"So, what's wrong with my husband, Doctor?" Grace's voice asked, sounding like it came from a long tunnel.
"It's malaria. It comes from being bitten by mosquitoes. You're husband probably feels pretty bad right about now, but we've given him medicine and he's drinking water to stop the illness," the doctor said, writing something on a paper and leaving the room.
"Peter, I'm here, Baby," Grace said, laying her head on his shoulder.
"Grace," Peter moaned, feebly touching her hair.
"It's all right. I'm here. And Mom and Dad are going to be here soon. I called them when the ambulance picked us up," Grace said.
"I love you," Peter said softly.
"I love you too. Now go to sleep. The doctor says you're very ill," Grace said, pressing her lips to his firmly. Apparently she didn't care that kissing him might make her sick.
Once she made sure Jason was asleep, Grace decided she was hungry and wanted something to eat but then she remembered that her purse along with her id, was still in the plane that went down.
"Grace, if you want something to eat, there's still money in my wallet I keep in my pocket", mumbled Jason in his sleep He knew his wife would be hungry right about now.
Grace got out Jason's wallet and sure enough found some money in there enough to to give them both something to eat. She took out a twenty, and walked to the Cafeteria to get her something to eat. Grace ordered a Tuna fish salad sandwich and some fries. Later when Jason felt better, she would get him something to eat. Grace at in the cafeteria while waiting on the Dukes to arrive.
Duke. She now had that last name. Peter had married her as Jason Duke instead of Peter O' malley. To him that just sounded better than o Malley. And Grace agreed. It felt so good just to be able to eat something. She couldn't believe how close they had come to death in the plane crash. Life was just so fragile thought Grace.
It was a complete miracle they survived the plane crash thought Grace. God had spared them for a reason and she was ever grateful.
When Grace finished, she walked back to Jason's room with a soda and found the Dukes already in there, "I'm back, how is he doing?" she asked worried about her husband.
Sarah hugged Grace tightly. "He's doing all right, Sweetheart. We just got here," Sarah said, cupping Grace's face gently with her hands.
"How'd it happen, Grace?" Nathan asked.
"I don't know. The engines started giving us trouble and we went down. Jason came back for me after he opened the plane door. I can't swim so I couldn't help him," Grace said, touching Jason's face gently.
"The nurse said it was malaria. How?" Sarah asked, concern in her brown eyes.
"Mosquito bites," Grace said as Jason woke up.
"Mom? Dad?" Jason asked, his teeth chattering as if he was freezing and he looked at Nathan and Sarah.
"How are you feeling, Baby?" Sarah asked, touching his forehead with her hand.
"I can't stop shaking," Jason said. Grace grabbed an extra blanket and put it on him.
"Thank you," Jason said weakly as Sarah held a cup of water to his mouth.
"You sure scared us, Son," Nathan said, squeezing Jason's shoulder.
"Sorry," Jason said. Jason was awake for a few more minutes before he fell back asleep. Sarah and Nathan went to get some coffee as Grace sat down next to Jason and gently rubbed his hand clutched in hers.
Grace sighed as she watched Jason sleep in his hospital bed and hold his hand in hers. She felt really bad that he had to be the one that got sick during all of this. This was suppose to be the happiest honeymoon for them ever, and then the plane crash happened. Oh well thought Grace. The Honeymoon wasn't that important, what mattered now was that Jason had to get well. They could always do a Honeymoon later when he was well.She watched him sleep and talked with the Dukes for awhile.
When supper came around Grace got hungry again and went to eat with Jason's parents. They begged her to come with him and to get some fresh air too. Grace rode with them to a nearby restaurant Taco Bell. She was surprised at how rich his family was, yet they still ate out like everyone else. Grace orded a Taco Salad and a diet coke. Her and the Dukes began talking.
Then that was when Grace froze, there behind the Dukes sitting near the window was Daniel. He smirked and began to walk over. "Well well, we meet again Gracie", he said in a nickname she hated. Grace did not like the nickname Gracie, instead she preferred to be called Grace.
"Don't call me that, Daniel", Grace said in a tone the Dukes never heard her use before.
Daniel checked her over. Gracie hadn't changed a bit. She was still sexy as ever, and had a whole new look to her."You know,
I was thinking, we should go out for a meal sometime, catch up on things".
"I think not! Daniel, your suppose to stay far from me. I had a restraining order against you! And, I am now happily married to a FBI Agent, I'm not about to go running around on my husband who I love very much!" she said looking at the Dukes terrified of Daniel.
