Chapter Nine: Unsure What The Balance Held

Author's Note: Hello everyone. This chapter has a slight time jump (not much, just about a month and a half) and time jumps many times in the chapter. As always, I don't own The Night Shift or any of its characters. The chapter title comes from To Zion by Lauryn Hill.

"Jordan, are you sure you should be going into work?" TC asked from the bedroom. He was honestly getting worried about Jordan because she'd spent the majority of the day in the bathroom throwing up.

Jordan looked out from the bathroom where she was brushing her teeth for the umpteenth time that day. "I have food poisoning. I've been drinking water and Gatorade all day. I'm just trying to get the rest of the yuckiness out of my system. By the time we leave for the hospital, I'll be fine." She went back to brushing her teeth and felt another wave of nausea come over her. She gripped onto the sink with one hand, trying to keep her from falling over. Just hold it in, Jordan she thought to herself.

"You know, constant vomiting is your body's way of telling you to take it easy. Come on, just take one day off. No one is going to kill you for calling in sick." TC said, leaning back against the pillows on the bed.

Jordan spat the toothpaste out in the sink and washed it out. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and focused on breathing, hoping that if she thought of anything else other than her intense need for throwing up, it would go away. She washed her face with cold water and brought the wash cloth into the bedroom so she could put it on her forehead when she laid down in bed. "I never get sick. Why is it that I go out for dinner, try a new food, and the first time I eat it, I get food poisoning." Jordan said, snuggling up against TC.

"The world must be out to get you." TC said, smiling slightly. He started rubbing Jordan's back, trying to do anything to make her feel better.

"It probably is." Jordan said, feeling her eyes start to close. "Wake me up for the shift." She curled further into TC's side and promptly fell asleep.

At least, she thought she was going to be asleep. She sat upright and ran towards the bathroom again. "Son of a bitch." Jordan muttered into the toilet. She got up, wiped her mouth, and went back to the bedroom, flopping down on the bed.

"I think that settles it; you're not going to work today. I'm going to call Ragosa now." TC said, grabbing his phone off the bedside table.

"T, don't. I'm fine. Just let me sleep it off for a little bit." Jordan said, curling into a little ball. TC looked at his sleeping girlfriend, pulled the blanket around her, and walked out of the room, scrolling through his phone for Ragosa's phone number.

"Hey, it's TC. Listen, there's something wrong with Jordan and she's not going to be in at work today." he said, leaving a voicemail on Ragosa's phone.

-X-

Jordan awoke a few hours later, completely confused. She looked at her clock and saw it said eight forty-five. She raised a confused eyebrow. It was usually so much brighter at eight forty-five in the morning than it was at the moment. "T?" she called out, trying to figure out where TC ended up. She blinked a few times and her confused look deepened. "TC?"

Jordan felt around the bed, trying to find TC. Instead, she had a fistful of sheets. "What the hell?" Jordan said, leaning over to turn on the bedside lamp. The room was illuminated with light and Jordan saw the other side of the bed hadn't been slept on at all. In the place where TC should have been, she saw a folded piece of paper. She reached over and grabbed it.

Jordan,

It was quite obvious to me that you were in no place to go to work tonight, so while you were sleeping, I called Ragosa and said you were sick. You have the whole night to sleep and feel better now.

Don't hate me too much,

TC

Jordan bit her lip. No wonder it was so dark outside. It wasn't eight forty-five in the morning; it was nighttime. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

"Maybe I'll make some toast. That should help, right?" Jordan muttered, pushing herself off the comfortable bed. She clasped her hands over her head and stretched. She sighed contently, feeling much better after her nap than she had the whole day.

She smiled as she walked in the kitchen and got out a loaf of bread, completely convinced that toast with some crunchy peanut butter on it would make her feel better. And maybe if she went a few hours without feeling sick, she could work the second half of the night.

As she waited for the toast to finish in the toaster, something on the calendar tacked up on the wall caught her eye. It was the middle of the month, and Jordan's period hadn't arrived yet.

And the more Jordan thought about it, the more she realized that it hadn't been there last month either. "Holy. Fucking. Shit." Jordan muttered. Hastily unplugging the toaster, she grabbed a jacket and her keys. She needed to get to the pharmacy, and she needed to get there quickly.

-X-

Jordan sat on the couch in complete shock. All the tests said the same thing. "How is this possible?" she muttered to herself.

She thought hard about how this could have happened. Scott insisted they should wait to have kids, and half the time they worked opposite shifts at the hospital. There was no way they'd had sex recently enough for Jordan to be pregnant with his baby.

