Special thanks to Jamie and Dayle for giving me permission to use their characters. I hope I did them justice. Epilogue to follow.
All Portal related mentions are copyright to VAVLe, Dr. Sweet Georgia Peach belongs to SkirtForScience, and Buddy of course belongs to AskBuddy. Story is mine, enjoy. :)
WARNING: This contains the extremely graphic scene of a very gory miscarriage. If you have any problems with this, then please DO NOT read on.
Buddy's Origins
To say this whole ordeal was taking a toll on Caroline would be an understatement. Never in a million years, would he have suspected it. He was Cave Johnson dammit, and things were supposed to go his way.
Not like this.
Sadly, it was this way. He'd never had a pregnant wife before, or a wife for that matter, so when the pain had escalated so much as to have her doubled over her desk, small, muffled whimpering sounds coercing their way out of her mouth, Cave forced her to see a doctor.
He knew cramps were to be expected, but surely nothing like this. He'd told her to stay home, and rest, that science would still be there when the baby was born, but she'd insisted.
"Caroline, this is absurd," he told her after the pain had subsided, pulling her into his lap. She had just cleared nine weeks and a small bump had begun to form on her stomach.
"It shouldn't be this bad, not now."
Cave reached for the phone she kept on her desk, but before he could dial the number, she had pried it from his grasp and replaced it gently in the receiver. Caroline did NOT like doctors…well most of them anyway.
There were those irritating, uptight snobs who only cared about getting paid and didn't bother treating you like an adult. Then there were the mostly brilliant minds of his facility who gave everyone their deserved respect, but they didn't really count as doctors….or did they?
"Look Caroline, I can't have you spending valuable research time keeling over in pain. You need to see someone."
She opened her mouth to protest, but he quickly held up a hand to stop her.
"If you won't go see a professional, then I at least want you to let Dr. Georgia take a look at you."
Caroline's features softened immediately and she seemed to relax a little as she pondered this. Dr. Georgia definitely wasn't one of those insensitive creeps who seemed to have forgotten common courtesy. She was quite the opposite really, and to be honest Caroline had begun to think of them as friends of some sort. After a few moments she nodded, producing a smile from her husband.
"That's my girl," he said as he kissed her lightly and reached for the phone once more.
o o o
Dr. Peach grinned as she unzipped the body bag that had been deposited in her morgue. It was larger than the others, the corpse having bloated to more than twice the normal size and was raising a stink thick enough to clear the room, probably due to the enormous puss-filled blisters that covered every visible inch of skin. She'd seen worse.
The doctor had just taken a scalpel to the cadaver, slicing into the chest cavity when the phone rang. Sighing, she grabbed the receiver with a towel and balanced it between her ear and shoulder, wiping her hands as she went.
"Medical, Dr. Georgia Peach speakin'."
"Dr. Peach, just the dame I was looking to talk to. Cave Johnson here."
"Hello there, Mr. Johnson sir," she said, brightening immediately. "What can I do ya for?"
"Look Dr. Peach, Caroline's been having some problems lately, but I can't get her to see a doctor for the life of me, and since she seems to like you…" he trailed off, not used to discussing such personal matters with his employees.
"Ya wanted me ta' have a look see?" The doctor offered helpfully.
"Exactly."
"Well that's just fine. Gimme about twenty minutes ta tie up this here autopsy, an' you can send her on down."
"Will do, and thanks, I owe ya' one."
"Well it's my pleasure, Mr. Johnson."
o o o
Caroline arrived in the surprisingly spotless morgue to find Dr. Georgia signing the final papers on a cause of death report.
"Hello Miss Caroline! Just gimme one minute, and I'll be right with ya," Dr. Georgia said with a smile.
Caroline had only ever been in the morgue once or twice, either sending out assignments or taking up data, but she'd never actually looked at the place. It was fairly large, white-walled and sterile, with a long row of tables and a drain in the middle of the floor. She shivered, not entirely sure if it was the cold or the atmosphere of the place. It almost smelled too clean.