Daniel grabbed her arm "If you know what is best, you'll do as I want, you know that Grace!" Grace looked down, and saw a tiny shiny pistol in his hand and she gulped. What was she going to do now? Grace wondered if Nathan noticed anything.
Nathan had seen everything out of the corner of his eye. He knew that Grace was upset at this boy showing up, but when he pulled out a small gun and started jerking Grace around by the arm that was all Nathan could take. Jason would want his wife safe and until Jason was better Nathan and Sarah would be the ones taking care of her.
"Boy, I wouldn't," Nathan said sharply. The boy was only a little older than Nathan's son and he was leering at Grace in a way that Nathan didn't like.
"Who are you?" The boy sneered, clutching Grace's wrist so hard she visibly winced.
"Nathan Duke. Grace is married to my son. Now you let her go or I'm calling the police right now," Nathan said, taking out his cell phone.
The boy sneered again and flung Grace to the ground. "This ain't over, Gracie," the boy said, running out. Sarah gently helped Grace up and wrapped her arms around the younger girl's shaking shoulders. Grace was crying as she looked at Sarah and then Nathan.
"Are you all right, Grace?" Nathan asked, sitting on Grace's other side and wrapping his arm around her shoulders as if she were one of the twins.
"I guess so. I thought he was going to shoot me," Grace said, grabbing handfuls of Nathan's shirt.
"That wouldn't have happened. Jason would never have forgiven me if I let anything happen to you," Nathan said, wiping her face gently.
"Daddy, can we go back to the hospital now? I want to be with my husband," Grace sniffled.
"Okay. Just let me pay for the meal," Nathan said.
Peter woke up, his mouth feeling dry. It felt as if he had been in a desert and his tongue felt heavy in his mouth. Looking around he wondered where Grace and his parents were. One of them would have gotten him some water. At that moment Grace and his parents came into the room. All three of them looked upset. Grace's face brightened as she saw him.
"Jason," Grace breathed softly and ran over to him, pressing her lips to his in a kiss. Peter kissed her back before he remembered about the malaria.
"Grace, I'm still sick," Peter said, putting his hands on her shoulders and pushing her back. He didn't want her sick on his account.
"I don't care. I love you," Grace said, running her hands lightly through his hair.
"I need some water," Peter said after a few minutes.
"Oh, here's your water, Baby," Sarah said, picking up a water bottle and Peter took a deep drink.
"Thanks, Mom," Peter said with relief.
"How do you feel, Son?" Nathan asked.
"Tired. Grace, are you okay? You look upset," Peter asked, touching Grace's face gently.
"We had a run-in with Daniel. Now don't get upset. He didn't really hurt me that badly. My wrist is bruised, but your dad stopped him before he could try anything," Grace said.
"I'm glad of that," Peter said, wrapping her hair around his fingers. Peter was upset that Daniel would be back, but since his father had stopped Daniel from hurting Grace he wasn't going to complain. it seemed that all Grace was was just frightened.
Grace smiled at Peter as he wrapped her hair around his fingers. Peter was looking a lot better since the Doctors had been giving him lots of water, and fed him some soup.Modern medicine helped him a lot to. Grace was worried and disturbed from Daniel's visit, but at least she was safe thanks to Nathan her Daddy.
Two weeks later, Peter was back to his old self with new energy. They walked out of the hospital together, Grace excited about the Honeymoon they were fixing to take. They even took another plane this time it was a big huge airbus and they checked it for any technical difficulties. There wasn't any. Grace walked onto the plane with Peter this time wearing a light peach dress perfect for summer. "I'm glad your doing better, Jason". Grace decided she would start calling him Jason. They had brought their own lunch since flights didn't provide meals anymore.
What Grace didn't know was that Daniel was also on the plane watching their every move well, Grace's anyway. He even had his small pistol with him, No one even knew he had carried it with him on this flight. Whenever Grace decided to go to the bathroom, he would follow her and hold her hostage.
Peter sat next to his wife, holding her hand and whispering in her ear how much he loved her. The bout with malaria had taken a lot of his energy, but Grace had been there through all of it with her love , smiles, and kisses. As soon as he was no longer contagious she was kissing him often. Some days it seemed as if she was every five minutes.
Peter couldn't complain. He loved it when she kissed him. It was like kissing a rose petal; soft. After the run-in with Daniel Grace would rarely leave his side. Even when they slept she wrapped her arms tightly around him as if she was going to lose him.
"Jason, I love you," Grace said, rubbing his face gently with her soft fingers. Peter gripped her hand and kissed each finger gently.
"I love you too. Have I told you how beautiful you are today?" Peter asked.
"No," Grace said.
"Well, you are. Kiss me, Baby," Peter ordered, kissing her lips gently. Grace kissed him back, cupping his face with her hands.
