Chapter 9
It had been a week since Mark's accident. Since Dana's fainting spell. A lot had changed since then. Carol had become even more of helicopter mom. Frank remained the same but Al knew he wasn't sure how to handle everything. J.t. surprisingly hadn't left Mark or Dana's side. He alternated between both rooms. Nobody questioned it. Al figured it was a guilty consensus. Karen had temporally moved out of her dorm room and back home. That made Carol and Frank happy. It annoyed her but she had to grin and bear it in front of them. Rich only visited Dana for two days then completely disappeared. He wasn't even staying in the apartment anymore. She had a hunch he was staying with Mads until J.t. cooled down. He was an idiot. When he did decide to show up j.t. wouldn't be his only worry. The rest of her family weren't too happy with him up and leaving. The only person who didn't seem to mind it was Dana in fact she hadn't said anything about it. Mark had woken up but he along with Dana had to stay in the hospital to be monitored for the next couple of days. For Dana it was another week. She wasn't looking forward to that at all. She was getting antsy being confined to a tiny room. Brendon had called from boarding school. Al had been the one to fill him and Cody in on what was going on. Brendon was flying home that Friday afternoon after his classes. He would be finishing the rest of the year at her high school. Cody was flying from Europe where he had been backpacking Saturday morning. Lilly knew her siblings were hurt but not how they were hurt. She was too young to understand. Al was trying to be the strong one so that they could feel free to fall apart when they needed to. Al got up from her bed. She was on her way to see her siblings. They couldn't stay overnight at hospital since vishing hours ended at 10:00pm, and they were banned from the waiting room. Too many complaints about her family mostly from the nurses. "Morning." Karen quietly greeted her. "Morning." She replied. "You going to visit Dana?" She asked. Al went to the closet to grab some clothes. "Yeah. You going to visit Mark?" "Yeah." "Im leaving the hospital at two so…" "Good to know." "I'll tell Dana you said hi." Karen shrugged. "Don't bother." Al turned away from the closet with a pair of jeans and t-shirt in her hands." "Why are you being so hard on her? She almost died." Karen scoffed. "She didn't die. She didn't even have to be shocked with those paddles." "Still it's pretty serious if she's in the hospital for two weeks." "She was dehydrated due to lack of fluids. She is also anemic and was very stressed out." "Still very important Karen." Karen sighed. "Dana and I aren't in the best place right now Al." "Weren't you two supposed to talk it out?" "We did talk. Dana was being impossible." "Do you blame her?" "That paper was a mistake but it shouldn't be this big of a deal." "You humiliated her with that paper with those lies. You don't even seem to care." "I do care." "Not if you can't fix things." "It's her. She doesn't want to fix things." Karen yelled "You screwed up. You should fix it." "Before this paper happened you used to think Dana was always impossible." Karen pointed out. "We got closer." Al defended herself. "No you pity her." "Big word for Karen." Al cooed at her like she was a baby. "Dana's not a fragile doll Al. You need to stop treating her like one." "You want to pick side's fine but do it fairly." "Don't do it only because you hate me." Karen grabbed her bag before heading out. Al stood there dumbfounded. When did Karen get smart?
