A/N An alternative scene for Operation Murder, what if Jennifer discovered a secret after Jonathan left, how would she react? How would she explain it Jonathan?
After being snapped at by the patient in the wheelchair and going into the bathroom to change into the hospital, Jennifer could hear Jonathan pacing outside the door
"This is definitely a case for the inmates are running the asylum!, How you doing?" His voice full of concern
"Okay, would you just tie this" She said pointing to the gown, Thank God she'd remembered to put on a bra that morning, when they'd decided to go to the park with Freeway and she'd gotten dressed after they'd made love that morning and figured that if she was going to be running, she better at least put on a sports bra. "Whoever designed these things had to be sick with inspiration"
"Maybe they made it with you in mind" He said kissing her neck
"Darling, why don't you see if they have a room with a double bed" This wouldn't be the first or last time they would make love in a public place and she would feel so much better if he was with her, there were days when he went to work and she couldn't bear to handle the separation
"I already did, they were unavailable" He kissed her, "Come on, hop In", she climbed into the bed with the faded yellow blanket and white starchy sheets
"At least you get to sleep in our bed" She was envious, she wanted nothing more than to go home, eat whatever meal Max had cooked, curl up on the couch and be waited on by her favorite men in the world then climb up the stairs to their big bed and fall into it ..
"Well, it won't be the same without you..Freeway hogs the blankets" He smiled that dimple that made her heart skip a beat, he leaned over to kiss her and for a moment, she had forgotten she was in a hospital bed until a knock was heard on the door
"Oh excuse me Mrs. Hart, visiting hours are over, you'll have to say goodbye" a Nurse interrupted them
"Oh no!" Jennifer was so disappointed
"You get some rest, I'll be back first thing in the morning" Jonathan smiled at her, wishing he could climb into the bed with her …Maybe this was an overreaction on his part, a simple concussion didn't normal lead to a night in the hospital but he would have felt worse if they'd gone home and she'd gotten sick
Or worse
"You going to be alright" She was worried, she always worried when they had to be separated
"Don't worry, somehow Max and I will manage without you" He smiled, unaware of how those words somehow hurt "bye"
"Is Max your little boy" the Nurse asked
"Come to think of it, sometimes he acts as if he is." She had to laugh, when Jonathan came home without her, Max would probably sit up until the morning until he was able to see for himself that she was alright. Right now she'd give anything to hear that gruff voice scream at the Dodgers that their playing was costing him major bucks and that the bums weren't worth the scratch they were being paid.
The nurse handed her some pills and Jennifer was hesitant, anything that would make her lose her edge was out of the question, she needed to keep a level head.
Jonathan had taught her that much over the course of their marriage, that when you are blindsided, you are an open target but stay alert and one step ahead, you'll always be able to handle any situation.
"I don't think I need these" she tried to hand the pills back but the Head Nazi nurse, who'd given Jonathan a rough time over forms when they arrived, coldly answered
"Rules, Mrs. Hart"
"But I don't want to take these" she felt like a little kid
"Doctor's orders" the Nurse said harshly and put the railing up on the bed and stared Jennifer down until she swallowed the pills "That's a good girl"
"Could you move that phone closer?" Jennifer pointed to the telephone on the side table
The nurse stopped dead in her tracks and said, almost flinching "the phone's out of order, now you rest and if you need anything just press this call button" handing it to her and leaving.
Jennifer suddenly felt very alone, there was no TV in the room and no one to talk with, she was too wired up to sleep, she turned to look out the window and see the view but all she could see was the flashing ambulance lights as they come into the ER.
"Nice job Hart" She muttered to herself
The drugs soon took affect and she felt her body relax like she was floating.
A few hours later, she was awoken when the Doctor, who'd admitted her that afternoon, came in.
"Mrs. Hart! How is your head" he asked standing at the end of her bed, when she opened one eye and realized that the loud overhead lights on
"Like I've been hit with a line drive..Ow!" She struggled to sit up but the pain in her head prevented her from getting up too quickly
"That pain should subside soon, In the meantime we've been running some tests and I just have a few questions for you"
"Go ahead" She had nothing to hide but then fear shook her to her core.
What if the Doctor had found out something terrible? Should she wait until Jonathan arrived in the morning so they could both talk to the doctor? Her heart began to race
Maybe it was best she found out alone, that way she would be prepared to tell Jonathan and Max together and then she could figure out the next step.
"Mrs. Hart, Have you been tired lately? Moody?" The doctor sat down in a chair across from her, "Achy"
Jennifer flashed back to a few weeks earlier, when she'd been writing by the pool and fell asleep for hours, only waking up when Max was calling her in for dinner or when she and Jonathan had been making love in the laundry room when she'd started to hysterically cry and Jonathan was so concerned that he was hurting her, that he stopped before either of them were finished. Then there was the door incident.
