-1CHAPTER TWO

Disclaimer: I forgot to put this in before. ABC owns them, not me.

"She's going into cardiac arrest! I need 50cc's of epinephrine and the crash cart stat!" Michael shouted. He injected Jessica with the epinephrine. No change. Michael and the other doctors quickly applied those shock paddles. After the third try, Jessica's heart began beating again. With a sigh of relief all around, they continued the surgery.

Twenty minutes later, Dr. Harrison had removed the right lobe of David's liver and had sewn him back up. She then turned her attention onto Jessica, while Paige remained focused on David. His condition had deteriorated even in that short time. She quickly began administering the treatment, praying that she wasn't too late.

"Dorian, I don't know how much longer I can just stand around here." Clint said nervously. "I'm going to see if I can find a doctor, who'll tell me what's going on."

"Clint, I'm sure everything is under control. This is a fairly straight-forward operation. They're going to remove part of David's liver, and put it into Jessica. It's just like last time."

"Last time, the hospital blew up."

"You may have a point there." Dorian took Clint's hand. "Listen, Jessica is going to be just fine. After all, she has you for a father."

"What about her mother?"

"Let's just say I've decided that since I don't have anything nice to say; I won't say anything at all." Miles observed this scene and then put an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"Isn't it amazing how a crisis brings people closer together? It must be nice to go into surgery, knowing all these people care enough to be there for you."

"Yeah, Jessica is so lucky." Marty said sarcastically, pulling away from him in disgust. "What the hell is wrong with you? In case you didn't notice, this isn't a game here!"

"I just mean it must be nice for Jessica having so many people who love her. That guy--Nash, he seems really devoted to his wife. The way I see it, when you get married, you owe a certain loyalty to your spouse. Especially when you consider the alternative."

"What? Prison? At this point, death would be a better alternative than being married to you!"

"Well, I'm not so sure that Cole would agree to that."

"Don't you ever mention my son's name again! Now get the hell away from me!" Marty said fiercely. Miles gave her a wounded look, and then did as she requested. There has to be someway I can make her do what I want, he thought to himself. Suddenly inspiration struck. Miles took out his cell phone.

"Damn! Voicemail. Hi, this is Miles Lawrence. I wanted to talk to you about adoption laws in Pennsylvania."

Just as Miles was finishing his call, Paige stepped into the waiting room. Everyone gathered around her, eager for information.

"Well, Paige? Is my daughter going to be OK?" Clint demanded.

"Are you sure you don't want to get Viki first?" Paige asked.

"No, she's in the chapel. Just tell me and I'll tell her." Paige looked doubtful for a moment and then nodded.

"OK, there were some problems in surgery. Jessica's heart stopped. We were able to get it going again." Paige added hastily seeing how Clint's face had paled. "But we were able to complete the transplant successfully. So far Jessica's body shows no signs of rejecting David's liver. I can't make any guarantees, of course, but it's my belief that your daughter is going to be just fine."

"Thank God for that." Clint said hoarsely.

"Yes, thank God for that." Dorian echoed. "And to think this is all thanks to David of all people. When will I be able to see him? What? What is it?"

"Dr. Lord, about David."

"Yes, what about him? Where is he? I want to see him." Dorian demanded, beginning to be afraid of the look on Paige's face.

"I'm afraid the news about David isn't so good."