J.T. walked in Dana's room carrying his laptop. "Surprise barky." Dana looked at him through sleepily eyes. "Morning J.t." She sleepily greeted. J.t. shut the door with his foot. "Yeah morning barky." "What's that?" She nodded to what was in his hand. "We humans call them laptops." "I know what their called genius." "Where did you get it?" "Rich's laptop but since I paid half its mine too." "You payed half?" She asked in disbelief. "Okay I picked out the laptop." "Not the same as paying half." "No it's not." He laughed. "Use it." "For what?" "You're having a baby. We should get information." She cocked an eyebrow. "We?" "Well now that everyone thinks you lost the baby." He put air quotes around lost the baby. " you need someone in your corner." "I already looked up abortion." "You don't want that." "If I have this baby everything changes J.t." He surprised her when he said the next words. "If you have an abortion everything changes too." "Here I don't need it." She tried to hand back the laptop but he wouldn't let her. "Look at your other options." "Like?" "Keeping it. Or adoption." "Neither are an option J.t." "Not when you're being stubborn." "I think you should tell Rich about the baby… again." "They already think the baby's gone. Shouldn't I go through with it? The doctor did say I had too." "Not without him knowing." "I don't like caring J.t." "I don't care. I don't think you're doing the right thing." She motioned for him to continue. He sat at the edge of her bed. "This baby is- "Fetus it's not a baby yet." "The fetus is-ew no I can't." J.t. made a grossed out face. "The baby. It's a baby. Its apart of Rich as much as it's apart of you." "I know." He held up his hand to quiet her. "No you don't." "If you did you wouldn't be going behind everyone's backs to get an abortion." "I know it's your decision but it's his too." "Look if Sam was pregnant and went to have an abortion without telling me, we'd be over." "She shrugged. Rich and I are probably over." "That's bullshit." "J.t!" She exclaimed. "If you two weren't together he wouldn't have visited you twice." "If we were together he still be visiting." She pointed out. J.t. felt guilty. He had been angry when he told Rich to stay away from her. Yes he had meant it in the moment but when did Rich ever listen to him. He figured he be at her bedside. "If I found out I wouldn't be able to forgive Sam." "Together or not. If Rich found out could he forgive you?" Dana opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. She was speechless. J.t. would have danced. He'd rub it in her face. He left the smarty pants Dana speechless. Instead he impacted some more wisdom. "You know not to mention you'll feel guilty for doing it behind his back." "I don't think the great and feminist Dana Foster can live with that secret on her shoulders." "What does my having to be a feminist have to do with anything?" He shrugged. "I don't know." "I'll tell him the next time I see him." J.t. smiled. "Good." He got up her bed to stretch. "Im goanna go get a snack. She looked at him. "Thanks for being not you J.t." "Yeah don't mention it to anyone." "Wouldn't dream of it nimrod." She turned back to the laptop and opened. "Be back soon barky. Don't bite the doctors." She didn't say anything back. He saw a hint of a smile on her face. He turned and left the room. "Oh and I don't care so…" She cocked an eyebrow as he left. Werido. She thought.
She looked at the laptop like it was foreign object. She couldn't figure out what to look up. One part of her wanted to look at baby stuff. She knew there was no way she'd keep it but she wanted to look. The other part. The slightly smaller part wanted to check out adoption. She didn't feel comfortably having the baby being raised by someone else but what was the harm in looking. She wiped her eyes. She had sleepers. "Hey." She looked up to see Al at her doorway. "Hello." She formally greeted. "What are you doing?" "Trying to figure out what to look up." "Fun." Al put her hobo bag on the chair next to Dana's bed. Dana motioned for her to sit on the bed. Al cranked her neck to see the laptop. Dana turned it bit towards her. "Why are you on baby's r us?" Dana looked at webpage confused. Then she replied that her hands must have had a mind of their own. "I uh wanted to see stuff." "Al snickered. "What?" Dana questioned. I never seen you so indecisive." "Im not." "Sure." "How is everything at home?" "Don't change the subject." "I figured the subject was over." Al gave Dana a jeering look. "Why are looking at babies things when you know." Al was referring to her "fake miscarriage." Al didn't know it was faked only J.t. did. "I don't know." She honestly said. She really had no idea as to why she was doing it. "Oh Dana I know this must be hard for you." Her stepsister gently grabbed her hand. "It is." She was referring to everything that had happen. "Yeah I mean it was a part of you and that short stack." Dana glared at her. "Sorry." She put her hands up in a mock sundered. "You losing it must be the most devastating thing in the world." Dana bit the inside of her cheek. "As much as the world doesn't need another Dana Foster. I admit it would have been nice to teach it things." "You know I'd be the cool aunt." "Wouldn't doubt it." "That baby would have come out exactly like you." "Yeah so it be screwed in the sports