"There we go," drawled Dr. Peach, shaking Caroline from her thoughts as she tosses the sealed envelope onto the table. "Shall we?" she asked, gesturing to a door that Caroline's never seen. It read;
Dr. Sweet Georgia Peach
Head Medical Examiner
The doctor gave her another reassuring smile, and the two headed in. Much to Caroline's surprise, the room held a very homey looking office. A large mahogany desk much like her own with a comfortable looking chair behind it, a couch with a couple of throw pillows, a floor lamp, a nice rug….the only thing that stood out was a large, very life-like looking bear standing in the corner. Caroline examined it, offering no other comments.
"Ya like?" Dr. Peach grinned, walking over to pet the stuffed beast. "It was one of tha' last things my daddy and I taxedermized togetha' before I went off ta' medical school. Ain't he precious?"
Caroline bit back a laugh as she continued to look around the office. More than five degrees hung above the couch and a tapestry is on the wall across from the bear.
"Oh, where are my manners? Care for some coffee, Miss Caroline?"
"Why thank you, yes."
"How do ya take it?"
"Black's fine….what exactly are we going to…" Caroline asked, her voice trailing off.
"I'll tell ya what," Georgia said, settling into the love seat. "Why dont'cha sit yer pretty little rear on this here couch, and we'll just talk for a while. Sound good?"
Caroline nodded and lowered herself onto the seat, taking the mug from Dr. Peach with one hand, and smoothing her skirt over her legs with the other. Dr. Georgia was relieved. Personally, she didn't like the idea of pokin' and proddin' around on Miss Caroline; she was her boss, after all, and there were just some things you did not need to know about your employers.
The two talk for a while, agreeing that Caroline would come see her twice a week for coffee, but they would keep the physical stuff to a minimum, so long as Caroline promises to tell if she has any more problems or pain.
o o o
The next two weeks pass by smoothly as the women chat; sometimes in Dr. Georgia's office, others in Caroline's over coffee or occasionally lunch and they gradually become more comfortable with each other. They had only just returned to the morgue before all hell began to break loose.
Dr. Georgia's heart nearly stops as she sees her boss lurch forward, gripping the end of an examination table.
"You alright, darlin'?" she asks, placing a reassuring hand on her back. Caroline only shakes her head, closing her eyes to the pain.
"Come to think of it, you have been actin' stranger than a tomcat when a storm's a'brewin'," Dr. Georgia muses to herself, and Caroline had. She'd hardly picked at her sandwich today, and sipped at her lemonade like it was an unwanted medicine.
"What's tuggin' at ya, honey?" The silence continues and the doctor becomes visibly frustrated.
"Miss Caroline, you have ta' talk to me, or I can't help you!"
Another moment passes before she finally speaks.
"…I've been bleeding," She whispers finally.
"You shoulda' told me!" Doctor Georgia exclaims, taking Caroline by the shoulders.
"How much? How long?"
"It was just a little spotting that started yesrter-" Caroline began before she's cut off by a wave a pain, forcing a cry from her throat. She clutches her stomach desperately, tears beginning to spring in her eyes.
"No…."
Dr. Peach grunts under the unexpected load of weight as Caroline's legs give out. The two slowly sink to the floor together as another contraction hits her and she grasps for something to hold onto, finding Dr. Peaches hand.
"Well Hell's Bells," Dr. Peach whispers to herself as she sees a good amount of blood gushing onto the floor from beneath Caroline's skirt.
"Miss Caroline, we have to get you to a bathroom."
"I-I can't. Doctor Georgia, this can't be happening."
"Shhhh, it's alright, we'll get through this," she whispers, smoothing Caroline's hair back from her forehead, slightly damp with sweat.
