Chapter Ten: Poor Heart Aches

Author's Note: Hello everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Can't Fight The Moonlight. This chapter and the next two chapters were my favorites to write so far. This chapter jumps in the future to when Jordan is about seven months pregnant. As always, I don't own The Night Shift or any of its characters. The chapter title comes from Every Breath You Take by The Police.

"I can't wait to have this baby." Jordan said when they were eating dinner before one of their shifts at the hospital.

"Aren't you tired of saying the baby? Don't you want to address it as a boy or girl?" TC asked, shoving fries in his mouth.

Jordan watched him with a slightly disgusted look on her face. "That takes away the entire mystique of the birth. It's not as fun. Besides, my mom and dad didn't want to find out what they were having until I was born, and I want to do the same."

"But then you get stuck with a gender neutral name."

Jordan's eyes narrowed. "I like my name. And we can think of names for both a girl and boy. I already have an idea for a girl."

"You do? Well, let's hear it. I will object to the name Meredith, especially if you say you're naming her that because of Meredith Grey."

"I still don't understand your issues with Meredith." Jordan muttered under her breath. "No, I was doing some research earlier on one of my breaks at the hospital and I really like the name Avery Grace."

"Avery Grace?"

"Yeah, Avery Grace. Avery means wise and Grace means God's favor. You can't go wrong with a name like that."

TC raised an eyebrow and put a few more fries in his mouth as he thought over the name. "Well, we'll see. I'm sure I can find a better girl's name."

Jordan rolled her eyes and leaned back against her chair. "Good luck with that Callahan. You know my name is pretty kickass." Jordan let out a content smile as she felt the baby kick. "If this baby is a girl, she certainly likes the name." Jordan's smile grew as she saw the disgruntled look on TC's face. "Do you have any baby names? For a girl or a boy?"

"Not necessarily a first name for a boy, but I was thinking Thaddeus for a middle name. Even though Thad would kill me for doing that if he was still here."

Jordan reached across the table and held one of TC's hands in hers. "I think he'd act like he didn't want it, but he'd tell everyone that it was one of the best moments in his life." She squeezed his hand and smiled when she saw a smile grace TC's features.

"And then he'd tell everyone that he forced us into picking that as his middle name." TC said as he started laughing. "He would corrupt our kids, regardless of their name."

Jordan nodded. She was so happy that TC was finally able to talk openly about Thad. The therapy sessions at the hospital had been really helping him and he was finally starting to return to his old self.

"I wish our kids would get to meet their Uncle Thad." TC said. Jordan started rubbing small circles on her expanding stomach as she thought about what life would be like if Thad was still here. "I mean, they're going to have Toph and Janet as their aunt and uncle, but they're the only ones."

"Topher and Janet are going to be good for our kids. And you know your family is going to spoil this baby and any other kids we have."

"Have you talked to your mother about having a baby?"

"No. And I don't plan on it either. I've been on my own for years. As soon as I told her I was going to be a doctor, I was cut off by my whole family. They don't approve of my lifestyle so I'm basically dead to them."

"You don't think your family would want to know that you're going to have a baby."

"T, if they didn't care that I graduated from college or med school or got a job and did all of this on my own, they probably aren't going to care if I'm giving birth. All they can see is that I medically save lives instead of praying that whatever is going on will go away. I've given up hope that they're going to talk to me ever again." Jordan felt tears of frustration spring to her eyes and she hastily wiped them away. "I just don't want to talk about this anymore."

TC got up from his chair and walked over to where Jordan was sitting. He sat in the booth next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Just let it out." he whispered in her ear. Her body heaved with a heavy sob as more tears started to fall.

They sat like that for a few minutes. Jordan sniffed and pressed herself closer to TC, who wiped away her tears. "Sorry, T. I didn't plan on the dramatics."

He kissed the top of her head. "Well, now we're even. I've broken down in front of you and now you broke down in front of me." Jordan looked up at him with a tear stained face and he wiped them away. "We can't be strong all the time."

"Sometimes I forget that."