department." Al cracked a smile. "With Rich's shortness that baby would no chance." "It be cute though." She absent mindedly said. "Yeah a miniature version of you." "Emphasizes on miniature." "With Rich's eyes. I love his eyes. He always says mine are better because of their unique shade of blue but…his eyes have flecks of green." "I never noticed that." "It's not something you see from far away." She akawardly said. "Gross." Al muttered. "Your hair." "The baby has to have it." Al added. "With the genes in his favor she may come out looking like a miniature him." "Only with my personality." "She?" Al widen her eyes. "You think it would have been a girl? "Or boy. Or whatever it would have been." "You're talking about it like it's a monster." Dana closed the laptop. "She put it on the other chair to her left. "I don't feel like talking about this." Al nodded in understanding. "Okay. Let's talk about where Rich has been." "Not him either." "Okay are you ever going to forgive Karen?" "Not her either." "Still angry at J.t.?" Dana was losing her patients. She didn't want to talk about anything related to the paper baby or anything negative. Besides the fact that it was becoming an overkill it was also stressing her out. The doctor had said her fainting was to monumental stress and that she needed to relax. "Im not supposed to be stressed out Al." "All of that stresses you out?" "Yes." Dana answered sternly. "What about Mark." "Talking about Mark is fine." "How is he?" Dana added. "He's good for someone that had a brain bled." "When was the last time you saw him?" "I haven't seen him, they haven't let me out of this room." That was a lie. She had seen him in his hospital bed but she couldn't make herself go into his room. "Right I forgot." Al awkwardly said. "Hey barky im back." "Nobody cares." Al commented. "You can leave now." J.t. angrily said. "No birdbrain you're the one who's leaving." "Who says?" "Dana says." J.t. Walked over to Dana. "You want me to leave barky?" Dana groaned. "See" Al pointed out. "That's a yes. " "I want both of you to shut and stop arguing." "So you want us both to stay?"J.t stupidly asked. Dana narrowed her eyes at them both. She needed time alone with her thoughts. "Why don't you too go the cafeteria while I take a nap?" She turned to face away from them. "I can eat." J.t. commented. "Surprise surprise." Al remarked. "You eat worse than I do." "Nobody eats as worse you J.t." "LEAVE NOW!" Dana yelled finally losing her patience. "Were going jeez." J.t. said. "I'll come back later sis." Al patted her leg before getting up to follow J.t. out.
She hadn't meant to be rude she was just very annoyed. Talking about a fetus that Al thought was dead but was really growing inside of her was exhausting. She knew shouldn't have lied to everyone but it all seemed so simple a week ago. She thought back to what had transpired.
Flashback
Everything was bright. She slowly opened her eyes she saw a bright light. She closed her eyes again. She groaned. She reopened her eyes again trying to adjust to the light. She sat up startled when she saw a man standing over her. "Woah it's okay." He said in rather familiar soothing voice. She stopped moving. "W-Where am I?" Her voice was horse. She groaned in pain "He moved around the room then came back with a cup of water. He handed it to her. "She took small sips." She handed it back to him. "Im doctor Sealer." Why did that name sound so familiar? She blinked her eyes back a couple times. She still wasn't used to the light. Finally she could make out his face entirely. She widen her eyes. "Joshy." She whispered. "Haven't heard that nickname in years. "Only person who I allow to call me that was- "He stopped midsentence. He looked her in bewilderment. "L-Louise." He stuttered out. "I go by Dana now but yeah it's me." "I thought you- "Dead. No im alive." "Nice book." She commented. He looked down in embarrassment. "You read it." "I read enough." "How are you alive?" "We faked my own death." "It was after the last time he came after us, right before we moved." "This is impossible I saw your body." "You saw a picture of my body. It's not that hard to fake a death scene." "You were always smart." "I had to protect my family." "By being dead?" "Louise died after she was taken to that foster family and you know it." "It wasn't hard to get my name changed or new birth certificate." "I need to sit down." She knew he was in shock. It was a lot to take in. "You become a doctor good for you." "Yeah I stuck to our plan." She smiled. "I did too. I got into Harvard." "Good for you." He said blankly. "Why am I in a hospital bed?" "You were dehydrated your anemia came back and you fainted." "Why did I faint?" "Because of dehydration and being anemic." "You almost…." He trailed off. "Died." "You could have but your breathing went back to normal." "I didn't have to shock you." "The- am I- "She pointed to her stomach. Then she realized that he probably didn't even know. He surprised her by saying yes. "The baby's fine. It's only a fetus but it's okay." "Does my family know about it?" "Your boyfriend said it in front of everyone so I would say so." She blushed when he said boyfriend. "You two serious?" "Im not sure." She honestly answered. "Well hopefully I mean you are having his baby." She couldn't help but notice the slight anger in his voice when