Which led her to TC. They certainly hadn't been careful, especially after the trial. She thought about all the times they'd been together since they'd started dating again. "I can't believe this is happening." Jordan said, looking at her watch to see what time it was. A little after midnight. TC was in the middle of his shift. She couldn't very well go to the hospital and tell him this news during a shift. He'd take off and insist on catering to every single one of Jordan's wishes for the rest of the night and up until the moment she had the baby – their baby.

-X-

"What are you doing here?" Jordan heard someone ask when she got to the hospital. She sighed and turned to see Scott was standing there. "You're supposed to be sick."

"I just needed to talk to TC about something. Have you seen him?"

Scott scoffed. "He's been with patients all night. I can't wait for this week to be over so I can go back to Dallas." He shook his head and walked away.

Jordan suppressed the urge not to roll her eyes. Now that they weren't in a relationship anymore, the rose colored glasses had come off and she realized how annoying Scott truly was – something she tried to pass off as one of his quirks when they'd been dating.

TC came out from one of the trauma rooms and handed a patient's chart to Nurse Ramos. She pointed over towards Jordan's direction and he followed her finger and a look of horror passed over his face.

He jogged over to where Jordan was standing. "What's wrong? And please don't kill me for calling in your sick day."

"No, I'm fine. Actually," Jordan said, taking one of his hands in hers and placed it on her stomach. "We're fine."

"We're fine? Jordan," TC said, dropping his voice. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I'm pregnant." A smile broke out on her face. "We're having a baby."

"When…when did this happen?" TC said, a shocked look on his face, dropping his hand from her stomach.

"Well, I'm thinking it was when we were at the medical conference. Or, should I say, I was at the medical conference while you thought it would be fun to surprise me in a hotel room." Jordan said, feeling her smile fade. "TC, say something."

He still had the shocked look on his face. "Jordan, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? What are you sorry about?"

"I…how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Are you okay with this, T, because I expected a different reaction from you. After all, you used to talk about how much you wanted kids and you're not acting all that happy about this."

"Well, I thought you didn't want kids."

Jordan looked confused. "Yeah. I didn't want kids when you were a ranger. I couldn't raise kids by myself for months on end. And God forbid, if something happened to you…I don't know what I would have done." Jordan put her hands on her stomach. "T, I'm ready for this baby." She gently took one of his hands and put it over hers again. "Are you ready for our baby?"

A smile broke out over TC's face as he pulled Jordan closer to him. "We're having a baby."

-X-

"We totally have to tell people." TC said when they walked into work the next day. "I got dibs on telling Topher."

Jordan looked up and saw Scott standing at the nurses' station talking to someone. "I don't think we should tell anyone just yet."

TC followed her gaze and saw Scott standing there. "Jordan, Scott is a big boy. He's going to have to handle the fact that the two of you are over and that we're together again."

"I know, I know. But, he's leaving at the end of the week and I don't want to stir up drama while he's still here. We can tell people when he's gone. Even though we shouldn't even tell anyone until after the third month."

"Well, how long is it until the third month?" TC asked. "And can we at least tell our families?"

"You mean family? I haven't had a conversation with my family in years." Jordan shook her head sadly. "It's a good thing your family loves you."

"You know, I'm sure if you talked to your family about the baby they'll be happy for you."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. You can tell Topher, but tell him to keep it on the down low, and other than him and your family, no one else is to know about the baby until after the third month. Otherwise there will be pure hell to pay, Callahan." Jordan said.

-X-

"I don't think I've ever been this nervous about anything in my life." Jordan said a few days later when they were waiting for their doctor's appointment. It was the first time they were going to have an ultra sound and they'd get to see their baby.

TC nodded, understanding exactly what she meant. He'd been through combat situations and dealt with many things over in Afghanistan, but the only thing remotely similar to that was Jordan's fifteen minutes of hell when they were held hostage by Milo.

"Jordan Alexander?" the nurse said opening the door. TC squeezed Jordan's shoulder and they both got up and walked into one of the rooms.

"It's going to be weird being the patient this time." Jordan said. "But a good weird, you know?"

The nurse smiled at them and handed Jordan a hospital gown. "Go ahead and change into this. The doctor will be in with you shortly."

She walked out of the room and Jordan turned her attention towards TC. "Will you turn around or close your eyes?"

"What?"

"Just do it, T." Jordan said. She waited until TC sighed, turned around and closed his eyes. She quickly took off her regular clothes and changed into the gown. "You can turn around now."

"Seriously, what was that about?" TC asked, walking closer to Jordan.

"Nothing. It's just…" Jordan was cut off by a knock on the door. "Saved by the bell." she muttered.

"TC, Jordan?" the doctor said, coming into the exam room. The two of them looked up and saw Doctor Cole, one of the OBs at the hospital. "What are the two of you doing here?"