She screams again, and in that same moment Dr. Georgia takes Caroline into her arms, bursting through the swinging doors of the morgue. As if someone's flipped a switch, she springs into action, sprinting down the hallway, barking orders right and left.
"Her body's rejecting tha' fetus, I'm gonna need towels. Somebody get Mr. Johnson NOW!" A younger-looking lab technician, probably an intern dashes for the stairway as she looks to the nearest bathroom, bursting in and setting her boss gently on the nearest toilet, taking her wrists in her hands.
"Caroline, look at me, darlin,' I know it hurts, but I'm gonna need you ta' breathe for me, okay? Come on now honey, breathe."
Caroline only shakes her head, sobbing, tears streaming down her face. Her body goes ridged on another contraction and she digs her nails into Dr. Georgia's forearms.
I shut my eyes as I felt something slip out of me. 'This can't be real, this can't be real. I want to die.'
Her eyes snap open with a jolt, and suddenly, everything was still. She leans forward; closing her eyes again and resting her head on Dr. Georgia's shoulder as deep, heaving sobs began to wrack her body.
"I'm so sorry, Caroline," she whispers, rubbing her back soothingly.
Minutes later, Mr. Johnson enters the bathroom, demanding to know what was going on, but his tirade quickly fades at the sight of his wife.
"What the hell, happened," he asked a little more gently, taking Caroline into his arms.
"Get her ta the infirmary; I'll be over to explain everything later."
"Did she..?"
She nods, and Mr. Johnson is silent for a moment before he goes.
A few moments pass before Dr. Georgia realizes that she's just been sitting there, lost in thought. She's not usually one to linger over these things. She dealt with death every day, looking into countless bodies, trying to figure out why they died the way they did, but as to the people themselves, who once housed the bodies she worked so diligently over, well…..she learned to push those thoughts away a long time ago. The person knew in full that they could very well die for the cause of Science when they signed up for these tests, and usually the emotional aspect was ruled out, but this was different. She knew Miss Caroline, and while she wouldn't certainly die from this….she looked to the toilet and shuttered….someone else had.
The doctor sighs, replacing the mental block she had established all those years ago when she first came to Aperture. There was work to be done.
She gingerly lifts the sack from the bowl, ignoring that she could very well see the fetus through the clear membrane, and placed it in a box, handing it off to her second in command.
"See that this gets taken care of." The scientist nods somberly, heading off in the opposite direction.
After instructing a janitor to deal with the stall, she returns to her morgue, grabbing a bottle and a rag from her stores. She wrinkles her nose as the stench of straight up bleach hits her nose. She tries not to think too much as she wipes down the linoleum floor slowly and methodically, but the thoughts keep flooding back to her mind.
"Well, my mama always did say that cleanin' time was thinkin' time," she mused to herself.
She grabbed a fresh rag and doused the floor again as worry began to fill her thoughts.
She knew Caroline would be fine physically speaking…but emotionally, that was tougher n' a pair of tan hide boots to go through. Sure Miss Caroline was a trooper all her own, being the backbone of the facility and whatnot, but you can only hold in your personal problems for so long.
Content with her job, Dr. Georgia caps the bottle, replacing it in the store room and grabbing the extra set of clothes she keeps on a neat hanger. After ridding herself of any blood, and trashing her last outfit, she pulls on a fresh lab coat and heads for the elevator.
o o o
Cave Johnson sighed, settling into one of the chairs by the hospital bed. The doctors were reluctant to let Caroline shower by herself, but she emerged, steamy and clear of all remnants of the horrible thing that had just happened after only a few minutes. Cave knew that look. He'd seen it only once or twice, but he knew it to be the look she gave when she was determined not to cry. He opened his arms.
"C'mere," he whispered and she flung herself into him with a sob. The two sat, crying and wiping each other's tears before she finally drifted off to sleep, exhausted.
