"I was talking on the phone and then everything just went black." Before she could utter another word, she collapsed into her mother's arms again, sobbing uncontrollably. "Jerry had an accident and is in the hospital at Boone," she said between deep sobs.

"Is he all right?" Sylvia said, trembling.

"He's hurt bad. He's in ICU in critical condition," Ann said, blotting her eyes.

Alice tried to console her daughter the only way she knew how: by holding her tight in her arms and whispering into her ear how much she loved her.

Ann sat up and caught her breath. Color had returned to her face and her eyes were red from crying and wiping away tears.

"I have to go up there. I have to see him, Momma." She managed to get on her feet with her mother's help. "I'm getting my coat and boots and leaving for Boone right now." Pulling on her boots, she looked up at Sylvia and her mother and said, "Ronnie Gains has a four wheel drive Jeep with those big tires that'll go through anything, and I know he'll let me borrow it."

"Please don't do this," Alice begged. "The roads are treacherous. I couldn't stand for anything to happen to you too. Please wait until morning when the roads will be cleared."

Marie, who had stayed in the background, finally spoke up. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't agreed to have him go up there to get my sister, this wouldn't have happened. Please listen to your mother, Ann. Wait until morning. I know they are taking good care of him. It's a good hospital. I've taken Melissa there many times. Please wait until tomorrow, okay? . You're like a daughter to me."

Marie hugged Ann tight until she pulled away. "I appreciate your concern, but I have to go. He's my husband and he needs me. I can't let him down."

"She's right." Sylvia spoke up, pleading with tearful eyes. She stepped toward Ann then warmly embracing her, an affection she hadn't shown often since she and Jerry were married. "We have to go. He needs his family with him. I know I haven't been much of a mother-in-law or a mother to Jerry, but I love him and know he would want both of us there."

"Okay," Ann said, taking a moment to get over the shock of the embrace, "but you had better put some slacks and boots on. We have to climb up three feet to get up into that Jeep."

Sylvia left the room and reappeared a few minutes later dressed in a fur-lined parka. As instructed, she had on wool slacks and black, knee-high leather boots. Ann had called Ronnie and he was on his way over with his monster Jeep. As soon as they saw him drive up outside, Ann hugged and kissed her mother goodbye.

"I don't guess there's anything I can say to keep you here till morning?"

"No, Momma. The biggest help you can be is to take care of the kids for me. Don't tell them too much in the morning. I'll explain to them tomorrow when I know more."

Outside in the swirling snow, Ann gave her car keys to Ronnie to use while they were gone then boosted Sylvia up the step and into the Jeep. He had the Jeep toasty warm for the ladies.

Ann revved the engine and shifted into first gear. Ronnie ran up to the driver's side and warned her to take it slow on the ice and not to make quick turns. The vehicle was top heavy, riding so high on those huge tires, and could tip over. Ann nodded and gave him a thumbs up as she pulled into the street.

It was nearly ten and they were on their way to Boone, not knowing what they would find.

The heavy snowfall was refreezing in the once cleared path by the snow plow. Traffic disappeared after they got onto Highway 421.

Driving the Jeep was more of a challenge than Ann had expected. It felt like she was sitting in the cab of an eighteen-wheeler. Those monster tires distorted her judgment and caused her to over-steer on the slightest turn. She had to fight her urge to lean on the accelerator, but her fear of skidding off the road kept her need for speed in check.

They finally reached Wilkesboro, only thirty miles from Winston-Salem. From there the long climb up the 3,300 foot high mountain range to Boone was more treacherous. The elevated headlights of the Jeep barely pierced the blackness of night surrounding them. Ann's concentration just to keep the Jeep on the slippery highway cramped her hands and stiffened the muscles in her neck.

The strain was getting to Sylvia too. She reached for her purse and dug around looking for her cigarettes.

"Mind if I smoke?"

"Since when did you smoke?" Ann snapped back, taking her eyes off the road for a second to confront her mother-in-law.

The Jeep drifted left. She felt a jolt when the tires. .h.i.t the crusted snow that edged the narrow path built up by the snow plow. A reflex jerk to the right by Ann over-corrected. Instinctively, she jammed on the brakes with both feet. The Jeep skidded over the boundary of snow on the right and headed straight for the six-foot snowdrift against the mountain wall behind it. The Jeep burrowed deep into the soft snow bank with a thud that dumped Sylvia's pocketbook on the floor and jerked Ann's rigid neck sideways.

