Chapter 11: I'm Sorry

From the moment they arrived at the E.R. it had been a blur of paperwork and nurses coming out to update them. First Laura was being X-rayed. Then she was being stitched up. Then she was being monitored for a concussion.

Elizabeth and Katie had gone with Becky back to the house, because the E.R. certainly wasn't a place for two little girls to be. Now, the two worried parents sat together, waiting for any news on their youngest daughter.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sully?" Michaela and Sully both stood when Dr. Jones, the neurosurgeon stepped out.

"How is she?" Sully immediately asked.

"She's doing well. We're monitoring her, and we'd like to keep her overnight. She had a nasty fall, but nothing else seems to have been injured. She's been given fifteen stitches, and she has a nasty bump to go with it, but there's no reason to think she won't be just fine."

"So she won't need surgery?"

"Not with this type of head wound. It wasn't severe enough to cause a compression."

"Thank God," Michaela breathed, gripping Sully's hand in hers. Despite everything that had been going on around them, he was still her rock when she needed the support.

The doctor disappeared, and Sully and Michaela sat back down across from one another, their hands still joined.

"She's ok, Michaela. Ya heard him."

"I did," she breathed. "I was so scared, Sully."

"Hey, but it's over now."

"I know, but…how was I supposed to know that she…she would be able to do that? We should have lowered the mattress in the crib."

"Michaela, kids do things like this. We can't protect them from everything…"

"We should have protected her from this…I can't believe this happened."

"Don't go blamin' yourself, ok? Katie tried it at that age. Elizabeth too."

"But they didn't fall out, Sully! Laura did!"

"Mr. and Mrs. Sully?"

Michaela and Sully looked up, as two officers came into the waiting room. What surprised them even more was who was with them. Emily. Michaela and Sully both immediately tensed.

"What are you doin' here?" Sully asked.

"This is her, officer." Emily's eyes were wild with what looked like a mixture of excitement, anger, and achievement.

"What's going on?" Michaela asked, glaring daggers at Emily.

"We've come to ask you a few questions. Your friend here, Miss McCallister heard of the trouble at your house this morning on a scanner. She heard a year-old infant had an accident, and she claims that child services need to be called." Sully's gaze snapped toward Emily. "We're just here to assess the situation…"

"On what grounds?" Sully asked.

"Reckless endangerment. She claims your wife has driven with them in the car multiple times while under severe emotional distress." This made Michaela bristle.

"What?!" Michaela exclaimed. "I would never hurt my children!"

"Ma'am…"

"No! She has no right! My children are safe at our home! Emotional distress? I'm pregnant! Maybe I had mood swings, but I was never out of control! I would never hurt my children!"

"I'm sorry, Michaela. Those children are too precious to be…"

"No!" Michaela screamed. "How dare you try to take my kids away from me? You have no right! You have no right to pretend you even care about them! You only care about yourself, you selfish…" She was shaking with anger now, as an officer held a hand up to interrupt.

"Ma'am, we can't do anything based on the driving claims, because there is no evidence, but we do need to investigate the situation at your home and make sure this was an accident." Sully couldn't believe this.

"You're kiddin' right?" Sully asked.

"This is no joking matter, Mr. Sully," the other officer said sternly.

"My wife would never hurt our kids!"

"We just have to make sure. When someone's concerned for the wellbeing of a child…" Michaela shook her head, rubbing her temples. Sully interrupted the officer.

"Fine, go! You'll see she just tried to climb out of her crib, and she hit her head. All kids do that! It was a bad accident, but she's gonna be alright."

"We just want to make sure, sir." Michaela had had enough. She wasn't going to listen to it anymore. She knew now…she knew.

"Go!" Michaela exclaimed. "Please. Here's my key." She shoved it in his hand. "And the security code for the alarm…" Michaela wrote it down, wanting this cleared as soon as possible. "Just take care of this, so my family can have some privacy. Please!" One officer headed off, and one stayed behind with Emily, Sully, and Michaela.

"You had no right," Sully seethed. "What're you tryin' to do? Ruin everything for anybody who might be happy, just 'cause you got dealt a bad hand?"

"You have no right to judge me," Emily cried. "I had a family. I was happy!"

"That's no right for you to take this out on my family!"

"I just want a family…I want you, Sully!" Michaela gaped at the incredibility of the woman before her. As she looked at the way this woman looked at Sully, it was becoming so much clearer now. This woman was definitely crazy, but she was smart, maybe smart enough to record a conversation she knew would sound suspicious. Smart enough to know the perfect time to throw it in a worried wife's face.

"I don't want you!" he screamed angrily. "When are ya gonna understand that?!" The officer stepped closer to Sully.

"Sir, calm down."

"Calm down? She's tryin' to ruin' my life! She's insane!" Sully screamed, growing more furious by the moment.

"Sully!" Michaela exclaimed. Sully turned to his wife, took a deep breath, and he walked away to calm down. But he stayed close by. Michaela stood before Emily.