Grace and Peter talked all through the flight about nothing and everything. Grace expressed her concerns over having children. Wondering if Darcy's poison and Peter's malaria might prevent them from having children.
Grace felt like she was on cloud nine. Jason made her feel like she was practically a princess. Well, his princess anyway. She giggled at the thought as they talked and ate their meal, kissing one another when they had the chance.
Daniel kept watching the couple from a few feet away. They disgusted him Grace and her husband did. They were so much in love, it threw him in a jealous rage. Why couldn't Gracie ever love him like that? What did Jason have that he didn't?
If he couldn't get Grace to love him, he was definitely going to kill her. If he couldn't have her, then neither could Jason.
Grace excused herself that she had to go to the restroom. Going to their wasn't a problem. Grace did her business, reapplied her lip gloss, then appeared back out of the bathroom, she was heading back towards Jason when a hand grabbed her arm. Looking down alarmed, Grace saw it was Daniel and he was on this flight! "Daniel, what on earth are you doing!
let me go!" Grace tried to keep her voice lowered to keep from alarming the passengers.
He jerked her towards the kitchen area where they still used it to heat people's food up. He showed her the tiny pistol and put it towards her side and pulled her into his chest in an hostage embrace and had one hand around her waist. "You do as I say, or I am going to kill you. Understood?" he threatened in her ear.
Grace swallowed hard she was really scared and Jason's dad wasn't there this time to save her. A lot could go wrong.
Grace hoped Jason was prepared for something like this. The FBI was trained to handle every crisis even hostage situations.
Grace nodded and went along with Daniel. If she did what he told her, then she and everyone else might live.
Daniel held Grace in his arms. "Now, Beautiful, you are going out there and telling your husband that you don't love him and you never did," Daniel said.
"Peter would never believe that!" Grace said, her voice catching on a sob.
"You better make him believe that. Also you're going to file for divorce. When you do that then you're going to marry me and you're going to do everything I tell you," Daniel said, touching her face gently with his fingers.
"Please, Daniel, leave me and my husband alone," Grace begged as he pushed her back towards her seat.
"Now go tell him what I said. If you don't you're going to lose your husband and I'll still marry you anyways," Daniel said.
Grace sat back down, looking upset. "Grace, are you okay?" Peter asked. Her hands were shaking and she looked on the verge of tears.
"I'm fine, Jason," Grace said as Peter cupped her face and gently stroked it. She looked towards the galley fearfully.
"No, you're not. What's wrong?" Peter asked.
"It's Daniel. He's here, Peter. He took me in his arms and threatened to hurt you if I didn't divorce you," Grace said, lowering herself in the seat.
Peter felt a cold chill in his stomach. Daniel was trying to break up this marriage like Darcy had done. "Grace, you can't give in to that. When it comes time we'll get off the plane and get lost in the crowd. He won't find us," Peter said.
"Peter, I'm scared," Grace said, her tears falling on his fingers.
"I know, but if you kiss me it'll make you feel better," Peter grinned as he tipped her head slightly and gave her a long kiss, hearing her sigh softly as she kissed him back.
"I love you," Grace said as they broke apart and she rested her head against his shoulder. Peter rubbed her back and hair gently, kissing her at intervals.
"I love you too. Now go to sleep. It'll be awhile before we get to Hawaii. As soon as we land I'll buy another plane ticket and we can get out of there before he suspects," Peter said, resting his head on top of hers as she laid her head against his shoulder. They were asleep in minutes.
Grace fell asleep trying hard not to even think about Daniel who was sharing the plane with him. No matter how much Daniel wanted her to Divorce Jason, Grace couldn't do it. She would put her own life in Danger to avoid Divorcing Jason. Jason was right, she couldn't give into that kind of blackmail.
When Grace dreamed, she dreamed that her and Jason were already in Hawaii having a marvelous time, a big hotel suite, pineapple ice cream every other day. There was also Hawaii Caribbean music being played as they walked along the beach and swam in the beach. And no Daniel was around. She even imagined Jason feeding her chocolate strawberries from a chocolate fountain at the place they would stay at on the beach.
They soon arrived in Florida which they would take another plane there to go to Hawaii. Grace hoped that Daniel wasn't going to be on that flight. Turns out he wasn't. They got off the plane safely and ran for their other flight. Grace sighed happily, looks like they were going to get the vacation they deserved. Grace leaned into Jason's chest smelling of his cologne "I want to be with you forever Jason I love you". then she asked "What's the first thing you want to do when we get to Hawaii?"