"Oh s.h.i.t!" Ann shouted, rubbing the burning pain in the back of her neck. "This d.a.m.n thing steers like a tank. I don't know how Ronnie can drive it in heavy traffic." Ann pounded the steering wheel. "Great. Just f.u.c.king great."

"You must calm down so we can figure out how to get out of this mess." Sylvia's voice was shaky, but her words calmed Ann.

"Sorry, I don't ever talk like that. I just want to see Jerry," she whimpered, resting her head on the steering wheel.

"Do you know how to work a CB radio?"

Ann c.o.c.ked her head toward her mother-in-law, "Why do you ask?"

"Look, Ronnie has a CB radio below the dash. We can call for help if we can figure out how to use it."

"Sylvia, you amaze me sometimes," Ann said, taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes. "I've seen the Dukes of Hazard do this on TV. It can't be too hard. Let's see, there's the power switch . . ." Ann flipped the switch and the panel lights came on. Emboldened, she cradled the mic, pressed the talk b.u.t.ton. "h.e.l.lo, is there anybody out there? We're stuck in a snow bank and need help, over."

They sat in rigid antic.i.p.ation, but the only sound they heard was the hissing of radio silence. Ann repeated her distress call and again waited for a response.

"Come on, somebody has to be out there," she shouted into the mic.

A male voice boomed over the speaker. "This is North Carolina State Patrol Officer, Carl Knox, what's your forty? over."

Ann's eyes grew large with puzzlement. She turned to Sylvia. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know. I've never watched the Dukes of Hazard. Just answer him and ask him to help us!"

Ann pressed the talk b.u.t.ton. "h.e.l.lo, Officer Knox, thank you so much for answering. This is Ann Blackmon and my husband is in the hospital in Boone in critical condition. His mother and I are trying to get there. Can you help us out of a snow bank? I don't know what my forty is. I have no idea what that means. Can you help us? Over."

"I'll try, but first I have to know your location. Over."

"We're about halfway up the incline to Boone on Highway 421. We skidded into the snow bank on that last hairpin curve. I have to get to my husband. Please help us. Please," Ann pleaded. "Over."

"I'm less than a quarter mile above you. Stay in your vehicle and wait for me. Don't get out of your vehicle under any circ.u.mstances. I'll call a tow truck and be there shortly. Over and out."

Relieved that help was on the way, Ann turned to Sylvia. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. Light up any time you like. At this point I don't care about anything but getting out of this snow bank and seeing Jerry. I know you are concerned about Jerry and I apologize for my behavior."

"No apology necessary. I've been a jealous old fool ever since you two first started dating. Life turned sour when my husband left me to raise Jerry by myself. Jerry is a good and loving son. I can see he's a wonderful husband and father, too. I guess I thought I was going to have him to myself the rest of my life. He spoiled me. He did everything for me and I didn't want to lose that. Instead of welcoming you into my life, I resented you because you were taking away the only person in the world I trusted." Sylvia reached over and took Ann's hand and held it gently with both of hers. "I'm sorry for the way I have acted, even after you and Alice welcomed me into your home. I didn't know how to share. I think I can do that now if you'll let me."

"I think we can manage that. You know, you don't have to stay in that garage apartment waiting for an invitation. You're welcome in our house anytime."

Silence filled the Jeep after the emotional exchange. Ann looked out her window to watch the snow still swirling over the mountain highway. Something caught her eye. It appeared to be the tips of red cones peeking through the drifting snow. On closer inspection, Ann could see a gaping hole in the guardrail behind the red cones.

"Oh my G.o.d! Ann's hands flew to her face. She turned toward Sylvia. "This must be where Jerry had his accident. Look across the highway at that big hole torn in the guardrail. They said he ran off the road. This has to be the place." Ann continued her speculation aloud. "This is where he must have gone down the mountain side, but how? Why would he have gone over the left side of the highway? He prided himself on being a good driver and even taught me how to drive on ice or snow."

Before she could finish her thought, a flashing yellow light from a tow truck became visible. Officer Knox's patrol car was close behind with its oscillating blue light bar blinking through the snowfall.

