A/N: As promised, the next chapter.

Monday Payson only had one class at nine, and then the next one at four. Most of the people in her class would spend the time in between at the library, working on the essays or the group project. But as soon as the class ended, Payson hurried to the subway. She had to change trains twice, but she made it almost in time to the clinic Kelly had given her the address to.

"Sorry I'm late," Payson said and hugged her friend. Even though it had been only a week since she had last seen Kelly, Payson could actually see that her friends stomach had grown.

"No worries," Kelly said and they walked inside. "You didn't have to come, I can go to a doctors appointment by my self you know."

"I know, but Austin asked me so I came," Payson said. "I think he was feeling very guilty over choosing work and not coming with you today."

"He's such a fool," Kelly sighed as they waited for their turn to speak to the woman in the reception desk.

"A very cute fool," Payson agreed. But she understood Austin. Today two officials from the NGO would be at the gym to oversee the two junior national team members practice, of course he didn't want to miss that. And he always wanted to be there for Kelly, so of course he wanted to be there for her as well. The compromise was that Payson stepped in as an Austin-temp.

Kelly was asked to sit down and wait for the doctor, apparently they were behind on the schedule. Payson got a cup off coffee from the machine in the waiting room and took a cup of hot chocolate for Kelly.

"So how's work going?" Payson asked. "Not stressing too much I hope."

"It's okay actually. I've hired a woman who'll take over after me while I'm out having the baby and everything, so she's already taking a load off my plate."

"That sounds good," Payson said, feeling relived, now maybe she wouldn't need to worry as much for her best friend.

"How's it going with Sasha?" Kelly asked, sipping the hot chocolate.

"I'm not sure," Payson sighed. "I mean kissing him is fantastic, but it's not enough, you know?"

Kelly nodded. "You need to talk to him."

Payson sighed again. She knew. "We're meeting up just the two of us for dinner on Wednesday. Hopefully we'll have some time to talk then." They really needed to talk about what was happening. Like Payson told Kelly, kissing him, having the physical part, it was good, but not enough. Not when it came to Sasha. She'd had no problem having "relationships" focused on the physical aspect of life. She had never had a one night stand, or anything like that. But for example; Tim in LA hadn't been much more than a few dates and a few very wild and exciting nights. It had been fun, but she could not do that with Sasha. She could not just have a part of him, to then have it all be taken away. She would not survive that. She wanted all or him.

"Kelly Parker?"

Both Kelly and Payson rose and greeted the woman who called Kelly's name. They were showed to an examination room where Kelly was asked to lie down until the ob/gyn came.

"Are going to find out the sex of the baby?" Payson asked. It was so hard to imagine there actually being a person inside Kelly's stomach. It was surreal somehow.

Kelly shook her head. "It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's healthy," she said, one hand placed over the stomach.

"How about dinner this weekend?" Payson asked. "Becca complained over not having seen you since new years. I think she's worried you're disappointed in her after the kissing thing. She really idolizes you."

Kelly smiled fondly. "We can do dinner, and she's always welcome to come visit, she knows that. And I would never be disappointed in her, I really hope she knows that." Kelly shook her head. "Talking about that kiss, how's things going?"

"I had what could have been the most awkward sex talk in history of mankind with her," Payson said, feeling embarrassed just thinking about it.

Kelly laughed so hard her stomach looked like it was jumping. "Just as you know, I'll be on her side on this one," she said as she calmed down. "I think she needs it. If you hadn't been the responsible one now, you would have been on her side, right?"

Payson nodded. Before her parents' accident, she would have been on Becca's side. Becca would have called her in LA and they would have gossiped about how dreamy Jason was. Payson missed that, being sister.

"Thank you," Payson said. "For being there for Becca."

"Of course," Kelly said. "I'll..."

They both fell silent and turned to the door as a woman in her fifties entered. The woman had black hair twisted into a bun on the top of her head and a white coat on.

"Hello Kelly," the woman said, shaking Kelly's hand. "It's good to see you again. How are you doing."

"Good, thanks, Dr. Rosewood." Kelly said.

"We'll start by taking your blood pressure and then we'll do the ultrasound, how does that sound?"