Peter held Grace tightly in his arms, relieved that they had gotten off the plane without Daniel noticing them. He rested his chin on top of her head and played with her hair. "I don't know yet. As long as you are with me I don't really care what I do first," Peter said.
"I do love you," Grace said, looking up at him and rubbing his face gently with one of her hands.
"I love you too," Peter said, raising her face so he could kiss her.
The plane landed in Hawaii the next day. The air was warm and balmy as they stepped off their plane. Peter and Grace held hands as they went to the conveyor to pick up their luggage, looking at each other as if they were in love with no one else but each other.
"I'm glad we're here, but I'll be glad when we get back to Hazzard," grace said as Peter grabbed their two suitcases.
"Me too. Mom was a little upset that we had to leave. I guess she thought I wouldn't leave her any time soon," Peter said.
"It's hard on her. I mean she never had you as a child. Darcy took you as soon as you were born and made your mother think she had lost you in childbirth. I understand," Grace said as peter hailed a taxi.
"I wanted to discuss that with you. Do you want children?" Peter asked.
"What?" Grace asked as he put the suitcases in the trunk of a taxi.
"Do me and you want children? I do, but I'll understand if you don't," Peter said as they got into the backseat.
"Where to, Pal?" The cabbie asked.
Peter showed him an address of a hotel and the cabbie drove off. "I do, but I went to the doctor before we married for our blood tests and physicals. When she found out that Darcy had poisoned me that time she said I may never bear children," Grace said, looking sad.
"She said may?" Peter asked.
"That's right. It's not a sure thing, but she told me not to be upset if I never give you a son or daughter," Grace said, tears spilling over.
"The poisoning was that bad?" Peter asked.
"She said it was pretty awful. Of course it might be a good thing considering we have Darcy, Amanda, and Daniel always trying to break us up. Darcy and Amanda might steal the baby like Darcy did to you and your mother when you were born and Daniel's the type who would make me leave you and force an abortion on me," Grace said.
"Maybe you're right about all that. I just hate the fact that we can't have a baby because of what three people are doing," Peter said, holding her tightly in his arms.
"I plan on calling your mother tonight. She made me promise to call as soon as we get here. Maybe she'll have some ideas," Grace said, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt.
"You talk with Mom and I'll talk to Dad. Maybe they will know what to do," Peter said. For their sakes he hoped they did. He wanted a baby, but with so many things against it he didn't want to endanger Grace or a baby any more than he had.
Grace felt terrible that she had to break that news to Jason. That they may or may not ever have any children. But the Doctor did say May what she didn't say was that they couldn't have any kids. If it was meant to happen, then God would try to make it happen so they could have kids right, thought Grace to herself. They couldn't give up hope.
Once they got to their hotel room, everything was breathtaking, just like in Grace's dream. There was silk bed sheet covers on their bed, fresh fruit and sandwiches in the kitchen of the suite, and a back porch big enough that they could sit outside, and listen to the ocean waves. They could even walk to the beach if they wanted to.
Grace set her things down and went to go call Sarah while Jason was out on the deck, calling his own father. Grace hoped the Dukes had more encouraging words than the Doctor's did.
Sarah picked up after a few rings. They had just finished having supper in Hazzard, and Nathan had put the girls to bed since they had school in the morning.
"Grace hi! It's so good to hear from you, how is Hawaii?" she asked.
Grace smiled "It's great it's like everything I've ever dreamed of. Sarah could I talk to you? I need some encouraging advice.
"Sure sweetie, anything you want?" Sarah asked as she was doing the dishes.
Grace told Sarah everything she had told Jason about their fears they may not be able to bear any children. Sarah listened, sadden to hear about the news the Doctor gave Grace. Doctors were suppose to be encouraging and to give people hope.
"Grace, I'm sorry to hear about all this but you can't just lose hope of having kids someday just because of what the Doctor said. The Doctor doesn't know everything, she just telling you what she sees. Only God can tell you if you and Jason will ever have any kids. If it's meant to be, if God sees it fit for you and Jason to have kids, then you will. If not, there is always other options like adopting.You can adopt someone's baby and claim it as your own. Never lose hope Grace. All you can do is pray about it with Jason, and God will take care of everything".
Grace immediately felt better and hopeful. Maybe her and Jason could possibly have kids after all! They just had to have hope and faith."Thanks Sarah, I feel so much better now", said Grace. Her mood brightening.
Sarah chuckled "Anytime dear. Go on and enjoy your honeymoon. Tell Jason I said hi and that I love him".
Grace smiled "I sure will, bye". Grace hung up the phone and went to join Jason on the deck the sun was starting to set. "Jason I talked to your mom, what did your dad say?"