"We're here for the first ultra sound. I'm having a baby." Jordan said. "I didn't know you worked through an office as well."

"Wednesdays only. The other days I'm at the hospital." She walked to the ultra sound machine and pulled it closer to them. "I didn't even know the two of you were trying to have a baby."

"We weren't even trying." TC said. "It just happened."

"Well, it's certainly going to be an exciting time. This is going to be cold, Jordan." Doctor Cole put the gel on Jordan's stomach. "How far along do you think you are?"

"About a month and a half." Jordan said, shivering slightly when the gel touched her skin. Doctor Cole nodded, focusing on the computer screen.

She typed in a few things and the picture zoomed in. "See the little speck right there?" TC and Jordan leaned in closer to look where she was pointing. "That's your baby."

Jordan held out her hand and TC took it in one of his. They held each other's hands looking at their baby on the ultra sound monitor. Jordan felt a tear start to slide down her face.

Their baby.

-X-

"Is it true?" Nurse Ramos asked a few weeks later before the night shift started.

Jordan looked up from the paperwork she was working on. "Is what true?" she asked, crinkling her nose. She thought everyone knew she was dating TC.

"That you've got a bun in the oven."

Jordan froze. "Where'd you hear that?"

"It's been going around the hospital like wildfire. There's bets about when it happened and who's baby it is. I thought I'd come straight to the source for information."

Jordan shut the file folder she was working on and put it on the desk. "I'll be right back." Jordan said, taking off to find TC.

"Hey, Jordan, where's the fire?" he asked when she found him a few minutes later. "Wait, what's wrong? Why do you have that pissed-at-the-world face on right now?"

"Nurse Ramos just asked me if the rumors are true. Any idea what she's talking about?"

"No…I thought everyone knew we were dating."

So either TC was lying, or someone else told people they were having a baby. "People know about the baby. They're making bets. Our baby has started a new round of hospital drama and gambling pools."

"Well, what kinds of bets are they making?" TC asked, interested in what was happening with the betting. Obviously, he had the most up to date information in the hospital about the baby and it would be a surefire way to make a little money on the side.

"Do not go betting away money." Jordan said sternly. "Besides, people aren't supposed to know yet."

TC took pity on his girlfriend. "Jordan, we work in a night shift at the nosiest hospital in the country. We know everyone's business. Need I remind you of Topher's farewell to his balls party?"

Jordan let out a small chuckle. "I guess that's true. So, I guess that means it's time to tell people."

TC looked at her in surprise. "You're ready for people to know?"

"I'm ready for people to know. But we should do it at the end of the shift. Just so people aren't completely distracted tonight." Jordan gave him a smile and started walking away.

At the end of the shift, true to her word, Jordan gathered everyone around the nurses' station. She stood at the front with TC and they held each other's hands. "So, it appears that there's some rumors going around the hospital that I'm having a baby, and I'm here to tell you all that those rumors are in fact true." Jordan said with a smile on her face. Everyone started clapping. She held up her hands and they quieted down. "I'm about two and a half months pregnant, and for the rest of you who want to know who the father is, it's TC." She smiled up at him. "So please stop with all the betting on our baby."

-X-

"How's the baby looking?" Jordan asked a few weeks later at another doctor's appointment.

"Everything is looking fine." Doctor Cole said. "Do you and TC want to know the sex of the baby?"

TC opened his mouth to speak but Jordan spoke first. "We're going to wait until the baby is born."

"We are?" TC asked incredulously. He couldn't believe it. He wanted to know if he was going to have a boy to play sports with or if he was going to have to buy another gun for the future.

"Yes, we are. And that's final." Jordan said with a stern look at TC.

"Well, now that we have that sorted out, I'll go print some pictures of the baby for you. I'll be back." Doctor Cole smiled at them and walked out of the room.

TC watched her walk out of the room and thought of an idea. He was going to find out what the sex of the baby was if it was the last thing he did. "I'll be back. I want to let my family know everything with the baby is okay." He walked out of the room and found Doctor Cole at a computer, waiting for the pictures to print out. "Doctor Cole, just the person I was looking for. Do you think there's any way you could let me know what the sex of the baby would be?"

Doctor Cole gave him a sly smile. "That's not what Jordan wants. And while I'm sure you're getting what you want, it's all about the mothers here. So if Jordan wants to wait to find out, you're going to have to wait with her."

TC watched Doctor Cole walk back into the exam room with a stunned expression on his face. He'd never been told off by a female doctor like that in a long time. He shrugged it off, though.

Not knowing would kill Jordan. She'd want to know eventually.