OOOO

Part 2

With less that an hour of sleep under his belt, Harm felt like death warmed up by the time he got to work, the next day. The General took one look at him and ordered him into his office. With a toned-down chewing out, Cresswell sent him home, not realizing that Harm had much more on his mind than just caring for a single, severely injured child.

When Harm still could not sleep, he went back to the hospital, to spend some time with Mattie before the NICU would let him back in.

As it turned out, Mattie was in the middle of one of her breakdowns that she usually managed to hide from Harm, since he was normally at work at this time.

Harm could do nothing but hold her, feeling the need to break down himself, but knowing he was the only person who could hold everything together.

OOOO

When Mattie was finally so exhausted that she had dropped into a deep, comfortable sleep, Harm went upstairs to visit his other child.

He didn't see Mac arriving from the elevator across the hall. Although she wasn't quick enough to reach the elevator in time, she did see which floor it stopped at, proceeding up two floors herself and having a little search around. She found it to be the obstetrics floor, containing the maternity unit and neonatal ICU.

She was about to stop a nurse to ask, when she caught sight of Harm's familiar form.

The breath stilled in her chest as she took in the sight of him, sitting beside an incubator that held a tiny, doll-like baby. She knew the back of Harm upon sight, yet her brain still questioned why Harm could possibly be up here…

OOOO

An hour and a half later, Harm pushed himself out of his chair, stretched to unfurl his knotted muscles and made his way out of obstetrics and towards the elevators. Mac was the last person he was expecting, waiting in a chair in the elevator lobby.

Are you okay?" she asked, when he didn't say or do anything.

"How did you…"

"I saw you get into the elevator and I thought you were on your way to the cafeteria or something…You know a marine like me; can't keep her away from food…Harm, you didn't answer me; are you okay?"

She stood, seeking his roving eyes with hers.

"Not really…"

"Then why didn't you call me?"

"I just… I couldn't…"

"Well, if not me, then why not Bud and Harriet?"

"I just…I didn't want you guys to think that I only turn to you when I'm in trouble…"

"We'd never think that, Harm. We just want to make sure you're okay. You can ask for our support no matter what…What do you mean 'in trouble'?"

"I know that I messed up, not telling you about Mattie and then turning around and asking you to vouch for me in front of the courts…but there was no time, this time. I've spent every waking moment here at the hospital, splitting my time between Mattie and…"

"And?" Mac prompted, gently, taking his hand in hers.

"Oh God…In all of this, I haven't even asked if he has a name, yet…"

"If who has a name, Harm? The baby?"

Harm sank into a nearby seat and put his head in his hands. His shoulders began to shake as he tried in vain to suppress the sobs building up inside of him.

"Oh, Harm," Mac felt the emotion building up and threatening to choke her, too, as she dropped into the seat next to him and put her arms around him, "Shhhh…It can't be as bad as all that…What's happening to you, Harm? I've never seen you like this…"

"24 hours," Harm finally found his voice, which was surprisingly strong, despite his emotional state, "24 hours after I begin to believe that things just might be okay and I get my life turned upside-down again. Now I've got a fifteen year-old girl who will rely on me 24/7 for many months to come and an eight-week-old preemie who can't even keep the most basic of sustenance down…I've got nobody but my Mom and my eighty-year-old Grandmother, now…because my brother…he…"

Here, his voice caught and Mac squeezed his hand, urging him on.

"Sergei's dead, Mac…He, his wife Galina, her family and Sergei's Mom…An air-strike hit the village where Galina's parents lived, just as they gathered together to celebrate a national holiday. Galina was the only one who survived the blitz, but was brain-dead by the end of the second day at a nearby hospital. They delivered her baby more than three months early and he's been going downhill ever since…He's dropped to less than three pounds and it seems like he's allergic to every brand of formula put into him and I don't know how I'm going to cope if I lose this last connection to my brother and my father…"

"Oh Harm, I'm so sorry…"

That was all it took to reduce the two of them to a shaking, sobbing mess, as the people continued their day around them, unaware of the deeper tragedy below the surface.

OOOO

While Harm got himself together and went to check on Mattie, Mac stayed outside the NICU, watching the nurses go about their duties around the baby. He wasn't fond of being disturbed, that was for sure and Mac caught more than just a hint of the famous Rabb stubbornness. At this stage, it was of course hard to say for sure if the tiny baby took after his paternal side of the family, but this one attribute shone through.

After she was done, one of the nurses came out and began to talk to Mac, having seen her with the little boy's uncle, some time before.

She filled Mac in on his precarious condition, not just because he was born premature, but because his little stomach seemed loathe to hold onto anything long enough to digest and absorb any nutrients.

"We have him on intravenous nutrition and are feeding him through a nasal tube," she explained, "And the little fighter is holding his own, but he's not putting on any weight and he isn't growing like a baby should do. We've tried almost every brand available to us and nothing works, not even the leading market brand or any of the dairy-free options. But we've got a few more avenues to try and I'm sure that we'll find something."

Mac stood and watched the baby for a long time. She was well aware that Harm's ability to trust and love again could very well be entwined with the fate of this little boy.

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