Payson listened the doctor and Kelly talking. This wasn't Kelly's first check up and it certainty wasn't the doctors first, so she felt relaxed.

After taking Kelly's blood pressure, Dr. Rosewood looked twice in the papers in Kelly's chart.

"Is everything okay?" Kelly asked.

"Your blood pressure is slightly higher than last time," she wrote something on one of the papers. "We'll check it again after the ultrasound."

Payson felt her own blood pressure rise. What did high blood pressure mean? It wasn't good, that's for sure. It felt like everything medical she had ever learned had just disappeared out of her head. She remember when her dad got high blood pressure. He had to eat medicine and her mom had forced him to eat only healthy food. Now Payson knew that exercise would have been better than medicine, but she could not remember about high blood pressure in pregnant women. It was called something. Something she should know.

"The baby looks really healthy," Dr. Rosewood said, interrupting Payson's wandering mind. "A little higher heart frequency than last time, but nothing worrying." she wiped the blue gel of Kelly's stomach before focusing on the band around Kelly's arm again. The silence in the room could have been cut with a knife. Payson looked at her friend. Kelly looked worried.

"Your blood pressure is a bit high," Dr. Rosewood finally said. "Just to be on the safe side, I would like for you to go to the maternity ward at the hospital. They'll take some blood and urine samples to make sure that everything is okay. You might be able to go home tonight, or they might want to keep you for observation. Do you have any questions?"

Payson had a million questions, but no one she wanted to voice in front of Kelly.

"Do you have a car here?"

Both Payson and Kelly shook their heads.

"Then I'll ask Gabriella to call a cab. You just sit down in the waiting room and someone will come and get you. Okay? You don't need to worry, this happens every week here," the doctor smiled before leaving the room.

Payson helped Kelly up and together they walked out to the waiting room, sitting down close to the front doors to wait for the cab.

"You should call Austin," Payson whispered, taking Kelly's hand. "I'm sure nothing is wrong, but he should meet us at the hospital."

"I'll call when I know what's going on," Kelly said. "Do you have time to go with me? When's your next class?"

"It got canceled," Payson lied. "I've got all day."

A taxi driver entered the clinic and both Kelly and Payson watched him speak with the receptionist before coming over to them. Even though Kelly didn't need any help, Payson stayed close to her friend.

.:.

How did the appointment go? Kelly never called. Payson read the text from Austin again. Kelly was sleeping in a hospital bed next to her. She had met a doctor as soon as they got here. She has gotten her blood pressure measures again, they had taken both blood and urine samples and done an other ultrasound. These doctors also said that the baby looked fine, perfect even. Now they waited on the test results before they could get any answers. The doctor had said it would probably be an other hour or so. And Kelly would have to at least spend the night for observation because the blood pressure was so high. Depending on the other tests she could be forced to stay longer. They suspected that Kelly had pre-eclampsia.

Suddenly the phone started vibrating in her hand. Austin's face and name was blinking on the screen. She got up and left the room, carefully not to wake Kelly up.

"Hey, everything okay?" was the first thing Austin said as Payson answered the phone. She took a calming breath.

"I don't want you to worry," she said, practically hearing Austin stop breathing on the other end. "When we were at the clinic they saw that she had high blood pressure, so even though it's nothing to worry about now, they told us to go to the hospital so we took a cab here."

"Payson, if they tell you to go to the hospital, there's always something to worry about."

Payson agreed, of course there were a million things to worry about, but she didn't want to let her friends know she was worrying.

"I'll be there in half an hour," Austin said.

"She'll have to stay the night," Payson said. "Maybe you can bring some things? Otherwise I can do it later."

They said their good byes and Payson took the opportunity to find a cup of coffee and sending a text to Maya that she couldn't make it to the last class of the day. She then carefully sneaked into Kelly's room again.

"Did you call Austin?" Kelly asked, making Payson jump. She had thought Kelly was still asleep.

"He called me," Payson clarified. "He's on his way over."

"Thanks," Kelly smiled a weak smile.

Payson sat down at the chair next to Kelly's bed. She didn't know what to say to calm her friend. She wanted to say that everything would be okay, but she couldn't promise that.

"Do you want anything?" Payson asked instead.

"I'm not handicapped Pay. I'm allowed up and could get something if I wanted it."