he said his baby. "When can I leave?" "About two weeks." "What? Why?" "We have to monitor the baby alone with your anemia coming back." "What if I want to have an abortion? Do I still have to stay here?" "Yes." "Fine, but you have to tell my family that I had miscarriage." Now it was his turn to be shocked. "Why?" "I am already planning on having an abortion." "Either way the fetus is gone." He said. "At least this way they don't grow attached." "You mean they won't hate you." He corrected her. "Do it please?" "No." "I can't have this baby it will ruin everything." "You're an adult. How will it ruin everything?" "I don't have to justify myself to you." "If you wanted to have an abortion wouldn't have said if." "I'll check on you soon Mrs. Foster." He walked out. She sat there stunned. Was this hospital crawling with everyone from her past? "Not up for company?" She looked at the door to see her stepbrother. She rolled her eyes. "Not when it's bad company." "Shh barky we don't need my niece or nephew hearing you bad mouth their favorite uncle." "Save for the fact that you would be the least favorite, the baby doesn't even have ears yet." "Oh." "I overheard your little conversation with Mchottie." Dana gave him a questioning look. "Al and Karen dubbed the nicknamed last night after you fainted." "I been out all night." "What time is it?" "Nine." She widen her eyes. "I can't believe I was out so long." He shrugged. "The doctor said it was normal." "What did you even hear?" "Everything." He looked at her with a fixed expression. "You're bluffing." She doubtfully looked at him. "Whatever you Louise." She gasped in horror. "You can't tell anyone." She begged. He went to the door. She started to freak out. "J.t. please." She begged. She was on the verge of tears. "Relax barky im shutting the door." She breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't know the whole story and I don't care but I do care about the baby." "Don't have an abortion it will be the biggest mistake of your life." Her breath hitched in her throat. Who would have thought the annoying selfish J.t Lambert could care about anything that was apart of her. He despised her he should despise the baby too. "Im not telling you about my past and you are to not ever bring it up." "Leave it to Dana to change the subject." "I mean it J.t." "I won't bring up your past." "If." There it was. He wanted something. No surprise there. "You hold off on getting an abortion." She shook her head. "I can't. Doctor Sealer is going to go out there and tell everyone I had a miscarriage." "I have to go through with the abortion." He snorted. "Hello remember?" "I heard the whole conversation." She glared at him. "Why are you even visiting me in the first place?" "You're my stepsister." "I hate you. You hate me." "I know. Were still family." "Let's be honest here." He shrugged. "Okay." "You really don't care what happens to me. So why are you in here?" "Im here to make sure you don't do anything stupid." "You knew I was going to have an abortion." She stated. "Harvard is your dream." He mocked. "You wouldn't let anything get in the way of that." "Not even a baby." "The way you put it sounds horrible." "Yeah well you're horrible." "J.t." She yelled. "You know im right." "I think you're an idiot." "Yeah well I think your nuts." "I don't care what you think. This is my life J.t not yours." "It's Rich's life too." "I'm doing this to protect him. Don't you get that?" "How is killing his baby protecting him?" "If I have this baby he'll always want to be with me." "That's bad?" She sighed. "Yeah." J.t. looked at her confused. "I don't want his whole life to revolve around me." "If he follows me to Harvard he won't learn how to live his life on his own." "Wasn't he doing that before he was dating you?" "Yes but even so he had you." "So you rather he have nobody?" "See you're a buffoon that you're not even following what I am trying to say." "You want him to have his own life away from you." "Finally you get it." "Do you love him?" Dana rolled her eyes. "Do you love Sam flirty boy." "What does that mean?" "You were flirting with that nurse." "Im asking the questions around here." "Do you love Rich?" She decided to play his game. "Yes." She truthfully answered. "Not enough for him to follow you to Harvard." "He shouldn't just follow me because he scared of losing me." "He should graduate with you and then figure out what he wants to do." "What if he wants to follow you to Harvard?" "It would've been a year we would see where we're at." It was cop out and he knew it. "You want that doctor to tell everyone you had a Miscarriage." She nodded. "Yeah." "Two conditions and I'll help you." "I thought you were already going to help me?" She confusingly asked. "I was. Then I changed my mind then I changed it back." "What are your conditions?" "You won't have an abortion until you talk to Rich." "That means he can't know you faked a miscarriage." "He's in the waiting room he'll know." "Nah you'll tell him about the baby while the doctor tells our family you lost it." "He might want to keep it." "Figure it out with him." "Look I'm helping you with your twisted plan, I don't want to but I am" "Why are you?" "Cause you don't have anyone in your corner that you trust. "Yeah and I trust you?" She sarcastically remarked. "I'm the only one you're telling