"What the hell is going on?" Rusty questions again as Andy speeds down the highway, "Sharon!"
"Is she his sister?" Sharon ignores Rusty and instead speaks to Andy, "That was Cynthia on the phone, wasn't it?"
"It was, and she is." Andy confirms with a nod.
"Okay," Sharon lets out a deep breath as she holds Cassie in her arms, the baby occasionally trembling, "Rusty," she lets out another deep breath as she looks to her son, her lips pressed into a thin line, and her eyes filled with sadness, "your mother was using during her pregnancy."
"No." Rusty shakes his head, "She wouldn't do that. She was taking this seriously." He argues weakly.
"Obviously not seriously enough." Sharon looks from her son to his sister, who was still crying loudly.
"So what, she's… She's in withdrawal?" Rusty questions with disbelief.
"Yes." Andy responds curtly as they pull up outside the hospital, "You guys get out and I'll go park the car. I'll meet you inside."
Neither Sharon nor Rusty respond, the two of them hurrying out of the car and into the hospital.
Andy parks the car and sits for a moment, taking deep breaths. He and Sharon had agreed to take in Cassandra, and they thought it would be easy, or as easy as caring for a newborn at their ages could be. But now it seemed like Sharon Beck had found yet another way to disrupt their lives, and Andy schools his features before getting out of the car and walking into the hospital.
"I'm looking for the woman that came in with a baby, she had a teenager with her too." He speaks quickly, somehow still appearing calm despite the knot he felt in his stomach.
"Name?" The receptionist looks up at him, the light from the computer screen reflecting off of her glasses.
"God, I don't know." Andy breathes out with frustration as he runs a hand through his hair, "Raydor, Flynn, or Beck. I don't know which she used."
"Okay, I have a Cassandra Flynn, just admitted a few minutes ago."
"Yes, yes that's her!" Flynn exclaims, "Can you take me to her?"
"Follow me." The receptionist responds, and she leads Andy through a maze of hallways and corridors, and finally to an elevator. "The NICU is on the third floor."
"Thank you." Andy nods as he presses the elevator button, cursing his heart for keeping him from running the stairs.
He gets on the elevator and closes his eyes, letting out a deep breath as it makes its way upwards.
A couple seconds later it comes to a halt and Andy steps out, a whirlwind seeming to whip around him where he stood. Nurses bustled by, families wandered through the hallways, and every once in a while he'd hear a baby cry. He unsurely pulls out his phone and dials Sharon, waiting for her to pick up.
"Where are you?" She questions frantically.
"Can you step out into the hallway? I'm not sure where you are, and I haven't found anyone to help me."
A moment later and he sees Sharon emerge at the end of the hallway, and although he's a fair distance away he can tell her face is ashen. He quickly walks over to her and extends his arms, not surprised that she immediately hugs him. His arms wrap around her waist, and her hands rest upon his chest as she closes her eyes and cries.
"She's going to be okay." Andy tries quietly as he squeezes Sharon in an attempt to calm her, "Cassie's going to be okay."
"She could have died, if we hadn't caught this in time." Sharon breathes out, her voice shaky and filled with tears, "She could have seized, could have dehydrated. We could've lost her."
"We didn't." Andy responds as he presses a kiss to her hairline, "We didn't lose her. She'll be fine." He repeats, trying to convince himself it were true.
They stand like that for what feels like hours, holding one another as Sharon gently cries. They break the hug when Rusty steps into the hallway, looking uncomfortable to have found them that way.
"They're asking questions I can't answer." Rusty admits, his face pale just like Sharon's, "Can you guys come back in?"
"Yes." Sharon responds strongly as she steps away from Andy and whisks away a tear with her finger. She extends her hand to Andy and he takes it, giving hers a gentle squeeze before they all step back into the room.
Andy's eyes can't help but be drawn to Cassandra, the little girl enclosed in something that reminded him of outer space. It looked like a crib, but it was enclosed with glass, two holes on each side with gloves attached, he assumed for babies that were too sick to be held. It was then that he realised Cassie was silent and unmoving, neither of which she'd been since they'd taken her in.
"What's wrong with her, why isn't she moving?" Andy looks to Cynthia, trying to hide how scared he felt.
"She was given a dose of morphine to replace the drugs." Cynthia explains, "They'll ween her off of it over the next few weeks, try and get her out of the woods."
"Weeks?" Sharon questions sadly, her fingers still laced through Andy's, "She's going to be like this for weeks? I'll have to wait weeks to hold her?" Her voice inflects with sadness, "Is she going to pull through this?"
"That is what I need to talk with you about." Cynthia explains, and Sharon takes a step towards the crib, pressing her hand against the glass as she watched Cassie, "Now that we have confirmed this baby is Rusty's sister, we have a little more to work with. But there are some things we still don't know about her mother, things that would make this whole process easier on the baby."
"Cassie." Sharon breathes out, "We named her Cassie."
"When Cassie's bloodwork came back, the lab found traces of methamphetamine. Seeing as Sharon Beck was so quick to leave after giving birth, the original bloodwork never came back, or we could've caught this earlier. It takes days, sometimes weeks for withdrawal to take effect."
