Scott Wittenburg - See Tom Run

Tom realized that his voice had trailed off and he had to force himself to maintain his composure. It wasn’t easy.

“Oh, Tom-” Tracy said. “That is so sad.”

“Well, I won’t sit here and pretend that this news didn’t hurt. Not only did it mean that I would never know my child, but I realized that I was the reason she had an abortion. I hadn’t made any effort to hear her out, or to even consider the possibility that this was my flesh and blood we were talking about. Nope, instead I just basically told her too bad, so sad and went on my merry way. And look what happened. That baby never had a chance.”

Tracy placed a hand on Tom’s shoulder. “God, Tom. This is horrible. But you can’t totally blame yourself for this. She made the decision not to keep the child, not you.”

“No, I helped her make the decision by default. By not giving a shit or even acting like I gave a shit. That’s what iced it.”

They both fell silent. Tom took a drink of beer and shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. Tracy stared at the window, lost in thought. A few moments later, Tom spoke.

“When I drove back to Columbus, all I could think of was you and how I was not going to let this happen again. All I wanted to do was tell you that I would be a father to our baby and that I didn’t care what happened as a result. I tried to call you several times but only got your voicemail. I went straight to your apartment and that’s when I realized that those bastards had taken you.”

Tom looked intently into Tracy’s eyes. She put her arms around him and they embraced. He could hear her crying softly as her body heaved against his. He resisted his own urge to cry for a moment, then relented. He didn’t care. They were tears of relief.

He faced the girl and smiled. “You may not believe this, but I haven’t felt this good in a long, long time. For once, I feel complete. I know that I’m doing the right thing for a change. And it feels good.”

Tracy said, “You don’t know how much this means to me, Tom. I’ve been so down and beside myself since all of this happened. I blamed myself for much of this-I knew that we should have been more careful, but I didn’t do or say anything about it. I started feeling cheap and unworthy of any joy. But right now, I couldn’t be any happier. Thank you so much.”

“Please don’t thank me-I don’t deserve it. Do you realize that I almost got you killed by not listening to you in the first place? And Molly Barnes? None of that would have ever happened if we had gone to the cops like we should have. I was an idiot! All I thought about was myself and how this was going to ruin me. I still can’t believe I was that damn selfish.”

“I must confess, I was appalled at how self-centered you were being. It just wasn’t right, our playing mute while that man went scot-free after raping some poor girl and dropping her off like she was so much garbage.”

“That’s what I’m saying-I should burn in hell for being such a heartless bastard!”

“But Tom, you’re forgetting something. You have more than atoned for what you’ve done. As it turns out, you were responsible for busting a drug ring that would have resulted in more violence and god only knows how many more victims.”

“That’s not necessarily true.”

“Come on-give yourself some credit! The paper said that the cops have been trying to nail that doctor on drug charges for a long time. You were the reason they were able to finally nab him.”

“I’ll admit I’m happy about that. But it doesn’t lessen the hell I put everyone through by being so damn obstinate. I just wish I’d listened to you in the first place, that’s all.”

A moment of silence fell. Tracy suddenly took Tom by the hand and placed it over her tummy.

“I think we should call her Erin, if it’s a girl,” she said.

Tom smiled and replied, “That would be a fitting name.”

Tracy said, “More than just fitting. Don’t you see, Tom? This little person living inside of me is the Erin you’ve been looking for since you had your dream. It has just taken you this long to realize it.”

Tom considered Tracy’s words and experienced an epiphany.

Her words rang absolutely true.

He had indeed finally found the elusive Erin.