stuff too." "Does Al know any of this." He smirked when he saw her fidget her hands. "I'll go get the doctor." She called after him. "Even if Rich knows, I'm still doing the abortion. I didn't want him to know about it because it would hurt him but I have to do this." He shrugged. "Whatever barky." She fell back against the pillow in a huff. He had won that argument with one word. A word she despised that got under her skin. J.t was being an annoying judgmental jerk. She thought. Who did he think he was? He'd only help her unless she was honest with Rich. This wasn't any of his business. She wanted to smack him. Then she realized it was J.t., and when did anyone ever listen to him. Besides the doctor was an old childhood friend and if she couldn't convince him to do what she wanted, then she was doubtful J.t. could. She relaxed a bit against the pillows. She gasped. She remember why she was at the hospital in the first place. She pulled the blanket off of her. She began to take the needles out carefully when the machine started beeping like crazy. The doctor and J.t. both ran in frantically. J.t. shook his head when he saw her. "Trying to escape already barky." The doctor rushed over to her. "Mrs. Foster you need to stay in this bed." "I have to check on Mark." Dana kept moving so he hit the nurse button. She came running in. "Mrs. Foster if you don't calm down I'm going to have to sedate you." The nurse gently told her. "Is that really necessary?" J.t asked. "Mrs. Foster I am Marks doctor." "Good you can take me to him." She tried to get up again but was being held down by both nurse and Doctor. "Mrs. Foster I can't do that yet but I can give you various updates on him." "That's only if you stop moving and don't pull the needles out again." She hesitantly agreed. The nurse was able to b move her IV back into place and anything else she took off. "Thank you nurse." The doctor thanked her. She walked out heading back to the nurse's station. "You're still the same." He commented. "How do you two know each other?" J.t. asked. She glared at him. This would be considering asking about her past, which she didn't want to tell him about. "We were neighbors." "Aren't you thirty?" "Twenty eight." The doctor corrected. "Were you two friends?" J.t. asked again. "Gosh J.t. what is this twenty questions." Dana snapped. "We had a close friendship." Great choice of words. She thought. "Did anything ever happen between you too?" Dana was furious. "You're sick J.t." "I was nine when I moved away he was sixteen." "Actually you were eight and I was fifth teen." He corrected her. "Can I get an update on my brother?" "She hates being wrong." J.t whispered. She tossed one of her pillows at him. It hit him square in the face. "Bullseye." The doctor ignored their antics. "Mark is stable which is good." "He isn't awake yet but that's expected." "If he doesn't wake up soon we are pushing antibiotics to help him." "If he still doesn't wake up then that would mean he's in a coma." "Besides his head injury he also has a broken wrist. "Did he need surgery for the wrist?" "No. We were able to set it back into place." "When can I see him?" "We can see about you visiting him tomorrow." She nodded. "Thank you." "I have another patient I will check on you soon." "Hey doc I have a request." "Okay Mr. Lambert." The doctor let him know he was all ears. "I need you to tell our family that she had a miscarriage." The doctor stated to object. "You care about barky right?" "Barky?" He questioned. "She looks like a dog." Dana growled. "Inbreed." She muttered. "Barky im helping you be nice." He scold her like she was really a dog. "Good barky." He praised her when she didn't respond back with a snarky comment. J.t turned his attention back to the doctor. "You care about her right?" "I care about all my patients." "You two have a past together. Help her out." "If I did this I could lose my license." "How?" "Were not asking you to forge my medical records." "What we are asking you to do is make sure that when there is baby business that nobody in my family besides me is in the room." "You want to be in the room with baby business going around?" She furrowed her eyebrows. "You need someone in your corner." He repeated to her. "Why not just tell them you're getting an abortion." "It's easier this way." J.t answered for her. She didn't feel like explaining herself to doctor sealer again. "You both realize how crazy this is?" "Welcome to our world." "J.t. joked. Dana couldn't but agree. "Will you do it?" Dana asked. After a quiet couple of seconds he sighed. "Fine." Dana felt relieved. "You two can't tell anyone about this." "We won't." Dana agreed. "You have to have the abortion too." "Don't worry I will get it as soon as I get out of here." "I need to be going I'll check on you soon." "When will you tell them?" "After im done with this patient." "Don't worry I'll let you know first. She nodded. He walked out and J.t. shut the door behind him. "Well?" J.t. asked. "What?" She rudely asked. "Thank you J.t now my dreams to Harvard won't be ruined." He mocked in a squeaky girly voice. "You're an idiot." "Not the way you should talk to someone who saved your dreams from crashing." "You can leave now." She pointed to the door. "Good. I can go get Rich." She groaned. J.t laughed as he left the room. "Jerk." She yelled after him.
