Georgia On His Mind...

While sucking on a peach pit he reminisced about her. She had blown right back into his life like he was hers from the start and always would be. He had spent the last two years trying to move on. He had met a few girls here and there, after the initial hurt wore off. The broken heart never truly healed for Wyatt Ashe. 

He had met and married his middle school crush. They had built a perfect life together and it was a bond so strong he thought it was unbreakable.

When she was in her third trimester she was out shopping for last minute things for the baby and was going to stop by Panera bread for a Panini, which had become an addiction for her in the ladder part of the pregnancy.

"Don't move!" she head a man's voice say as she stood looking up at the menu behind the counter. She jumped and squealed a little but did her best not to move though she was extremely startled. She worked for the paper and knew there had been a rise in robberies but never thought in a nice place like this she would be in danger, whoever thinks it can happen to them she thought. Her knees were shaking and her heart pounding, she tried to slow her breathing and remain calm but with all the screaming going on right behind her it was not easy. She looked up at the screen and saw the man behind her was wearing a black leather jacket, a black ski mask, and had a gun which he was waving around in the air as he barked orders at everyone. "Don't do anything stupid, I want to see your hands at all times.

Georgia could feel the baby flipping and her heart pounding. With sweat dripping down her face she started to sway. She was afraid to reach out to grab the counter because she didn't want to get shot. Concentrating on her breathing she focused on her life with Wyatt and their baby. She closed her eyes and tried to block out the screams from the robber and the cries from everyone else. She knew her body was giving into the temptation of a full on black out.

Her knees buckled and she saw nothing but black halfway down she heard fireworks and thought how odd...

Georgia thought to herself what a horrible nightmare I just had and tried to open her eyes. The light was just too bright and her head hurt way too bad to follow through with opening them. "Baby? It's me Wyatt. Your mom is here too. Don't worry about opening your eyes but if you are awake can you squeeze my hand?" asked Wyatt.

Why her head was hurting so badly and why was her mother there from Alabama.

"No Wyatt, I will do it. You and Judy go get some coffee and something to eat. Come back in thirty minutes or so and we will be done." Dr. Henley stated firmly. Wyatt followed directions kissing her forehead before leaving the room.

"Georgia I need you to remain calm and whatever you do stay in this bed and try to keep your heart rate down. You have been in the hospital for thirteen days now. We had to give you a few pints of blood after the surgery." He said trying to be careful what he said. "What do you mean thirteen days? I remember fireworks I think. 

"Georgia it wasn't fireworks. You went to Panera and a robber came in, you fainted from the stress, and when you went down he shot you. It barely missed vital organs like your heart. It was too much stress and the baby did not survive. The bullet ruptured her sack and went through her. There was no chance of survival I am very sorry." he explained

"So, you are telling me that my baby is dead and it was a girl?" Georgia responded with no emotion in her voice. "Yes Ma'am that is exactly right. Georgia was depressed and instead of getting better with time she just got worse. She went to therapy they both did. Something in her was not the same, it was as if her soul had been ripped out of her and she could care less.

They lived together even though she said they were separated. Until he packed his bag and his picture of the daughter he knew was with God and headed out on 95 North.  He had to put some miles between them.

Home would never be the same for him since leaving years ago with her. Now returning it felt emptier and much sadder. He tried to work and build a life without her and it would seem he had from the outside; He had a house and a job and was in the process of starting his own business. Georgia stayed on his mind every minute at first but after a year it wasn't as bad. Sure he missed her and the perfect life they shared. He wanted to kill the man responsible for the murder of his child and his entire life.  It wouldn't change anything though and he couldn't save his wife from sorrow. Every day after work he would ice down some beers in his cooler and drive the back roads listening to the same two cassette tapes he had when he was a teenager and met Georgia. Randy Travis and George Jones, both were reminders of a happy part of his life. He parked on the old bridge where they used to park and fish. Their names were painted underneath it so when the boats went by everyone could see it and know they were in love.

Wyatt drove himself down to the river hoping like he did every day to feel something other than sadness. It was their place he needed to be there sometimes just to feel like it wasn't all over. He prayed to God to help him get over her to just forget her completely. 

Judy had taken it upon herself to take care of him. She brought him care packages every week and would sneak him a basket of food every few days. It would be sitting in the seat of his truck when he came out of work for lunch. Today she had brought him some homemade soup and bread with banana nut bread and a brown paper bag full of homegrown peaches. In the basket was an envelope with his name on it. He opened it to find a picture of Georgia looking like a million bucks. He read the letter which explained she had hit rock bottom emotionally, and went to rehab. She had been in grief counseling for a year and had been sober too. She wanted him back, she wanted to get back to the way things were before.

It was a fact he was and had been hurting. He could not get past the thought that if he went back and she flipped out again would he have to go through it all over again. Would she stay and try to work out differences or would she leave him hurting all over again. Even more important could he handle that pain. Finishing his peach he made a decision that no matter what happened if he was forced to go through it again, he would be seeing his daughter sooner rather than later.