Payson smiled. It must be a good sign that Kelly was still herself. "Yes, but the doctor told you to rest, which means you can boss people around without feeling bad."

Kelly smiled. "And believe me I will."

Payson somehow doubted it.

.:.

"It's called pre-eclampsia. It basically means you've got too high blood pressure and protein in your urine."

"What does it mean for the baby?" Kelly asked, both hands protectively over her stomach.

"Right now, not much. If it stays at this level. You'll most probably be able to carry this baby full term and have a natural delivery. We're going to keep you for three days to make sure you're stabile. Then you can go home."

"Am I on bed rest?"

"No," the doctor smiled. "Not now anyway. You need to rest a lot, no stress or heavy physical activity. You're going to have to leave blood and urine samples every week and have your blood pressure taken as well."

"Thank you so much doctor," Kelly smiled. Payson could see the relief on her friends face.

"I'll see you at rounds this evening."

The doctor disappeared and Payson couldn't keep a giant smile of her face. She hugged her best friend who had tears in her eyes.

Kelly leaned back with a sigh. "Why's all this happening to me? Aren't we supposed to become parents?"

"Don't think like that Kelly. It's bad luck, but you'll get through it."

A soft knock on the door and then Austin entered. He was by Kelly's side within a second, hugging her tightly. Payson moved away from the chair next to the bed and gave Kelly and Austin some privacy by looking out through the window.

"Thanks for coming with Kelly," Austin said, walking up to hug Payson as well. "Don't you have a class soon?" Austin asked.

Payson checked the time on her phone. It was already past three o'clock. "At four," she said.

"I thought it was canceled," Kelly said.

"Well," Payson had forgotten about the white lie. She shrugged. "I guess I got confused."

"Confused my ass," Kelly sighed. "You better go so you're not too late."

"Are you both okay? Do you need anything?" she asked her friends, but they shook their heads. "You sure?"

"Go, I'll call tonight," Austin said, pushing her towards the door laughing.

"Listen to the doctors Kelly!" Payson called over Austin's shoulder before leaving. She walked quickly through the hospitals corridors, and as soon as she was outside she started to jog.

.:.

She got to class just in time for it to start. It was a very interesting lecture and on her way home she went by the library to borrow some books. So it was almost six o'clock as she walked off campus. She hadn't gotten any texts from Becca that day, so she decided on walking by the gym before heading home, in case she was staying late again. And to see if Sasha was still there.

When she came to the gym it was dark and empty except a light in the office. She walked over and knocked on the door before entering. Sasha looked up from behind the computer and she saw a smile grow as he saw that it was her.

"Hi," she said. "Am I disturbing?"

"Never," he said and got up from the chair.

Payson leaned back against the doorway, letting Sasha walk closer to close the distance between them. "Kelly is fine," Payson said as Sasha was just inches away from her.

Sasha nodded. "Austin texted me," he said. "How are you?" he asked.

"Exhausted," she said truthfully. She thought about Becca already being back home, not knowing what happened to Kelly. She had asked Austin to not worry Becca, not on a day when the NGO was there. So now the pleasant task of deliver the news that Kelly was once again at the hospital fell on Payson. She was not looking forward to it, but she guessed it had to be done. "I should go," she said. Kelly would be fine, that's what she would have to remember, and she would tell Becca that first.

Sasha nodded as she turned to leave the office. She walked down the stairs and headed toward the doors. "Payson?" he called behind her. "Why did you come?"

She turned and looked into his blue eyes. "I just needed to see you, hear your voice," she said.

Once again he closed the distance between them, and soon she was pulled into his strong arms. She let the warmth from his body warm her up, and for the first time that day she relaxed. She felt safe in his arms.

.:.

A/N: I'm sorry for once again making Kelly sick. I didn't mean to, it just happened. During the summers I (in addition to the surgical ward) cover the maternity ward as well (I'm a physical therapist at a small hospital, if I haven't told you) and I've seen so many pregnancy complications lately, so I guess it just seeped into my mind. She'll be okay though, I can tell you that much.

Next chapter will be focused on Payson and Sasha. After that chapter I hope you'll feel like you've gotten some explanations to why the character has behaved like they have.