End of Flashback
Even though everything was now twisty she knew she did the right thing. At least she hoped she did. She was as twisty in her head as her plan had been. It made her uneasy at how unsure she was now being. She was usually the surest person in her family. She knew the plan of her life even when her life was horrible. She knew she would graduate school with honors become valedictorian and get a full scholarship to Harvard. Things of course didn't go planned. She got a couple B's and didn't become valedictorian and she had to go to community college first. While in her senior year at community College she applied again to Harvard. She got in the second time around with a partial scholarship. Again life threw her a curveball but she knew this curveball could easily be taken care of. She would have an abortion and everything would go back to normal. She would finish up college graduate, find an apartment online then go sign the lease. Once everything was settled she go to Harvard and stay there for the remaining of her summer to get familiar with the area. She already knew what she'd be studying and had gotten Frist year Harvard books at the beginning of the year from a friend that was going into his second year. She had been looking through the books when she had free time. She was familiar with them and knew she be ahead when she started in the fall. She knew she would be on her way to an amazing year. A plan that she had set into motion at the age of five. Even though there was some mishaps she always knew her plans would get her to Harvard. She didn't want to sacrifice Harvard for a baby. Even if that baby was one she made with the love of her life. Now she was doubting those plans. She was doubting her dreams. Yes she wanted to go to Harvard. Yes she wanted to be a top notch attorney. Except she was pregnant and even though that wasn't a handicap it did make her plan difficult. I mean yes she had just said she wouldn't let a baby ruin her dreams but damn it was a baby. How could she go through with the abortion? She was stuck. Yes she wanted to have an abortion so her life could go back to normal but then she wanted to stay pregnant. She was curious as to who the baby would take after more. How would it look? She knew what she had to do to become a successful women and she knew what she could do. She wasn't sure which one to choose anymore. J.t. walked into her room as she was deep into her thoughts. He had sat in the chair next to her bed. That one not acoppied by the laptop. She still hadn't noticed his presence and began to think about how weird Rich was being. He had only visited her twice since she had been admitted. She only remembered seeing him once. The other time he visited was when she was still out. J.t. had told her that he had sat next to her until it was time to leave. The second time he had only stayed for three hours and when he did he was mostly quiet. She thought back to it.
Flashback.
