I was in shock and by the time they wheeled us into the emergency room I was starting to lose consciousness. Just before I went out, I glanced at Maggie on her gurney. She was out. Then I looked for Layla. She was still in the arms of the nurse, and as I looked into Layla’s eyes I felt a wave of peace enter my body and I knew that somehow we were all going to be okay.

The next thing I remember was hearing Maggie’s voice. I heard her saying, “Baby, are you awake? Are you okay?”

I slowly opened my eyes to the vision of my beautiful wife and child. For a moment I couldn’t remember why we were in a hospital room, then I felt the hornet stings and it all came flooding back.

“What a nightmare!” I said.

“Unbelievable!” Maggie said.

“You were stung forty-seven times, baby,” she said. “You were so brave to stay behind for Sam.
They got me ten times, not too bad, considering,” Maggie said.

“The entire hospital staff is talking about Layla, though. Not one sting,” she said.

“What about Sam?” I asked.