"You lied. It was all a lie…" She spoke slowly, her voice coated with venom. Emily only stared back.

"You don't deserve a family like this. You don't deserve him as your husband. You're too busy…pawning them off on a nanny. I made time for my family you know, and they still left me!" She was getting angry now.

"How dare you judge how I raise my family? If you knew anything, you'd know that my family is the most important thing there is, and being a doctor helps me provide for that family! Everything was fine…until you came along spewing your lies." Emily just shook her head. "I'm sorry you lost your family, but that gives you no right to try to take mine away!"

"I could make him happy. I could…"

"Go away!" Michaela screamed, not sure who to be angrier with right now, Emily for all of the lies or herself for believing the lies. Emily shook her head.

"You don't deserve them. You'll see…one day."

"Lady, you better leave now." The officer took her by the arm, as she started to move toward Michaela. "Come on." He looked at Michaela. "We still need to investigate for the record, but I don't have any doubt it'll come out as an accident." Michaela only stood there, staring as he escorted a violently struggling Emily outside.

Sully came back over toward Michaela, uncertain of how she was going to react, but when she looked up at him and then looked down to the floor, guilt in her eyes, he knew.

"Michaela?"

"I should have trusted you. I'm sorry I…"

"Hey…you…the things she said…the things you were thinkin'…"

"Don't try to make me feel better. I should have trusted you! You've always been there for me, and I knew that. I just let my insecurities brew until I actually believed that…that you could do that to me. I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"

"Michaela, don't…"

"Don't tell me not to apologize, because I do owe you…I do…"

"Ya don't owe me nothin'. Ok? Hey, sit down. Come on…baby needs the rest." He led her back to the seats, and they sat down across from one another. She buried her face in her hands, and he placed his hands on her knees. "I was so afraid of losin' ya, that I didn't try hard enough to explain myself." He took her hands in his, causing her to look him in the eyes. "That conversation you heard? Yeah, that happened. But it was taken out of context. Michaela, we were talkin' about her comin' to my room drunk and trying to seduce me. I didn't know how to tell ya, because you'd been so worried, because ya didn't trust her. I wanted ya to know that you were right, and I was gonna tell ya, but then ya told me about the baby, and I didn't know how…I didn't wanna ruin how happy ya were. Then…then you had to go to the hospital, and I was really scared. I thought it was my fault…I thought if I said something to upset ya…you might…"

"Sully…" Michaela squeezed his hands.

"And I shoulda told ya the truth when I left that morning. I should told ya Emily needed to talk to me, 'cause she did."

"I should have trusted you."

"Michaela, I can't blame ya…not after everything I held for ya?"

"But you were…you were trying to protect me, and I see that now. But Sully, I don't need protecting." She looked him right in the eyes. "I know a lot's happened in the past couple of years, but that's only made us stronger. So when Emily came along, I just had this…this gut instinct that she wanted you, and that really set me off. I wanted to protect our family, because we'd already been through so much."

"And I shoulda listened to ya."

"You had no reason not to trust her."

"I had your word."

"My word? My gut instincts? Sully, I can't blame you for thinking I was being jealous…especially after the beach…"

"That was years ago, Michaela. Truth is, I guess sometimes everybody just needs to feel like they're trusted. You trusted me, but I didn't trust you when ya said you had a bad feeling about her."

"I'm sorry for not trusting you when you told me the truth about San Diego. I'm sorry I believed her and not you." She swallowed hard. "Can you forgive me?"

"There's nothin' to forgive," he whispered.

"Sully…please…" Sully sighed, knowing his wife wouldn't feel right until she heard the words.

"Michaela, I forgive ya for just tryin' to protect our family and our marriage. But I can't hold it against ya, and if ya ever feel the need to protect our family again…please, by all means. And I'll trust ya." She smiled sadly. "And I'm sorry for not tellin' ya about San Diego sooner. I shoulda known to tell ya straight out from the beginnin'. Can you forgive me?"

"Yes," she breathed, feeling a weight lifted. The tears were flowing again, and Sully wanted so badly to take her in his arms. And when she reached for him, he stood and took her in this arms, holding her so close, his broken heart piecing back together. He held her, rocked her, breathed in every bit of her, just feeling grateful that she was in his arms again.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his heart still needing her to know that she was everything to him. "I'm sorry…"

"I am too," she whispered, holding onto him. It was going to take a while to get everything back to being normal again, but this was too good of a thing to let go of. They would work, and they would be happy again. It was only unfortunate that somebody like Emily had found a way to infiltrate their happy home and use insecurities to try to tear them apart.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sully?" A nurse came out, not really wanting to interrupt the couple in their moment. They looked at the nurse, still holding one another, tears in both of their eyes. "You can go back and see Laura now. She's awake, and she's crying for you both."

"Okay. Thank you." Michaela took Sully' s hand in hers, and he smiled down at her. "Come on, Sully. Let's go see our little girl."

Feedback would be most appreciated! Look for the epilogue coming soon!