She sat up in the bed looking around at the flowers. They were the same pink tuples from atrium. Which meant the flowers were from the gift shop. She hated them. They looked too delicate and weak. Two things that she wasn't. She would have to have the nurse dispose of them. She would blame them on her allergies. "Hey there." She smiled. "Hey." Rich awkwardly walked into the room. He went to sit on the chair to her left. "How are you feeling?" He asked. "Better." He nodded. She watched as he looked down at his shoes. She tried to bring up a topic of conversation but she was coming up blank. The only thing she could think of was there last conversation. It hadn't ended that great. That conversation made her think of the women she ran into and that made her think of the doctor that treated her and he made her think of the doctor she ran into. That turned into her thinking of her father who mad her life hell. He in turn made her think of her mother who did nothing to protect them from him. She made her think of Mark who was in hospital with a head injury. She still didn't know if he had woken up. He made her think of Karen and their arguments over the paper. Her monitor started to beep like crazy. She tried to take a couple breathes to calm herself down. The doctor ran in. "Mrs. Foster." He laid a hand down on her shoulder. She jumped up. "It's okay Dana." "Close your eyes." Dana did as he told her. She could hear Rich asking what was going on. The doctor told him that she had to visual something happy to calm her nerves. "Dana Remember that camping trip you went on with my family?" He asked. She nodded. "Well I want you to picture yourself at the campground." "Picture the rocks we sat on as we watched the sunset glisten on the river water." "Can you see it?" She nodded. The monitors were still beeping. "Remember the smell remember how you felt." "You felt happy. Especially when you heard the birds softly chirping." She took another deep breath. The monitors started to slow down. She laughed. "What?" They both questioned. "Remember when I told you that I wanted to jump in the river." She knew he was smiling. "Yeah you tried to jump from the rock and I freaked out and jumped to grab you but I slipped and twisted my ankle." He answered her. "Yeah then I grabbed your hand so the water didn't take you." "Yeah after a lot of pulling I was able to get you back on the rock." "Yeah then you had to practically carry me back to the campsite." "Your dad was so mad." "Yeah but I took the blame." She opened her eyes. "Hey there ocean blue." He greeted her like he used to as a child. She smiled. "Hi there." Rich coughed. "Im still here." He bitterly added. She turned her attention back to her boyfriend. "Baby this is an old friend and my doctor." "We've met." The doctor held his hand out for him to shake. "We were never properly introduced." "I am Doctor William Sealer." Rich glared at his hand. He seemed jealous. She looked at him. She was begging him to be cordial. He eventually shook the doctor's hand. "Rich Halke Dana's boyfriend." He put the emphasis on boyfriend. "Nice to meet you." William let go of his hand. "I should go but Dana I will tell you again, that stress isn't good for you." "Or the-… She cut him off. "I know. I will try to stay calm." He turned back towards Rich. "Please make sure she does its vital for her heath." He looked at her when he said health. "Goodbye doctor Sealer." The doctor nodded. "Visiting hours are over at Ten pm. "I'll be gone way before then." Rich said making her widen her eyes. "You will?" He nervously rubbed the back on his neck. "Yeah I uh have somewhere to be." The disappointment passed over her face. He didn't seem to notice it. "Will you come back?" She asked. For some reason she was afraid of what his answer might be. He and William were in a heated starring battle. She doubt he even heard her. "I could always keep you company if Rich has to leave." Rich scoffed. "Don't your patients need you?" "Dana is one of my Patients." He corrected Rich. "My last surgery was half an hour ago. I mostly have paperwork." "I'm not leaving for a couple hours and I will be back." "Good to know." "I'll check on you before I head home Mrs. Foster." Dana smiled. "Bye doctor Sealer." Rich went back to the chair. He slumped in it. "How do you know that jerk?" "Jealous much?" she asked. "He is all over you, and you don't even seem to care." Rich spat. "Rich we've been together for two years, almost three. Our relationship I feel is so strong that even some random guy flirting with me couldn't break it." "I hardly even noticed." "Want to know why?" She asked. "He's not a random guy you used to know him." "He was a childhood friend." "None of that matters." She added. "You two have a connection." "We have a connection." She emphasized. He stayed quiet. "Rich I only have eyes for you just like I know you only have eyes for me." "Men or women making passes at us shouldn't matter. We know how strong our relationship is. The more we work on keeping things to together the better everything will be." He still stayed quiet. "Baby say something." She ordered. "I don't have anything to say." She laid back against the pillows. It wasn't like him to be quiet about their relationship. She couldn't help but wonder if someone had told him about the "fake miscarriage?" He seemed upset but she could also be wrong. Maybe his jealously just got him riled up and he needed time to collect his thoughts. She couldn't handle the silence anymore. "Are you angry at me?" He looked up at her but he looked around her not at her. Strange. She wondered. "No." He answered. "Rich im in the hospital don't you care?" "I asked you if were okay." He reminded her. "I know but your being too quiet." "I don't feel like talking. I'll stay here with you but I want to be quiet." She sighed. "Fine. How long are you staying?" "If you keep pestering me I'll leave now." He snapped. She didn't like his attitude. He was treating her worse than J.t. ever did. J.t. could be a jerk but if she was hurt emotional or physically he would stop his rude behavior to an extent. Once she was better he go right back to being J.t. Rich was different after they got together he never treated her with disrespect. He was an amazing boyfriend. Now he was being a jerk. He was treating her like crap. "Then leave I don't need you here. " She didn't need him by her side. She wanted him by her side but not if he was being an ass. "What?" He seemed confused by her outburst. "Dana I don't want to leave but I have things to do." "I get that. I don't understand your attitude." "I don't have an attitude." "You're treating me worse than J.t does." "I don't understand why." "Im sorry." He pathetically apologized. "I love you." He added with a smile. She smiled too. "I love you too." She replied. "I really do want to it to be quiet I have headache." "Okay. We can sit here watcing some TV." "Sounds good." She handed him the remote allowing him to pick the channel. He turned his char around to face the TV before sitting back down. She noticed he had moved the chair further away from her. She wanted to ask why but figured she should give him some space. She instead averted her eyes to the TV. If only she would have known that, that day was the start of her and Rich's end of their relationship. It was all going downhill from there on out.