Ann leaped out of the Jeep into the wintry blast of cold wind. Frozen snowflakes stung her face. In a matter of minutes, a chain was attached to the Jeep and the winch slowly pulled it out of the snow bank. Once the Jeep was back on the highway, Ann paid the tow truck driver. She brushed the snow off her coat and climbed behind the wheel.

Officer Knox tapped on her door with his flashlight. "Wait here until I can turn around and escort you to the hospital. That will be safer and help you get there sooner. Just follow my tail lights at two car lengths and you'll be okay." The officer nodded and touched his index finger to the brim of his snow-covered hat.

The trooper's lights flashed as his snow chains dug into the icy packed snow. They moved slowly up the steep climb. Ann and Sylvia were finally on their way to the hospital again.

It was almost midnight. Ann worried Jerry might think they weren't coming. Mesmerized by Officer Knox's flashing light bar, she pondered what she might find when they finally arrived at the hospital. After seeing where Jerry had his accident, she knew it couldn't have been good.

Chapter 37.

"Coastline became the first company in the United States to become a totally diesel powered railway."

ICU trauma Officer Knox's patrol car crept into the sanded emergency entrance parking lot with the monster Jeep almost touching its b.u.mper. The tiresome trek up the slippery hill had taken twice as long as on a normal day. Ann and Sylvia's nerves were frayed to the quick.

Ann checked her watch-two minutes past one. It was Christmas Eve. She jumped down from her high perch driver's seat and dashed for the emergency entrance without waiting for Sylvia.

Exhausted and out of breath when she reached the nurses desk, Ann asked, "Where's my husband?"

The nurse was too busy gathering and collating patient charts to hear Ann's request.

This time much louder and more impatient, Ann asked which room her husband was in.

"What's your husband's name?" the nurse responded, trying not to show her annoyance at Ann's rude manner.

"Jerry, Jerry Blackmon."

"Just a moment," she replied in a strained attempt at a calm voice. The stressed nurse flipped through a tray of charts on her desk. "Your husband is in ICU, down the hall and left through the double doors. Bay 4. Doctor Thomas is the attending physician." She nodded toward a hall crowded with teams in scrubs scurrying to attend to the overloaded emergency room patients.

"This is it." Ann motioned to Sylvia, who had caught up with her. She reached for the door just as a stocky, gray-haired man in blood-stained green scrubs emerged from the darkened room.

"Are you Dr. Thomas?"

"Yes," he said, pulling a surgical mask from his face.

"I'm Mr. Blackmon's wife, Ann, and this is his mother, Sylvia. How's my husband? Can I see him now?"

"Mrs. Blackmon, your husband is in serious condition. We were in surgery for three hours to relieve pressure on his brain and to set his multiple fractures. He's unconscious and on a ventilator. He has ma.s.sive head trauma, and his left shoulder, arm, and leg were crushed. We were able save his arm but can't know how much use he will regain. That will just take time. Our present concern is focused on his brain injury and how he'll respond. We'll know more in the next twenty-four hours."

Ann's knees buckled, but Sylvia held her up. "We have to be strong now," she said, wrapping her arm around Ann's waist. "He needs us to be strong."

Gathering her courage, she stood herself up and was able to maintain her balance. "I want to see him."

"You may go in, but I have to warn you, his condition is critical. He can't respond to you. Mrs. Blackmon, we've done all we can at this point. I'll check in on him tomorrow morning."

"Thank you." Ann's eyes caught his bloodshot gaze before he could turn away. "It's already tomorrow morning, doctor. Merry Christmas Eve."

"Thank you. Good night and get some rest." He raised his tired arm in a half wave, putting distance between himself and the cacophony of ER doctors' orders to a.s.sistants trying to save other victims of the storm.

Ann regained her composure, battling fatigue and fear of what the day would bring. She locked arms with Sylvia and bravely entered the room with green and red lights flashing from a bank of machines monitoring Jerry's oxygen level, blood pressure, and pulse rate. A monitor with a screen whose graph line spiked with a comforting beep every time Jerry's heart beat stood next to the head of his bead. The hissing pulsation of the respirator that was keeping Jerry alive was stationed on the other side of his bed.

Ann clasped her hands over her mouth, holding back a scream at what she saw swaddled in bed linens. That couldn't be Jerry. She couldn't recognize the swollen features of her husband's face.

