Keats sat across from Sloane's doctor. He was a middle-aged, happily married man with five children. Sloane knew he was the best because of his pleasant outlook on life and the fact that he had so much experience under his belt.
Keats began wringing her hands nervously.
"Before I go over the results of the test, I'd like to ask you a few questions." He smiled warmly. Keats suddenly remembered to breathe.
"Sure." She mustered up a small smile.
"You told me about your vomiting and fatigue. Were those your only symptoms?" He asked, looking down at her results.
"Yeah. I think so." She mumbled. Dr. Gerard laughed.
"Don't worry. It's not what you think. Your symptoms indicate a sign of extreme stress. Are you worrying about something that could be causing your body to react this way?" He stared at her.
"Yes. Actually I've been under a lot of stress. Whew, thank God." Keats gave a relieved sigh. She began to laugh for thinking herself so foolish as to believe that she was pregnant.
"It's a little too early for you to be experiencing morning sickness." He continued. Keats gradually stopped laughing and glanced at him.
"Huh?" She asked in disbelief. Dr. Gerard smiled.
"Morning sickness usually begins at 3-5 weeks." He added. Keats could feel her heart racing wildly.
"What are you telling me?" She managed to say. Dr. Gerard put a warm hand on her shoulder.
"Congratulations. You're pregnant."
"Congratulations. You're pregnant."
Keats leaned against the wall to Sloane's room and wondered what in the hell she was supposed to do.
She had asked Dr. Gerard not to tell her sister yet, and he agreed heartily.
I won't tell Sloane. At least not today. And…I'd like to wait awhile before telling anyone, really. But I think Eric and Alexx already suspect something…Oh, why did this have to happen now? Just when I was enjoying my freedom from men…
Keats fluffed Sloane's pillow and sat down beside her, deep in thought.
"What did Dr. Gerard say?" Sloane wondered. Keats broke out of her thoughts and gazed at Sloane.
"Uh, nothing much. He said that I was hurling because of stress and that I should take a few days off and relax." She murmured.
Keats felt her cell phone vibrate and she took it out wearily.
"Hello?" She said.
"Keats, we have the suspect down here. We need you to go apprehend his wife." Delko told her.
"But I'm at the hospital - "
"Go. It'll relax you better than I will." Sloane whispered to her.
"Eric? I can go. Can someone pick me up?" Keats asked.
Keats saw the familiar gray hummer of M.D.P.D. and approached it happily. She felt better already knowing that her work could take her mind off a few things. Namely her newly-conceived child.
That's right…I'm having a baby. I'm going to be a mother soon. Just like Sloane.
She opened the door and was face to face with CSI Ryan Wolfe.
"But…uh…" She sputtered.
"Just get in." He snapped. She did as she was told.
They drove in silence for awhile and Keats had never felt more confused and awful and nervous and sick in her whole life. She was caught between three men and the fact that she was having a baby.
Haha! 3 men and a baby. I love that movie.
Keats laughed but soon caught herself when she noticed Ryan staring at her.
"It'll take us twenty minutes to get to the suspect's house. Until we get there…let's talk." He said. Keats nodded nervously.
"I really don't get you. After that great night we had together, you started ignoring me. Why?"
"Because…Morgan came back. And I was really confused. I still am. Especially now." She mumbled.
"Morgan? Your ex-boyfriend, Morgan? That Morgan?" Ryan asked. Keats nodded, turning away to look out the window.
"You're not still in love with him, are you?" He asked. Keats shook her head vehemently.
"Then what's the matter? Is it Cooper?" Ryan asked. His voice seemed rather sad and angry at the same time.
"Of course not. I love you, you jerk. But I don't know if…I should be with you." Keats said slowly. Ryan sighed.
"Whatever it is, we can fix it." He said. Keats glanced at him and sighed.
"Maybe. Maybe not. We're both still really young and unsure…I don't know if we're ready to get married. And besides, you're not ready to be a great husband. We both have no idea what it takes to make a marriage work, and I don't want our…um…anyone to be upset by us divorcing."
"We don't have to divorce. Why would we get a divorce?" Ryan asked. He pulled up to a giant mansion and put the hummer into park.
"Tell me later." They got out of the car and went to the front doors. Ryan stood ready with his gun and made sure Keats was behind him.
I shouldn't be doing this. I can't risk someone else's life when I'm responsible for them.
Keats held her hand over her stomach protectively.
"Mrs. Hanover, this is M.D.P.D. Open up!" Ryan yelled. There was no answer.
"Why do we have to bring her in? She's just a suspect." Keats murmured.
"Her husband confessed to the murder. She's an accomplice." Ryan said, getting ready to break down the door.
The backup policemen had just arrived, and one of them handed a gun and belt to Keats. Keats took them nervously.
Ryan broke down the door and the cops began infiltrating the mansion. Ryan began to trek up the stairway slowly, Keats right behind him.
They entered a large room with several chairs and a big screen in the center. Almost like a home theater, Keats thought.
"We've got her." They heard the crackle over Ryan's handheld listening device. They then turned their attentions to the tapes found near the screen.
In the back of Ryan's hummer, they accessed all the videos they had recovered from the scene. The videos were, to say the least, disturbing.
The frightening and grotesque images of husband and wife raping, then murdering several young women were shown. Keats felt her stomach tighten again and she ran behind the bushes to vomit, having hardly anything left with which to puke.
Ryan kneeled beside her, pushing her hair back. She looked over at him worriedly. He handed her a bottle of water and she used it to rinse her mouth.
"Are you sick? If I had known, I wouldn't have asked you to come." He said.
I'm not sick, I'm pregnant.
She imagined the look on his face when she told him. He would be shocked, no doubt. He would probably ask her to marry him. But would he be happy about it?
"I'm fine. The doctor told me I was under too much stress." She said, standing up.
"If you were under so much stress, then why did you - "
"Because I don't know how much longer I can do my job." She blurted out. Ryan furrowed his eyebrows, evidently puzzled.
"What do you mean?" He asked. Keats shook her head.
"Nothing. Can you take me back to the hospital? Sloane…"
Ryan nodded and they drove toward the hospital. The ride was quiet. Neither of them said anything the whole way, and it seemed to Keats that he was holding off on asking her questions because it might contribute to her stress.
She gazed at him fondly, realizing he was very much her Prince Charming.
Too bad I'm pregnant. I managed to sort out one mess, but now I'm knee deep in another.
"Ryan…I want to be with you." She said suddenly, holding onto his arm. Ryan pulled into a parking spot near the hospital and turned to face her.
"Do you…really mean that?" He asked.
"Yeah. I love you very much. I always have. I never meant to hurt you. I was…frightened. And I didn't know enough then to realize that it's okay to be scared sometimes. But if I am scared, I want you to be there with me and see me through it." Keats said.
She rested her head on his shoulder as a few stray tears fell down her face. He eventually wrapped his arms around her and hugged her, comforting her.
"I love you, Keats. I won't ask you to marry me until you're ready. Just let me know when, all right?" He murmured into her hair.
Keats and Ryan walked down the hallway of the fifth floor and knocked on the door to Sloane's room.
"It's about time you got here." Sloane mumbled, flipping through a magazine. She looked up and smiled when she saw Ryan standing next to Keats.
"It's about time you two made up, as well," She beamed at them, " Now all you need to do is get married and start having kids. I'm pretty sure little Braden is going to want a cousin soon."
Ryan gave a nervous smile and Keats felt her chest constricting. She glanced around the room and saw blurry edges. She turned to go to the bathroom and suddenly blacked out.
