The Three Time Tragedy

     Heat waves rose from the pavement as the old station wagon rumbled its way down the road. It was only 5:21 in the morning but the temperature was already above seventy. The occupants of the car looked weary and exhausted. They had been driving since the day before and had only stopped the car to relieve themselves at a small gas station. 

     The youngest of those in the car was a small boy about the age of nine who was clutching a stuffed teddy bear as though his life depended on it. The boy had gotten the bear when he was barely a year old from his parents. His parents. Late last night there had been a call. It had been from the police to inform the family of Eddie and Lana Ellis that they had been in a car accident. They would be taken to a Catholic hospital in the city about six hours away to receive the best treatment possible. After that there had been a hurried frenzy to get in the car and go to the hospital. 

     Besides the boy there was an elderly couple, the boy's grandparents, the man had a white-knuckled grip on the wheel and the woman held a cell phone in her hand staring at it expectedly. Than the phone rang and everyone in the car jumped at the sudden sound. The woman raised it slowly to her ear. "Hello? Yes I'm Mrs. Ellis," a pause, "Is Eddie and Lana all right?" another pause longer this time, than the woman gave a slow nod. "Alright, we will be there within the hour," Click. The call ended. 

     Mrs. Ellis sat there silently for a moment before slowly turning to the boy. "That was the hospital, they called to say your mom is..." Her voice trailed off and she seemed to have a heard time saying the next words. "Joseph, your mom is...gone." The boy, Joseph, looked down and hugged his bear tighter. He was old enough to understand her words but didn't want to think about what they meant.

      Time seemed to pass quickly after that and within no time they were climbing out of the car and walking into the hospital. A nurse greeted them and led them to a room that seemed to reek of pain and death. There were two beds in the room but one was empty. The other bed held a man with unruly hair matted with blood. A long gash ran down the side of his face, narrowly missing his left eye. Joseph's father had been resting with his eyes closed as they walked in but when he heard the door open he had opened his eyes and looked over. Happiness and relief spread over his face when he saw his son.

      "Come here." He rasped and patted the bed softly. Joseph silently walked over still in shock over his father's horrible appearance. "I don't know if I'm going to make it." His father began voice trembling, "They're taking me in for surgery soon. If I don't make it, I-I need to be reassured you know something." Every word seemed to inflict even more pain onto the man but he kept going. "I love you, and your mother...she did too, but there was something we kept from you. Your mom she couldn't have children but she wanted one so bad. Joseph you need to know that you're adopted." The statement  replayed itself over in Joseph's head before he understood it. 

      "So you're not my real dad?" He asked his voice shaking, "And mommy wasn't my real mom?" His father only nodded slowly. Than he reached out and took Joseph's hand. "Remember, I have always loved you and I always will. You knowing this changes nothing, I will always be your father." 

      A few minutes later nurses came and wheeled him away. That was the last time Joseph saw his father. The time of death was 8:45 a.m. on July 12, 2014. Edward Ellis had died from a spinal cord injury inflicted upon him by a drunken driver. Lana Ellis had died three hours earlier from extensive bleeding. All within the space of a few hours Joseph Ellis had lost both his parents and yet gained the knowledge of another set he never knew he had.