"He's going to be fine. He's going to be fine," Sylvia repeated with tears streaming down her cheeks. She embraced Ann. "We have to be as strong as he is. We'll do this together."

A heavy bandage wrapped the top of his head. Jerry's face was covered with cuts on top of swollen cheeks with only slits where his eyes were supposed to be. His neck brace plunged beneath the sheets pulled up under his chin. The elevated left leg cast a long shadow across the visitor's chairs against the wall.

Ann cautiously walked to his bedside. Gently, she touched the smooth plaster cast that enclosed his shoulder and extended down his arm lying like a white log by his side.

"Don't worry," she said as if he could hear her. She leaned down only inches from his ear and whispered, "We're going to be here for you, no matter how long it takes. I love you." She kissed his disfigured cheek.

Christmas Eve Sylvia and Ann spent the rest of the morning catching short naps between symphonies created by Jerry's cast of instruments. One of the chairs in his room folded out into a bed of sorts and the other was a thinly padded high back chair with no arms. ER nurses provided blankets and pillows to help make the sleep-in as comfortable as possible.

The lights in the visitors waiting room were left on all night, including a blurry TV screen showing all night Studio One re-runs of old black and white Frankenstein movies starring Lon Chaney. When daylight finally arrived, it was welcomed by the rumpled crowd as they began to stir in search of a coffee machine.

"Do you want coffee, Sylvia? I think my back is permanently deformed from sleeping in this foldout chair." Ann stretched her arms and legs like a cat waking from its afternoon nap.

She looked over at Jerry for the hundredth time. His heart monitor beeped a steady rhythm. Its soft sound provided a measure of comfort for the two women in Jerry's life and lulled them to sleep, if only for snippets of the long night.

"Yes, I would love some," Sylvia said. "Black and hot. But, why don't you go call Alice? She and the kids will be worried. I'll freshen up a little and see if I can find some coffee."

Families were wandering around the hall leading to the nurse's station, bedraggled from sitting up with loved ones or trying to manage some rest in the TV room chairs. Ann walked past the desk to the Emergency entrance door to watch the sun begin its climb into the early morning sky.

No one was talking, which didn't seem like Christmas Eve. It was supposed to be a happy time with people running around town doing last minute shopping for presents and Christmas dinner.

Tears trickled down her cheeks, slowly at first, and then in cascades. She leaned facing against the wall with her face buried in her crossed arms. Her body shook uncontrollably. The shock of the horrible accident had worn off and reality had set in. She was upset because she had to force herself to look at the ghastly figure of the man who was her handsome, loving husband. She fiercely fought back any thoughts that Jerry might not wake up and pushed them behind the same solid wall in back of her mind that suppressed the hurt of her breakup with Rick.

The convulsive sobs ebbed and left her weak, still leaning against the wall for support now as much as hiding her face from curious waiting room stares. The sleeves of her sweater were damp from her tears. The few remaining tissues she found crumpled up in her pockets were also limp with tears. Cold water splashed on her face from the nearby ladies room cleared her head so she could make an important phone call to her children. What would she tell them? They were so young.

"Where can I find a payphone?" she asked a heavyset nurse with graying hair behind the nurse's station.

Her pleasant response disarmed Ann, who still felt guilty about her behavior earlier that morning.

"About ten feet past the ladies room. Do you need change?"

"No thanks, I have change. Thank you for asking. Your cheerful face brightens up the entire room." Ann wished her a Merry Christmas and quickly left in search for the pay phone.

Chapter 38.

"Most of the old steam engines were hauled to the sc.r.a.p yard, except this beautiful engine that was the pride of the Coastline fleet."

A new day "Momma, how are the kids? I'm sorry I didn't call last night, it was so late when we finally got here. He looks terrible, Momma. There are tubes and IVs stuck everywhere and his whole body looks like it's in a cast. If his name wasn't on the door, I wouldn't even know it was him. We don't know much. He has severe head trauma that required three hours of surgery and he's still in a coma. They said he was. .h.i.t by an out of control gasoline tanker and they both went over the side and down the mountain.

Sylvia has been a jewel, I don't know what I would have done without her. I'll let you know more as soon as we talk to the surgeon. Have to go now. Love to you and the kids. Goodbye.

Alice held the phone against her chest, wondering what she was going to tell the children when they woke up expecting their mommy and daddy to be home for Christmas.