"How old is she?" Sharon questions, her voice still far off, "She's so little, I thought only a few days."
"As best we can tell she's around two weeks old." Cynthia explains, "Because of the drug exposure she suffered, she has a lower weight. She's lucky though," Cynthia says as all of them look to the baby, "so many of the ones born addicted have trouble eating, trouble sleeping."
"So this," Sharon breathes out as she quickly processes the information, "would have been a reason for Gary's parents to give her up." She turns to look at Rusty and Andy as she speaks, the former slowly nodding.
"So they knew that she was using." He breathes out with disappointment, "They knew their… their grandchild was at risk," he looks from Sharon to Andy with fear in his eyes, "and they didn't try to stop it."
"We don't know that." Sharon lets go of Andy's hand and cautiously hugs Rusty, surprised to find that he returns the embrace, "Depending on how long it took before they found out, it could have already affected the baby. And once they found out," she lets out a deep breath as she continues to hug her son, "you and I both know how hard it is to talk some sense into Sharon Beck. She's set in her ways, old habits die hard. We don't know that Gary's parents didn't try to stop this."
When Rusty tries to step away Sharon releases him, surprised to find tears pooled in the corners of his eyes, "I have to find her." He states resolutely, "I want her to see this."
"Rusty-" Sharon starts to say, but Andy's voice drowns hers out.
"I know you're upset, Sharon and I are too, but your mother gave that baby up. For the first time in her life she did the right thing, and left Cassie with people who give a damn. As far as the law is concerned, and frankly as far as the two of us are concerned," he glances at Sharon out of the corner of his eye before continuing, "your mother has no right to be near that child."
Rusty looks at Andy, his jaw tensed with anger, "She ruined my life, and she's already ruined my sister's. I want her to see what she did to Cassie." Rusty looks back at his sister one last time before hurrying out of the hospital, phone already in hand.
~oOo~
"Still no word from Rusty?" Andy questions as he comes to stand in the middle of the living room.
"No." Sharon shakes her head as she wraps herself tighter in the blanket, her legs stretched out across the couch, "If I don't hear from him soon I'll have to call him. He shouldn't be gone this long."
"His heart's in the right place." Andy admits as he sits in the armchair across from Sharon, "It's not your job to raise Sharon Beck's kids. You did it once and now she expects you to do it again. It's ridiculous. If it'll save us grief and aggravation, I'll pay to get her tubes tied."
Sharon lets out a small laugh at his comment, grateful to have him lighten the mood. She was exhausted, but wanted nothing more than to be at the hospital. Andy had to practically pry her away when they had left, and now that she was home, she had lost all resolve to return to the hospital. Cynthia was staying with Cassie, and she, Andy, and Rusty had already agreed to take turns staying with her until they could take her home. "I'm worried about him, about both of them." Sharon admits, "When Rusty gets this fired up…" Her voice trails off and she lets out a sigh before rubbing her temples, "I don't know what he expects will come of this."
"He's angry, and he has someone to blame." Andy responds, "Let him take his anger out on the person who caused all of this."
"He does nothing but hurt himself every time he goes back to her. And he's his mother, I know that," Sharon lets out a deep breath as she pushes herself up so she's sitting facing Andy, "but that title means nothing given the things she's done to him. In that sense she isn't his mother, she's just the woman that gave birth to him. I'm his mother. I'm the one that taught him how to drive and supported his coming out and protected him from Stroh. She abandoned him, treated him like garbage because of who he is. She's not the person he should keep seeking out, regardless of the circumstances. I'm just frustrated." Sharon admits, and Andy gets up from his chair and comes to sit beside her on the couch.
"He's not choosing her over you, and you know that." Andy tries as he wraps an arm around Sharon's shoulder and pulls her into his embrace, "He wants her to take responsibility for what she's done, which is something he learned from you. He doesn't expect her to take care of Cassie, especially since we know she couldn't take care of him. He's trying to protect his sister by making Sharon Beck own up to what she did. You should be proud of him."
"I am." Sharon nods as she closes her eyes and leans into Andy, "But that doesn't change the fact that this whole situation with Cassie, it's bringing up all these feelings from his own childhood. And he won't talk to me about it, I learned that years ago. He'll bottle it up, and then sooner or later he'll lash out. Most likely at me." She adds with a tired shrug.
"He loves you, you know." Andy responds softly, "More than the other Sharon, if I had to guess." He presses a kiss to the side of her head as he sweeps the pad of his thumb over her shoulder in an attempt to soothe her, "And if he won't talk to you, I can always take a crack at him."
"He loves you too." Sharon responds, "He just has a strange way of showing it. You've been great with him over the years, and he trusts you. He may come to you on his own about this."
"Are you falling asleep?" Andy questions with surprise as he watched her, eyes closed and glasses askew, nestled into his side.
"No." Sharon shakes her head, her eyes still closed.
"Yes you are." He presses a kiss to her forehead and she lets out a small hum, "Why don't you get ready for bed, and I'll call Rusty."
"Okay." She answers, but makes no effort to get up from the couch. Andy offers her a soft, loving smile before he presses a kiss to the tip of her nose, picking up his phone and stepping onto the balcony to call their son.