A/N: Happy Saturday! Time for a new chapter! :) Thanks for all the continued love and support for this story.
Summary: Mary goes in for surgery and Marshall is at loose ends. This chapter also serves to deal with some of the less central story lines. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Rating: T I guess
Marshall spent so much of Wednesday and Thursday distracting Mary that he wasn't prepared for the wait when she went into surgery. He lasted twenty minutes before he had to leave. He briefly went home, planning to shower and regroup.
He realized that was a mistake when he noticed Abby's car in the driveway with moving boxes sticking out the back. For a second he considered driving past the house without stopping, but then realized he couldn't avoid it forever and squared his shoulders as he walked inside.
"Abigail," he called, pushing open the door.
"In the kitchen."
Oscar came bounding up to him nearly bowling him over.
"Hey, buddy. How you doing?" He chuckled, patting him on the head as he walked towards the kitchen, looking around to see what she had already packed, surprisingly nothing seemed out of place.
"Hi," she said quietly, warming her hands around a mug of tea.
"Hey. Sorry I haven't been around much."
She smiled softly.
"I wasn't expecting you to be. Mary in surgery?"
"How did you…"
"We caught a case involving one of your witnesses. Stan told me. How are you doing?"
Relieved she already knew, he sunk into the seat across from her.
"I'm scared out of my mind, Abby. It may be nothing, but what if it's not?"
"Then you two will deal with it. She can make it through anything. Especially if she has you," she told him, placing a hand on top of his.
"Thank you, Abby. I'm sorry for how things worked out."
"I'm not," she shook her head with a small smile. "I loved our time together. But we both deserve something more."
"You're a remarkable woman, Detective Chaffey."
"Mary's lucky to have you, Marshall. Don't let either of your fears or stubbornness get in the way this time."
"I won't."
The pair had a comfortable silence as Oscar lay his head in Marshall's lap.
"I saw the boxes in your car…" He prompted after a few minutes.
"Yeah. I thought it was best to be prepared. I assume one or both of us will be moving out in the near future."
"True," Marshall agreed as he thought it through. "I guess it makes the most sense if I… umm… oh I don't know."
"Look, Marshall, I'm not asking you to make any decisions right this second. I know that all of your focus is on Mary right now. As it should be. We can discuss it when everything is stable. Just give it some thought if you have the time."
"I will. Thank you," Marshall whispered.
"You're welcome. Now, I suspect you came home to take a shower and distract yourself?"
He nodded somewhat numbly.
"Why don't you go do that? I'll make you a cup of coffee."
Abigail was gone when he got out of the shower. She left a note saying she'd gotten called in to work, so Marshall packed a duffel with fresh clothes, poured the coffee into a thermos, rinsed out the mug, and climbed back into his truck. Confident the nurses would call him when Mary was in recovery and unwilling to return to the hospital to sit and wait, Marshall did something he never ever thought he would do.
"Hi Brandi, I was wondering if you needed any help shopping for the nursery."
"Sure! We're at the hardware store now trying to pick out paints. Mom and I could use a referee."
"I'll be there in ten. Don't buy anything without me."
"We won't."
"See you soon."
He drove on autopilot as his mind drifted to Mary in surgery. Before he knew it he was parked outside the hardware store. Knowing he couldn't show that there was anything wrong, he took a moment to breathe and control his expression.
Inside the store he found them arguing in the paint section.
"No, mom, we should go with this green. That one is too bright. It will be too stimulating."
"We're not going with the one you picked out, it looks like puke."
Taking comfort in their antics for once, Marshall chuckled as he approached them.
"Good morning, ladies."
"Marshall, will you please tell my darling daughter that this paint looks like puke," Jinx begged, holding up a paint sample.
Marshall spent the next fifteen minutes trying to get a word in edgewise as they argued but only two minutes convincing them of his choice. After the paint they went next door and picked out the light fixtures and the furniture. By noon all of the decisions had been made but there were still a few hours before Mary would be in recovery, so Marshall suggested they all go out to lunch.
"So, Marshall, what's brought on this sudden urge to spend time with us?" Brandi asked bluntly at the table.
"I wanted to help with the nursery. I know you're both working very hard to do this for Mary and I wanted to do my part."
"That's very sweet of you, Marshall," Jinx beamed.
Marshall wasn't sure what his expression showed, but it clearly wasn't complacency.
"Mary sent you, didn't she? She doesn't trust us to pick pretty colors," Brandi concluded, misinterpreting Marshall's expression.
"That's not it at all. I promise. She just knew I had a specific vision in my head…"
"And everything worked out," Jinx interjected. "So let's talk about something else."
The rest of the meal was filled with idle chit chat for which Marshall was immensely grateful. He was just signing the receipt when his phone rang. Walking away from the table, Marshall answered quietly.
"Hi Mr. Mann, this is nurse Julie, Mary is in a recovery room. She should be awake soon."
"Thank you. What's the room number?"
"309."
"I'll be there soon."
Quickly bidding Brandi and Jinx goodbye, Marshall headed for the hospital. She was still sedated when he got to the room, so he settled into the chair next to her bed to wait. A few minutes later, the doctor came in and Marshall's heart was in his throat.
"Mr. Shannon?"
"Yes," Marshall answered, not processing what he said.
"I am Dr. Bentos, I performed Mary's surgery. We found two sizable cysts on her ovaries, but we were able to remove them. The cysts were completely benign and there is no sign of cancer or any other illness. Cysts are a common occurrence and are generally not dangerous, but since we were in there already we felt that we should go ahead and remove them."
"So, she's okay?"
"She is perfectly healthy, Mr. Shannon. I will be back to check on her when she wakes up. If you need anything or have any questions just have one of the nurses page me."
"Thank you very much, doctor," he said emphatically shaking his hand.
"Of course. Take care. I'll be by in a few hours. Oh and congratulations on your baby girl."
Marshall sunk down into the chair, a few tears of relief escaping. Mary was perfectly healthy. Everything was going to be okay.
A/N: Here endeth the angst lol for the most part. I hope you liked this chapter it's a little scattered but I suspect Marshall would be too at this point.
Reviews are lovely and so are all you readers. See you next week!