Cave had just shut his eyes when he heard a soft knock at the door, looking up just in time to see Dr. Peach stick her head in the room. He waved her in and she shut the door, glancing first at the sleeping form in the bed, then to her boss who stood and straightened his tie.
"How is she?"
"The doctors said she'd be okay, if shaken up."
Dr. Peach nodded, glancing back at Caroline who's begun to stir.
"How the hell did this happen?" Cave asked.
She bit her lip.
"Sometimes a mother's body will reject tha' pregnancy if her blood type is opposite ta' her baby's; fer example, Caroline's blood bein' negative and the baby's bein' positive. The two weren't compatible and her body saw the fetus as a threat, and tried to rid itself of it."
"…but that's preventable, isn't it?"
"Well of course, with a certain vaccination. I should have seen the signs sooner, I-"
"HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?"
"Mr. Johnson, my mamma and daddy raised me right, so I take full responsibility fer my royal screw up, but I will not have you speak ta' me like that, not in here with Miss Caroline ten feet away."
"You said she would be fine, you lied."
"She lied, she didn't tell me something was wrong."
"IT'S YOUR FAULT THIS HAPPENED!"
"IT'S NO ONE'S FAULT."
The two jerked their heads over to see Caroline sitting up in bed, pale and puffy eyed.
"No one's but mine," she said a bit quieter.
"Oh honey," Dr. Peach whispered, going to perch on the edge of the bed. "It is not your fault. You can't really perceive these things, its tha' doctor who has ta' notice."
"Dr. Peach, I need to see you in the hall," Mr. Johnson muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
She patted Caroline's hand before following her boss into the hallway, shutting the door as Caroline yells, "Don't you fire her, Cave!"
Out in the hall, Dr. Peach opened her mouth to speak, but is quickly stopped by Cave as he holds up a hand, running the other through his hair.
"Look, I'm Sorry. Emotions are running everywhere. Why don't you… why don't you talk the rest of day off? I'll call you if there are any problems. "
She pondered this for a moment before nodding curtly.
"Don't hesitate ta' get a hold of me, I always answer my phone," she says, heading towards the elevators once more.
"Will do," he called after her.
o o o
In the weeks that pass, Caroline returns to work, but says little and seems to just be 'going through the motions,' a shadow of her former, lively self. Cave, at a loss, has tried everything. Buying her things, taking her out to dinner sometimes just to make sure she's eating, even okaying the purchase on the raw materials for an experiment she had excitedly proposed at the last meeting. Nothing seems to bring her back. He sighs, leafing through the newspaper when something catches his eye. Taking the ad, he grabs the phone and dials the front desk.
"Hello, Mrs. Klein? Cave Johnson here. I want you to find someone to cover you and meet me in my office in ten minutes," he grins into the phone, folding the paper and stuffing it into his suit pocket. "I need you to pick something up for me."
o o o
That afternoon, Caroline sits at her desk, going over the data of an experiment, when she hears a knock at her door.
"Caroline, honey, ya' got a minute?" Cave asks, only sticking his head through the opening.
"What is it, dear? I'm busy," she mumbles, keeping her eyes on her work.
He laughs, sounding like he's struggling with something on the other side of the door.
"Stay," he whispers.
"What was that?"
"Nothing- Caroline, I've got someone I'd like you to meet," he grins. She looks at him expectantly and stands, stepping towards the door.
"Catch," he says, bouncing a tennis ball in her direction. She grabs it just as a gorgeous English cocker spaniel comes streaking into the room, eager for his ball. She tosses it to him, giggling at the adorable bandana tied around his neck, and for the first time in almost a month, Caroline smiles.
"Oh Cave, he's wonderful." She kneels to stroke his white and grey coat. "What's his name?" She coos to the dog, scratching him behind the ears.
"I thought I'd let you take care of that," he says, walking over to join her.
She ponders this for a minute, fingering the bandana, noticing it has a pink heart on the front.
"How about Buddy?" She smiles over at her husband lovingly.
"Perfect."