Torrey's tubes and lines were removed and Jill cradled the boy in her arms. Dave threw his arms around them. The Scholzes at least had a few minutes more with their child.

Jill kept wondering if Torrey had died yet. But as Dave sat there, waiting for his child to die, he couldn't help but have feelings of deja vu. He thought about his father, whom he looked up to more than anybody. Paul Scholz passed away at age 55 after a bout with cancer in October 1992. "Almost one year and two months before that, we all held my father's hand before he died. And I fell apart into pieces," Dave said. He would relive that experience upon being told that Torrey died, about 9:20 p.m. The parents the baby never got to know broke down. There were the usual feelings of guilt, shock, denial and disbelief.

I leaned in to get a quick glance at the tiniest child I had ever laid eyes on. I know I was only looking for probably only 20 or 30 seconds. But it easily could have been hours, as the image remains seared onto my brain.

In fact, Jill forced the sad subject out of her mind so strongly that it took her three years to pull some of Torrey's baby clothes, snapshots and other keepsakes from the closet. Looking back on Torrey's death, Jill remembered being left alone "for a long time. It sure seemed like a long time. I don't even think I realized what was happening, when it was happening."

The nurses took Torrey away from them. At that moment, the Scholzes shifted all of their attention and focus onto their baby boy who was still alive. They pulled the curtain back, and moved their chairs next to Derrick's isolette. Somehow, it was like crossing back over the line of life. Jill and Dave sat with Derrick and assured him he was going to make it. The parents were determined that he would.

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