"Well, try to remember that next time." He gave her another kiss and got up to go back to his side of the booth. He took out his wallet and pulled out a ring, the light from overhead catching it immediately.

"T, what is that?" Jordan asked, her eyes growing wide.

"It's an engagement ring, Jordan. I thought all girls liked jewelry and could identify the basic types."

"I know what it is but why do you have it?"

"In all honesty, I've been carrying it around since you said the annulment was finalized and I've been waiting for the right time to propose…"

"So you're going to propose to me after I have a meltdown at a restaurant?"

"Well, I can do it someplace else, but that'll take the magic right out of it." He looked at the ring he was holding between his fingers. "You know, I've had this ring for years. I bought it right before I went on my first tour in Afghanistan. I was going to give it to you that night, but I just couldn't."

"T—"

"I think we can make it work, you know? We've had so many things thrown at us and we've overcome them all. But I want us to be together, and be a real family, for you, for me, for the baby. I don't want to live another moment without you by my side. So, Jordan Alexander, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?"

Again, Jordan felt tears spring into her eyes, but for much a different reason. "Oh, T…"

"Is that a good 'Oh, T' or is that a bad 'Oh, T?' Because I can only handle the suspense if it's a good one."

Jordan smiled and nodded her face. "It's good. Yes. Yes, I'll marry you!" She felt more tears start to fall. "Now get down on one knee and ask me again." Jordan's smile widened as TC dropped to one knee and held out the ring. He took her left hand and slid it on her finger. "I love you, TC."

He got up and sat back down next to her in the booth. "I love you too, Jordan." He leaned over and kissed her. He broke the kiss and put one of his hands on her stomach. "Baby, this is a good thing. Give me and Mommy a celebratory kick." He held his hand there and waited for the baby to kick, finally feeling one after a few minutes.

Jordan looked at her watch and sighed. "We should start heading to the hospital. It's starting to get late and there's going to be a lot of traffic with the game and there's a storm brewing."

"Oh come on, Jordan, don't you think we can play hooky today? We just got engaged. I think Ragosa would understand."

Jordan raised an eyebrow as she looked for the waiter. "Have you met Ragosa? He's still upset that Scott and I didn't work out. He gives you death glares every time you talk to me. He's not going to give us the night off when there's a lot of people coming into the hospital because of the storm."

"Hey, have you noticed that things always happen to us when it storms?"

"Not every time it storms."

"But for most of them there's been something that happens. Do you think something happens for this one?"

"Well, we got engaged. Hopefully that's the only thing that happens to us tonight."

-X-

"So, how do we go about telling people we're engaged?" TC asked when they pulled up to the hospital.

Jordan sighed. "That's the thing…I don't really want people to find out yet. Don't get me wrong, I love that we're engaged, and I want to celebrate it with our coworkers, but I'm just not prepared for people to know. Especially since I still need to get used to the fact."

"You still need to get used to the fact?"

"Well, I just got engaged, I'm having a baby in a few months…it's just a lot to take in when just a few months ago I was married to someone else." She twisted her ring around her finger. "But I don't think I should have to take this off during work. And if people ask me about it, I'll tell them the truth."

TC pulled Jordan closer to him and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Sounds like a plan to me, love."

The two of them walked into the hospital, completely not surprised that it was already filling with patients. The brute of the storm wasn't expected to hit San Antonio until the end of their shift, but it was already getting fairly dicey outside.

"Looks like we're in for a long night." Jordan said, surveying what was going on in the hospital. Her hand dropped to her stomach and she started rubbing small circles on her stomach.

"Am I allowed to say I want you sticking to broken bones?" TC asked gently. Last time he'd suggested Jordan take it easy during a shift, he got chewed out by Jordan and was on the couch for two nights.

"I think you may be right this time." Jordan said as she kept rubbing her stomach. "I'll go talk to Nurse Ramos and make sure that Ragosa knows too." She looked around the hospital. "It's going to be a long night." Jordan started to walk away but TC gently tugged on her arm. "Did you forget something?"

