Part 1

Not Easily Broken: A Novel
by Bishop T. D. Jakes

After years of disagreeing about what true happiness, success, and love really is, Dave and Clarice Johnson finally face the breaking point of their marriage. When Clarice's leg is crushed in a car wreck, the obvious truth that more than just her injuries need immediate attention is finally exposed.

Clarice and Dave have differing opinions on what it means to be successful and to live a meaningful life. Dave is satisfied coaching little league and running a janitorial service; Clarice is driven by her quest to climb the social ladder. Dave is satisfied coaching little league and running a janitorial service. Dave feels at home in his blue jeans and pick-up truck. Clarice is a designer label-luxury car kind of woman.

After Clarice sustains injuries in a car accident, the constant presence of her physical therapist, Julie, and the mentoring relationship between Dave and Julie's son create strife that quickly moves the Johnson's marriage to crisis. Clarice and Dave struggle to find restoration as they learn the importance of promises made and kept - and the truth that help sometimes comes from unlikely places.

Chapter 1

By the time Dave Johnson saw the oncoming headlights it was too late to do anything but hold on and pray. He jammed his foot onto the brake pedal and twisted the wheel to the left, but the blur of steel and glass still came straight for the passenger side of his pickup.

It was weird. One part of his mind knew things were happening in split seconds, but everything also seemed to slow down, like an instant replay where the sportscasters try to show whether the receiver's foot was or wasn't inbounds when he caught the ball. Dave heard Clarice screaming as the oncoming car slammed into the side of his Club Cab. Tortured metal squealed and there was a crunch as the safety glass in the passenger window disintegrated. Dave felt the air whoosh from his lungs as his chest slammed into the shoulder harness; the pickup skidded sideways and the tires screamed against the pavement.

Finally, everything stopped moving. Dave's fingers were jerky and uncertain from the adrenaline pouring through his body, but somehow he thumbed the button on his seat belt. He pulled the latch and shoved against his door. To his surprise, it swung open easily, as if nothing had happened. The damage must be completely on the passenger's side. Clarice!

He leaned toward her. "Baby! You okay? Clarice?" Her eyes were closed and her head lay back on the headrest, her face turned toward him. Dave's heart crowded up under his Adam's apple. He put his hand on her neck, then her chest, feeling for a pulse, for breathing, for anything. "Clarice, honey! Wake up, baby!" There . . . her chest rose and fell. She was breathing. Relief flooded through Dave like cold water rushing over parched ground. She was alive. But why wouldn't she wake up?

Dave got out of the truck and ran around to the passenger side. He sucked in a breath. The right side, from the passenger door to halfway across the front quarter panel, was completely caved in. His wife must be pinned inside the vehicle. Someone was grabbing at him, talking to him.

"Oh my Lord, man, I'm so sorry!" Dave pulled his eyes away from the pickup and looked into the pale, scared face of a kid who might be as old as seventeen. He had his cap turned backward and the ragged, sleeveless T-shirt he was wearing said something about not caring so much about reality. His chin had a few stray reddish-blond hairs sprouting from it, the beginnings of a beard.

"Man, I tried to stop, I swear to God. Was the light red? Oh God, man, are you okay?"

"You got a cell phone?" Dave said. The kid nodded.

"Call 911." "Okay, man, but are you okay?"

"Just dial it! My wife's in there and she can't get out." "Oh, sweet Jesus-" "Dial the phone!"

The kid's head bobbed up and down. "Yeah, sure, okay." He tugged a palm-sized silver phone out of his pocket, flipped it open, and started punching buttons.

People were coming out of the grocery store located at one corner of the intersection. Somebody was trying to direct traffic around the scene. Another onlooker peered into Clarice's window. Dave turned back to his pickup.

"I saw the whole thing," a man said while coming up behind Dave. "You had the green light. The kid never even slowed down. Probably high or drunk or something."

"My wife's in there and I think she's pinned," Dave called, running around to the driver's side. In the distance, he heard a siren. He crawled back inside and realized the pickup's engine was still running. He switched it off and leaned over his wife, cupping the crown of her head in his hand.

Shouldn't move her, in case of spinal injuries. She's breathing, thank you, Jesus. Is she in shock? What do you do for somebody in shock? When's the ambulance gon' get here? Is gas leaking out under the truck? Hope somebody makes sure that kid don't run off. Are the paramedics here yet? Is my wife dying?

He stroked her cheek. "Clarice? Boo, I'm here with you. Baby girl, can you wake up?"

Her lips moved and she let out a low moan. Her eyes shifted back and forth beneath closed eyelids.

"Clarice? Baby, can you hear me?" The moan was louder this time. Her eyelids fluttered, then opened. Dave thought she was looking at him. "Hey, Reesie. That you?" He tried to smile.

Clarice moaned again, and this time the sound swelled and climbed the scale all the way to a scream.

"David, my leg, my leg! Lord Jesus have mercy, David, I think my leg must be broken!" She clawed at him and shoved uselessly against the mangled door pressing in against her right side.

Copyright © 2006 by TDJ Enterprises, LLP

About the Author

Bishop T. D. Jakes is the author of several books, including the bestsellers The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord; Maximize the Moment; His Lady; Loose That Man and Let Him Go!; and Woman, Thou Art Loosed!, which is also the basis for a bestselling video and CD. His weekly television broadcast, Get Ready with T. D. Jakes, airs on Trinity Broadcasting Network and Black Entertainment Television, and in Europe and South Africa. Recently named one of the nation?s most influential minister by The New York Times, Jakes is the founder and pastor of The Potter's House in Dallas.