Hi!
A/N: Sorry about the delay in this chapter! I've been working almost non stop in the lead up to the holidays.
This picks up right where we left off in Chapter 8. To clarify, at this stage we are early April 1999 and Kate is 33 weeks pregnant.
I found this chapter quite hard to write, so I am sorry if it's not up to the usual standard. I definitely suffered from writers block with this one - I knew were I wanted it to go but struggled to get there.
Disclaimer: Nope...I own nothing. Except a fancy new dog toy that my mum got me for Christmas. (I don't have a dog. Not even kidding.)
Chapter 9
"He's been in and out of consciousness for the last 30 minutes - which is normal for a head injury," the doctor reassured them. "We had to do put 15 stitches in the back of his head, those will have to come out in a few weeks. I'd like to keep him in overnight, just as a precaution, but all of the tests suggest he will be ok."
"Thank God." Martha exclaimed, gripping Kate's hand tighter. "Can we see him?"
"Of course." The doctor nodded, a reassuring smile on his face. "Follow me." He waited patiently as Martha stood from her seat and helped Kate up too. They followed the doctor hand in hand down the corridor until they came to the room where Rick was being kept.
Kate gasped when she finally caught sight of her boyfriend. He was sat up in the bed and was currently awake. The left side of his face, where her father's fist had caught his jaw was bruised. The purple mottled skin made the guilt that had settled in her stomach rise up again. Despite Martha's earlier protestations, Kate could not help but feel this was all her fault.
"It's outside of visiting hours, but I can give you a few minutes with him. You can come in tomorrow to collect him as long as he doesn't show any symptoms of a major concussion throughout the night."
"We can't stay?" Kate asked. She heard the shake in her own voice, and mentally kicked herself again when she felt Martha squeeze her hand in support. She wasn't doing very well at providing any support in return.
"I'm afraid not. Even if it wasn't against hospital rules, we are going to have to wake him up several times throughout the night to make sure his concussion hasn't worsened." He opened the door to the room next to them and signalled them in. "You have a few minutes."
"Thank you, doctor." Martha smiled through her response, whilst guiding Kate into the room. The door closed behind them.
"Hey." Rick's voice suddenly drew their attention towards where he was lying. "Fancy seeing you two here." His words were slightly slurred, which could clearly be put down to his concussion.
"Hey babe," Kate whispered, her eyes suddenly filling with tears again. "How are you feeling?" She walked towards the bed and sat on the chair positioned next to him. She grabbed his hand, and almost cried with relief when he gently squeezed back.
"Like I hit my head really hard." He groaned. He clearly caught the grimace on her face, "Sorry. Too soon?"
"I have a feeling this will one of those things that will always be too soon to joke about." She leant forward and kissed him gently. As she pulled away, she continued. "I'm so sorry, Rick. I never thought he would do something like this."
"Don't apologise, Kate. It's not your fault. Not at all."
"I've spent the last hour trying to convince her of that, Richard. I hope you have more luck than I have had." Martha quipped.
"Mother! Are you here to break me out?"
"Sorry kiddo, you're in overnight. We'll come get you tomorrow."
"No. Can't afford it. Should…go home." He slurred, the exhaustion clearly taking over.
"Don't worry about that, babe." She reassured, running her fingers over the back of his hand in an attempt to soothe him. "We'll figure it out."
"You should go home. Sleep." His words were clearer this time, and he was trying to force himself to stay awake. The thought crossed her mind that it was typical of him to try and look after her, even though he was lying in a hospital bed.
A hospital bed that her father had put him in.
"No," She protested "I'm staying here." She was sure she could convince the nurses to let her stay.
"Kate-,"
"No." She said firmer this time, "You wouldn't go if it was me."
"Richard is right, Katherine. You should go home and sleep. We can come back in the morning to pick him up." Martha placed her hand on Kate's shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "Like the doctor said, someone will be in every hour anyway to check he hasn't fallen into a concussion influenced coma."
Kate looked between Rick and Martha, the only support she felt she had left, and she knew she was never going to win this argument.
"Ok," She looked back at Rick with her eyebrow raised, "but I'm not happy about it. I'll be back as soon as visiting hours open in the morning so we can spring you out of here." She kissed him again before standing. "I love you."