"I love you." TC said, pulling Jordan closer to him so he could kiss her. "Have a good shift."

Jordan smiled and walked over to the nurses' station. TC watched her walk and smiled to himself, thinking he was the luckiest man in the world.

-X-

"How's it going?" TC asked Jordan as he was waiting for another patient to arrive from the scene.

She looked up from where she was sitting at the nurses' station and sighed. "I just wish I could be doing more, you know?"

"Well, you're mending bones and carrying our baby. I think you're doing just fine." TC said with a smile. He wrote something on a patient's chart and handed it to one of the nurses. "How is baby Callahan doing?"

"Kicking up a storm."

"Doctor Alexander, here's the x-rays for your patient in room two." one of the nurses said, handing her the x-rays.

Jordan took the films out of the envelope and sighed. "Page ortho for me. If no one can operate on it, put it in a brace until someone can." She smiled at the nurse and turned her attention back to TC. "So, I was thinking…"

"I don't like the sound of that."

Jordan gave TC a look. "We need to paint the nursery at some point. The baby is going to be here sooner than we think."

"Well, I'll get to work on that. But you know, it would be easier to paint a nursery if we knew what we were having."

"Not going to happen, T. We're waiting it out." Jordan looked out the main entrance. "Looks like your patient's here."

-X-

"Alright, everyone!" Ragosa said, gathering everyone up at the end of their shift. "Once again, you all have done a bang up job getting patients in and out of the emergency room. It's been a rough night, especially with the storm, but you all managed to pull through. Thanks for all the hard work." He started clapping and everyone followed suit.

"You ready to go home?" TC asked Jordan who was basically falling asleep in her chair.

She looked up at him sleepily. "Is that a good idea? The storm is going to get worse."

"We'll be fine. I'll drive, probably a little over the speed limit, and we'll be home soon. Then we can get some sleep."

"Sleep sounds great." Jordan said, pushing herself up off the chair. "I don't know why I'm the one who's so tired. I didn't work as much as you did." She leaned against TC's shoulders in an effort to stand up and walk at the same time.

He wrapped his arm around Jordan and the two of them walked out to the parking lot. TC helped Jordan get into the car and went around to the other side and climbed in. He put the key in the ignition and started the drive back to their house in the middle of the storm.

"So, I did give some thought to names while I was working." TC said, turning to look over at Jordan. "If it's a boy, which I'm sure it is, I was thinking we should name him Colin and have his middle name be Thaddeus. And also, you were talking about name meanings, and Thad's name meant heart."

Jordan let out a small chuckle. "That's ironic."

"I thought so too. But I really like the name. What do you think?"

"I think that sounds like a great name. What do you think about Avery Grace if it's a girl?"

"See, that's the thing Jordan, I'm convinced it's going to be a boy."

Jordan turned towards him and glared. "Did you call the doctor and ask?"

"No, of course not." TC said honestly. "It's just a gut reaction." He turned his attention towards Jordan as he kept driving. "I promise you I don't know the sex of our baby. I'm in the dark as much as you are."

"Well that's good." Jordan said. She turned her attention back towards the road and gasped. "T, look out!"

TC turned his attention back to the road and saw there was debris from fallen trees all over roads. He swerved to miss them and started grumbling. "You think they'd have them cleared out of the way by now."

"I know, T. It's a travesty." Jordan said. "Hey, that car behind us is driving awfully close to us."

TC looked in the rearview mirror and saw Jordan was right. "What the hell?"

Just then, the car that was behind them smashed into their bumper and sent them flying forward. TC and Jordan's car hit one of the fallen tree branches and sent them spinning off the road.

When they stopped, TC blinked a few times to get his bearings. "Well, that was a close one, wasn't it, Jordan?" TC asked. When he didn't hear from her, he looked over and saw she was slumped over in the seat and was bleeding from her forehead. "Jordan?" he asked again. He reached over and tried to put her head upright. As soon as he let it go, her head flopped right back to where it was. "Oh God, oh God, oh God. Please don't do this."

TO BE CONTINUED