They'd been having a romantic dinner on the back porch and Jonathan had to go back on a promise to take her to New York, that'd she had gotten up from the porch, exclaimed he was only interested in her body and then slammed the porch door so hard that the glass shattered and then she'd burst into tears even harder watching Max clean up the glass..Poor Jonathan had been so helpless and when he presented her with a ring and a token, she'd cried even harder but laughed when he said he admired her strength and god help anyone who tried to park her in a dark alley.
Before she'd fallen over that trash barrel and they'd gone to the park, she remembered that she'd felt like her period was going to start and that she needed to remind Max to pick up more pads, over the years, she'd grown more comfortable telling him to buy them instead of going out and just buying them herself.
"I have been tired, really tired but my husband and I lead very busy lives so I just chalked it up to that and stress with my job," She admitted
"Have you been eating unusual foods?"
She wasn't sure where this was going, was he calling her fat? There wasn't a chance of fat on her body, except for that one pair of pants she'd had trouble buttoning up but hadn't thought of any reason to be concerned until now
"Am I sick? What's wrong with me?" Jennifer normally wasn't so demanding but this line of questioning was making her nuts
"Ma'am, pending a blood test, I believe you are pregnant," The Doctor smiled
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you, who's pregnant?!" married five years, sex at least three times a day and no birth control, technically she should have been pregnant a long time ago but it never happened and a baby never crossed their minds, Freeway and Max were enough trouble to equal a kid
Panic rose in her throat, but she managed to croak out "how far along?"
"About six weeks,"
"Oh my god," She remembered exactly when this baby was conceived, Jonathan had surprised her with a trip to the beach and had set up a picnic with a blanket and champagne, the night had gotten colder and they wrapped the blanket around them and then suddenly they were making love on the cold sand with the water just at their feet and when they fell asleep in each other's arms, she hadn't even thought of a form of birth control at the time.
"I take it, you weren't planning on becoming pregnant," The doctor noticed the panic written on her face, "You do have options if you choose not to continue with this pregnancy,"
"No I.. just need time to process this" She couldn't breathe, The room started spinning and suddenly everything went black
"Mrs. Hart! Mrs. Hart!" The doctor pushed the code blue button, "I need a heart monitor, a fetal monitor, get me some warm saline solution and someone call Mr. Hart!"
Jonathan was at home, struggling to fall asleep, it was so hard, knowing that his whole life was in the hospital, maybe he should have brought her home and had a doctor check her out at here. He'd finally gotten into a deep enough sleep that he didn't hear the phone ring beside his head but he did feel someone kissing his face.
"Oh Darling, I love when you surprise me at night," He mumbled as the kissing intensified, he reached out to feel her face, expecting to feel her soft face and thick red hair but she felt different, her nose was longer and furrier..
Furrier?!
Jonathan opened one eye to find a snout and two brown eyes staring back at him
"Oh Freeway!" He was disgusted and slightly amused, this would make Jennifer laugh..how he'd nearly gotten to first base with their mutt."Two words Dude..Tic Tac!"
Max suddenly pounded on the door, "Mr. H! Phone!"
Jonathan picked up the extension, but all he could make out was because of background noise "Jennifer, come now ..trouble!" He slammed the phone down and quickly got dressed, Max yelling behind asking what happened but not getting any answers.
He raced to the hospital, She was supposed to be there for a simple concussion, what could have possibly gone wrong?! He wouldn't remember the drive or even how he managed to get into the hospital parking lot, his mind was racing a million miles an hour, with every possible scenario, from a mistake to comas to only things the imagination come up with in a millisecond.
He also wouldn't remember that he forgot to turn the car off or even to set the handbrake until the next morning.
He raced to the front desk at the hospital and breathlessly asked where his wife was, the secretary gave him a sad look and directed him to the fourth floor, he nearly broke his neck running to the elevators and skidded on the floor.
The elevators were moving much too slow for him and when he spotted the staircase, he ran up the four flights and went nearly took himself out opening the door on his face.
He went to the nurses station, "Jennifer Edwards Hart" he barked
The nurse buzzed the doctor, who quickly came around the corner, "Mr. Hart, please come with me"
"What's happened with my wife?!"
"Just come with me, Sir," The doctor showed Jonathan into a private office, Jonathan's heart climbed into his throat
"Mr. Hart, your wife has sustained a cardiac event and was deprived of oxygen for a bit of time, we'll conduct more tests to see if any damage has occurred to her brain or lungs, what we're most concerned about is the baby"
"What baby?" Jonathan was still wrapping his mind around the idea that his wife might have brain damage.
"Your baby, Mr. Hart. "