"Love you too. You too, Mother." He was half asleep now, and Kate knew he was only minutes away from being completely unconscious.
"Come on Katherine, we'll get going." Martha dropped a kiss to her son's head and they left the room, closing the door behind them quietly.
"Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yes Kate, I'm fine. I promise I would tell you if I wasn't." He assured her as she settled next to him on their couch. Martha had just left, having hovered around her son for a couple of hours, leaving the couple alone for the first time since they had left their apartment the day before. She had been so mad at him at the time, so angry that he had demanded to go to her parent's place with her. The thought of it made her stomach clench. "I just hope the bruising goes away before graduation next month." He quipped.
"Still way too soon, babe." She leant into him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Rick. I'm so sorry."
"Kate, sweetheart, I've already said it's not-"
"Not for this," She interrupted, gently stroking her fingers over the bruise on his cheek, "but for arguing with you before we went to see him. You were concerned something might happen, and I was too stubborn to listen."
"You don't have to apologise for that either." He grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together. "Don't apologise to me for believing that Jim wouldn't hurt you. Before yesterday he'd never even have attempted it." He implored.
"After you got knocked out he just stood there. I was there kneeling on the ground, with your blood literally on my hands, and he just stood there." She pulled one of her hands from his so she could wipe the tears from her face. "The paramedics had to help me get back up off the ground, because he didn't seem to care enough to even help up his pregnant daughter."
"He was probably in shock, Kate." He comforted.
"Yeah," She laughed mirthlessly, "He was in shock." She paused for a moment, "Why are you defending him anyway?"
"Because you love him. And I love you. That's why I'm defending him."
They sat in silence for a few minutes after that, both trying to figure out what the next step was. Clearly things with Jim couldn't continue the way they had been for the last few months.
"Has he tried to contact you since it happened?"
"He tried calling last night but I ignored the call. He hasn't tried since." She answered, and Rick picked up on the disappointment in her voice. "It's probably a good thing. I wouldn't know what to say."
Kate couldn't sleep. She was laying facing Rick, with a pillow supporting the baby bump, and she was watching the rise and fall of his chest. The lingering fear that his head injury could be worse than the doctor's had concluded wouldn't ease, and on top of that the baby was currently doing what felt like somersaults in her stomach. So sleep was, yet again, eluding her despite her exhaustion.
A firm kick from her belly drew her attention downwards, and she ran a hand over the spot where she had felt her daughter move.
"I love you, baby girl. But you need to give me a break." Kate whispered, continuing to rub soothing circles over her stomach. "Mommy needs some sleep."
There was a loud knock at the front door which, again, shifted Kate's attention. She furrowed her brow as she shifted her weight onto her elbow to check the clock on Rick's bedside table.
"Who the hell is knocking on the door at 2am?" She asked herself. The knocking, louder this time, happened again, and this time woke Rick up.
"What the hell?" He slurred, his voice still thick with sleep. He checked the clock himself and groaned when he saw the time.
"We should go see who it is, before they wake up the entire building." Kate sat up, and watched as Rick did the same.
"You should stay here, I'll go." Rick replied as he ran his hand over his face.
"If you think I'm going to let you answer the door at 2am by yourself you are insane. It could be anyone." She stood and grabbed the thin robe she kept near the bed. The knocking happened again, more frequent this time. "I'm not going to change my mind so we should go."
The couple left their room and headed for the front door. Rick stopped and turned back to Kate, prompting her to walk into him.
"At least let me go first." He offered. Kate's initial reply was to roll her eyes at him, but she then nodded. Rick smiled and turned back to the front door.
He wasn't surprised to find Jim Beckett stood outside the apartment, fist raised from where he had been knocking. Kate sighed from behind him, and he turned to see her cross her arms over the top of her bump.
"You should probably come in, Dad." Kate said firmly, her tone of voice matching the anger in her eyes. "We have plenty to talk about."
A/N: I hope you liked it! And as per I would appreciate any reviews etc :)
As far as this story goes, the next chapter will be the confrontation between the Beckett's. There will then be another time jump and it won't be too long until the baby arrives! Once the baby is born this story will be wrapped up (after an epilogue) but there will be a sequel and a series of oneshots that show the important moments of Rick and Kate's relationship before Lifeline started.
Next chapter will be up within the next week.
Thanks :)
