26 All had passed*

In the hospital, a woman, who was soaked, wailed so pitifully that it broke the hearts of those who heard her cries. Her shaking hands held her phone as she spoke despite her broken sobs.

"No, I didn't mean it."

"I didn't want this... believe me."

  "Dad, believe me... Please, don't do this to me."

"Say something, Dad....."

"Dad… Dad." She called her dad on the phone, anxiously waiting for him to say something as she hiccuped.  However, instead of hearing his voice, she heard harsh brakes, a huge crash, and screams.

  Screams!

God knows how much time had passed before a male doctor shouted, "Male, 54 years old, had a car accident. Fractured sternum, fractured ribs and some were displaced and punctured lungs. Vitals dropping! Breathing difficulty. Emergency resuscitation cannot be done! Urgent surgery! FAST! MOVE!"

There was a moving stretcher passing by. The figure lying down was her father!

His face was red, painted by his own blood. His chest was broken and bleeding as he gasped, catching his breath. She ran after but she couldn't catch up as the stretcher entered the operating room and it closed.

"No! No, please, I beg you," Ira cried to God.

"Ira, wake up! You're having a nightmare," Hearing the familiar tender voice of her husband, the trembling Ira hugged him tightly.

"I am here."

"It was just a nightmare." 

"All has passed."

Vivan caressed Ira's cheeks lightly. Moments later, with her husband's comforting actions, she came back to her senses, "It was awful. I was scared..."

"Good. It's over now," Vivan stood up and assured Ira that he was just going to give her water to drink and the female reluctantly agreed. Filling a glass with water and handing it over to his wife, he said, ,"Drink this."

After Ira finished drinking, she hugged Vivan.

"Are you okay?" Vivan inquired as he gently rubbed his wife's back.

"Hmm," She gave him a weak smile.

It was a bad memory, and everything was over. 'All has passed… all has passed,' She repeated Vivan's words in her mind like a spell that calmed her.

Wide awake, they were talking about random things when suddenly, Ira blurted, "I'm hungry."

"Wifey, look at the time. It's 3 am. Who eats this early in the morning?"

"That is just for normal people and it's not applicable to us, isn't it, babies?" She stroked her baby bump as she spoke softly to her unborn babies. Clearly, the 'us' that she mentioned didn't include Vivan, it was only her and her babies.

"You convinced me," Vivan patted her cheeks. 

"Let's order a pizza!" Ira demanded.

"Wouldn't it be too heavy to digest it at night?" 

With a smile, Ira said, "Pasta with cream." 

"Isn't it as heavy as pizza?" 

"Then, what?" She snorted and answered in an irritated tone.

Vivan thought carefully for some time before he suggested, "How about soup?"

"Soup? Woah! The hotel will not offer soup this early! If we order delivery, it will get cold by the time it reaches here. So, pizza it is?" Ira refuted with a gleam.

"And why are we even arguing? It is already many against 1 for pizza. The majority wins."

"You mean the babies and you. How do you know they want to eat pizza? It can be a soup." 

"They said soup!" He placed his ear against her abdomen and stroked it. .

"The babies aren't able to hear you yet. Next month, they will hear outside noises. But then, we share our thoughts, so I know better. Pizza it is!" She laughed.

Vivan gave up and just ordered the pizza his wife wished to eat. 

The hotel didn't have any service at that time, so he ordered it online, though he had to go to the hotel lobby at 4 a.m. to collect the pizza. Ira was enthusiastically eating her pizza as she stroked her belly while Vivan watched her and worried about her heartburn problems.