my life.”

“Go home and talk about what you want to do. When you’ve decided, call me and let me know.”

“We will. I have a sonogram appointment in ten minutes, so we really need to be leaving. Thank you for telling us the news today.”

“I wish I had better news to tell you.”

“Us too,” Dustin said to him.

They left the doctor’s office and went down the hall to where she was going to have her sonogram. During the procedure, they saw they were going to have a daughter. They were both extremely thrilled with news, but sadden at the possibility Ambria could die before the baby arrived. When they arrive at the car, Ambria told Dustin she needed to stop at the bank to cash a check. When they pulled into the bank’s parking lot, they noticed the drive-through was closed, so Dustin parked the car and Ambria went inside the bank by herself.

As soon as she stepped in line behind a woman and her young daughter, the strong feeling of déjà vu crashed into her and then the events played out just as they had in her dream. Even when she remembered how it was going to end, she react the same as she had in the dream. She just knew she had to protect the little girl who was having a birthday today.

Deep in thought about Ambria’s health, and their baby, Dustin thinking he was going to lose them both, wasn’t paying much attention of his surroundings. If he hadn’t been concentrating so hard on Ambria, he might have noticed the police sirens coming his way and when he finally did become aware; the police cars were almost upon him. He looked up into his rearview mirror, and his mouth dropped open when several cars engulfed his. A feeling of dread smashed into his chest as he hurried out of his car to go inside the bank to get to Ambria, but an officer grabbed his arm and dragged him to the other side of the street.

“I need to go to the bank.”

“I’m sorry sir, the bank is being held up and the bank robber has taken hostages. My orders are to get everyone away from the bank.”

“My wife is in there and she’s pregnant.”

As they spoke, a sharpshooter positioned himself on top of the building across the street, but before he could take aim, a gunshot was heard from inside the bank and Dustin feared the worst had happened. Seconds after the first shot was heard, another one rang out. The expert shooter’s aim was true, killing the bank robber so he wasn’t any longer a threat to anyone else in the bank.

A woman stepped outside with a young child in her arms. “Please help us, a pregnant woman has been shot,” she called out.

Dustin tried to enter the bank with the paramedics, but again a pair of strong hands prevented him. He turned and saw the same officer who had stopped him before beside him.

“You have to wait here,” the man said, not removing his hand from Dustin’s arm.

A few seconds later, two paramedics exited the bank with a gurney, and on it, laid the lifeless form of Ambria.

“That’s my wife. Please let me go to her,” he cried, fighting against the officer’s tight grip.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t stop them. They have to get her to the hospital ASAP.”

As they came closer, Dustin could see a blood covered bandage wrapped around her head and her eyes were closed. He called to her, but when she didn’t respond, he knew she was either unconscious or dead.

After they passed, the officer asked Dustin if he wanted him to drive him to the hospital. He thanked the officer and accepted his offer, as he didn’t think he was in any condition to be driving. He got into the squad car, and with lights flashing and sirens blaring, they followed the ambulance to the hospital, while another officer drove Dustin’s car to the hospital. By the time they arrived, Ambria had already been rushed to surgery.

Dustin went to the surgery waiting room, then using the hospital’s phone; he called his mother-in-law and his parents, and then went to sit down to wait for news on his wife. A hospital volunteer offered to get him something to drink, but he didn’t think his stomach could keep anything down, so he declined the man’s offer. He was still waiting to hear about Ambria when a young woman walked into the room. She went to the volunteer and spoke with him, then she walked to where Dustin sat.

“Excuse me,” she called, interrupting Dustin’s thoughts.

“Yes?” he asked, not recognizing her as the woman from the bank.

“I’m Celine Judd. I was one of the persons held hostage at the bank with your wife. She saved my child’s life today and I wanted to check on her, but I guess she’s still in surgery.”

“Yes, she is,” he told her as she sat down next to him.

“Have you heard anything yet?”

“No.” He forced himself to smile at her, knowing she must be feeling guilty as to what had happened to his wife because of her daughter.

“Where was she shot?” she asked, almost afraid to know.

“You don’t know?” He was surprised she wasn’t aware of fact.

“No, everything happened so fast, and all I could think of was getting to my child and getting out of the bank.”

“She was shot in the head.”

“Oh, my God!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands over her mouth and began crying. “I’m so sorry.”

“Ms. Judd,” Dustin said, taking the woman’s hands into his. “Even if she dies, she would have done it all over again to save your daughter.”

“Why would she do that?” Her sad eyes looked deeply into his.

“That’s the way Ambria is. To her, a child’s life is very precious.”

“I hate to have to ask this, but do you think she’s going to make it?”

“I don’t know.” He watched as distress filled her face. “I must tell you that Ambria has a brain tumor and right now, we don’t know if it’s cancerous or not. Even if she survived the gunshot wound, she still may die.”

“I’m so sorry.” She took a piece of paper out of her purse, took a pen, and wrote her name and phone number on it. “Please call me to let me know the results of the surgery.”

“I will. Thank you for stopping by.”

“I keep her in my prayers.” She waved, then hurried away before she broke down in front of him.

Dustin had just sat down again when Ambria’s mother entered the room.

“Any news?” Melanie asked, grasping hold of his hands.

“No. I assume we’ll have a long wait.”

Two hours later, Melanie went to get them something to eat and as soon as she left, his name was called.

“I’m Dustin Crenshaw.” He wondered if his wife had made it through the surgery, but couldn’t ask the nurse if she had, as he was too scared of what her answer would be.

“If you will follow me, I’ll take you to meet with the surgeon.”

He followed the nurse down the hall, she opened the door for him, and he went inside.

“Dr. Applegate will be with you shortly.”

Dustin looked around the room and saw a second door on the other wall, which opened just he sat down.

“I’m Dr. Applegate, I operated on your wife.”

Dustin just stared at the doctor, afraid of he was going to tell him she was gone, leaving him to live without her or their child.

“Your wife is in recovery.”

“Is she going to . . .” he started, but didn’t have the emotional strength to finish.

“We were lucky; the tumor prevented the bullet from doing any damage to her brain or killing her. Since I had her open to remove the bullet, I went ahead and removed the tumor. She’ll probably be in a coma for a few days because of the swelling on her brain, but after that, I think she’ll make a full recovery. Do you have any questions?” he asked, relieved he could save the woman who had saved a child’s life without worrying about her own safety.

“How is our daughter?”

“She’s doing fine.”

“Is there a chance the tumor will return?”

“I’ve sent it to the lab to be tested, but it’s too soon to say if it could come back or not. Since we don’t know anything about it, I can’t say at this time what the long-term outcome could be. I want her to have another MRI before she leaves the hospital, but we’ll have to wait until the swelling goes down before we can do it.”

Dustin shook his hand. “Thank you for saving my family.”

“You’re welcome. If you will return to the waiting room, someone will come to get you when she’s taken to her room.”

Dustin left and returned to the waiting room where he saw Melanie putting their food on the table. Dustin informed her to what the doctor had told him about Ambria. Then Melanie grabbed hold of Dustin, and the two of them cried together, praying Ambria would make a full recovery. Once he had quit crying, he called his parents to tell them Ambria was out of surgery. They said they wanted to come to Kansas City, but Dustin told them to wait until they knew more about the outcome of this surgery.