Chapter 10

"I'm really glad we could do this Greenlee. To sit and just talk." Jackson said as he and his daughter sat on a bench in the park.

"Well I think we both need the opportunity to see what we can find in each other. To see if we can do this."

"I really do want this. I'm sorry I didn't know about you until recently."

"It's not your fault my mother forgot to mention that tiny detail."

"Hating your mother isn't going to solve anything. What's done is done." Jack said, still unable to take his eyes off of her. He didn't think she looked like him at all.

"Well it helps. I've always hated her anyway. This just strengthens my reasoning."

"Forget Mary for a second. Let's talk us."

"What about us? What do you want to know? What kind of cereal I liked at 5? Or which power ranger was my favorite? It was the pink one by the way."

"That's a start. I don't think I'd ever not listen to you when you talk about yourself."

"I think you'll find that I only talk about myself, so you might learn to tune it out."

"Greenlee I know you're pregnant. Did you want to talk about that?"

"Do you think you're ready to be a grandfather?"

"Wow, hearing that word, it kind of scares me."

"Well me having to be a mother myself scares me. It's not like I had a good role model."

"I know you enough to know that you'll do fine. Can I ask?" He started. "Can I ask about the father?" He had no idea what was going on, nor if he was allowed to know. He didn't blame her if she didn't want to talk about it.

"He was a secret admirer, someone who I thought could help me move on. I made a stupid mistake and now he's gone. Where, I don't know."

"So you're alone in this?"

"Maybe I was meant to be alone?" She cried, a tear falling.

"No. Don't even say that. I'm going to be here for you now. You're my daughter, and I haven't been a father to you yet. I'm starting right now." He said as he pulled her into a hug.

"I, I also have David and Anna. So don't be surprised if you see David hovering."

"I may not like the man, but I'm glad you have him. Maybe you could tell him that I'm going to be taking a spot in your life. Maybe tell him he can take a break."

She was kind of nervous, keeping Jack in the dark played with her head, but then she laughed. "I don't think David is going to back off, for anyone." He was never going to let someone else come in and push him away. She knew that much, and she wasn't even sure that she would want him too.

"Well then he'll just have to learn to share you." He thought aloud. He hoped this didn't cause a problem.

"Easier said than done." She said, her face straightening. If only he knew how involved David really was.

"I thought maybe we could just have a night in. Dinner, just us together. I'll be starting at the hospital in the next few days. I don't know how much time I'll have." He said as she got dressed.

"David, if you think you're going to get me to"

"That's not what I'm talking about. I just want us to actually share a meal, and be a couple. Like married couples do. I know we're not ready for sex and that's not what I'm asking."

"We already do dinner. We've eaten together for the last week."

"We go out, eat dinner in silence, come home and you sleep in the bed, me on the couch. I miss you, Anna." He pleaded, taking a step toward her.

"Are you cooking? We both know I don't."

"I'll pick us something up as long as you promise to be here when I get back." He said raising a his and pointed with his finger at her.

"I will but, you don't want to cook?" She asked him.

"When is the last time either of us went to the store?" He half asked, half said.

"Good point." She agreed.

"Any requests?" He asked and she shook her head no. "I'll be right back."

She wanted to run out that door. Go anywhere but there. But her heart told her to stay. The truth was she missed him. She missed their conversations and she missed him in their bed.

They had eaten, had a few glasses of wine and had somehow managed to end up on the floor in front of the fire. She had her back to him, pressed against his chest. He had his head propped on his elbow. And the other arm around her. They were fully clothed, just enjoying the closeness of each other.

"I'm sorry Anna." He said, breaking the silence that seemed way too long.

"I told you to stop saying that. What's done is done. Neither of us can take it back."

"That's not what I'm talking about. Maybe you were right. I couldn't be objective in my decisions concerning Leora. I'm the reason she died."

"David, we're not placing blame remember. It was no one's fault." She said, turning around. She didn't want to go here again. It was one of the main reasons this was so hard.

"I kept her from getting the surgery when she was born. Maybe she would have been fine if I agreed."

"When you lose a patient, who's fault is it?" She asked pointedly, looking for a specific answer.

"Mine." He said immediately.

"No. When you do everything right and the patient dies, it's not your fault. Sometimes people die. I hate to even think this way, but it was just Leora's time. God or whoever is up there decided it was her time. Nothing we did could change that. David I need you to believe that."

"I keep trying. But I can't help but feel responsible." He said closing his eyes.

"We'll you're not." She said wiping a tear that had fallen down her face. "Look at me and know that I don't blame you." She said intently as she put her hand on the side of his face. He was going to say something. From the way he pulled his head down she assumed he was going to say that he still did blame himself. She did the only thing she could think of that would help to convince him to let go. She pulled his head back up and kissed him. She held it for a few seconds before pulling away and resting her forehead on his. She didn't say anything, but she got up, put her hands out for his and she pulled him up with her. Still with no words, she led him to their bedroom and sat him down on the bed. She walked around to the other side and he watched her. She laid down on the bed and she took his arm and pulled him down next to her before she wrapped her arms around him. They laid there, neither saying a word until they both fell asleep.