End of Flashback
"Earth to barky." She grab a hold of J.t's hand that was waving in front of her face. She twisted it back. He shrieked in pain. "Oww." "I don't like hands in front of my face." She glared at him. "So- Oww." She let go. He held his hand. "When did you become so strong?" "I think you broke my hand." "I bruised it I didn't break it." She corrected him. "What we're you thinking about?" "Rich." "You need to tell him." "Quit nagging me mother." She sarcastically remarked. "We look nothing alike." "That's because you look like a donkey's ass." She muttered. "You look like a dog." "Better than the ass of animal." She quipped. "He needs to know." J.t. brought the conversation back to Rich and the baby. "I know and I want him to know but he stopped visiting me." "I can't figure out why." J.t. sighed. The guilt had finally overtaken him. "Okay I give." He said. "What did you do J.t?" She angrily asked He started talking about what happened when she fainted. How he had been convinced Rich was the reason she had fainted, how it had pissed him off. Not because he cares about her. He made that clear. She rolled her eyes. He went all to say how he had threatened Rich that if he came close to Dana he'd kick his ass. He said he felt responsible for Rich not visiting her as frequently as he should. "As much as this pains me to say… She took a small pause. She wasn't used to saying these next words. this isn't your fault." "If Rich really wanted to be here he would be." She shrugged. "He doesn't. possiblely he's seeing somebody else I don't know." "Maybe he's still mad about Harvard." "You threatening him didn't make him leave." "He was already gone after our fight. I was too blind not to see it." "I thought he begged you not to dump him?" J.t. questioned. "He did but even then he seemed off." "If he was cheating on me. Would you tell me?" J.t. shifted his feet. "Why would I know if he cheated?" He tried to play it off. "He's your best friend. You'd be the first person he tell." "Dana he's not cheating on you." "Would you tell me if he was?" She asked again. "You're my stepsister." "You're his best friend." He stayed quiet. "J.t. you say you're in my corner. If that's true don't hid behind labels. Tell me the truth." "I would tell you." It was so rushed she had a hard time believing if it was true. "Okay." She hesitantly agreed. "Get some rest. Carol said she come see you in half an hour." Dana did love her mother. Lastly she couldn't let go of the past and her unresolved Animosity towards her mom kept coming up. That and her mother had become more of a helicopter mom and that didn't help her relationship with her mother either. "Be nice." He reminded her. "I am nice." "Yesterday you bit Carol's head off." "She's being too much of a helicopter mom." "She's always been a helicopter mom." J.t. pointed out. "Not like this." Dana argued. "Give her a break barky. Both of her kids are in the hospital at the same time." "I know it's not easy on my dad." Dana pursed her lips together. "I still hate caring J.t." She bitterly commented. "I told you im not caring." "Whatever cheese head." She shrugged him off. "Im tired you may leave now." Even though she sounded sweet he knew she was annoyed and wanted to be left alone. She turned on her side and began to close her eyes. She wasn't actually tired but it was better than talking to anyone at the moment. "Night barky." He whispered. He clicked off the lights before closing the door. She put a hand on her stomach as she drifted to sleep.