Three weeks passed by, Elisabeth came in for her morning shift to find Kate sitting in a chair looking at Malcolm. He was still in a coma with no signs of change since the decompressive cranioetomy was a success and they closed his skull and the wound. They moved him from the operating room into the main infirmary but kept the opaque curtains drawn closed to give them some privacy. The staff believed Kate deserved not to be stared at or observed in her private moments of fear, worry and grief over Malcolm.
Kate kept her schedule, she worked during the day and any spare time she had was spent by Malcolm's bedside or exercising to stay in relative shape. She had lost weight and fatigue was written in her features but no matter what anyone said she would not go home at night only leaving in the early hours of the morning to go home for a couple hours of rest and to wash up. She refused to sleep in a bed beside his while she was in the infirmary. She would just sit in the chair and hold Malcolm's hand, waiting. Alicia, Jim and Taylor all took turns sitting with her, making sure she ate and kept her fluids up but it was heart breaking to watch Kate sit so vacant in her disposition the only time she focused was when she was duty and even then she wasn't entirely there. But if she didn't work they all knew she would sit with Malcolm all day and night.
The night shift Doctor and Elisabeth proceeded with the handover. Getting all the information about the patients in the Infirmary and any other pertinent information she needed. After she finished with them she moved to Malcolm's other side. Kate sat like a statue, the only movement she made was blinking and the slight rise and fall of her chest indicating she was still breathing.
"Morning Kate" Elisabeth said, the woman blinked once before she moved her eyes to look at Elisabeth. Obviously it was Kate's day off as Elisabeth remembered Kate was wearing the same clothes from the day before when Elisabeth went home for the afternoon.
"Hey" Kate said.
"You have breakfast yet?" Elisabeth asked looking at Kate who's eyes were bloodshot and her complexion paler than usual.
"No not yet" Kate said vainly rubbing the fatigue from her face. She just kept waiting and waiting for changes that never came. He just laid in the bed unconscious, the bandages were gone from his head and his hair was slowly growing back. It was strange to see him with very short hair. The staff even shaved his face as it was easier than trimming his beard. It was definitely a different look. One Kate found slightly amusing as Malcolm was vain about his appearance. She was really waiting for him to wake up and have a man tanty about his beard being gone.
"When was the last time you ate?" Elisabeth asked.
"Last night, Alicia dropped by with stir fry vegetables and noodles. I'm going to go home eat breakfast and shower etc." Kate said as she stood up her head swooned and her vision were blanketed in stars and spots while she tried to breathe through it but she completely lost consciousness.
"Kate?" Elisabeth said rushing to the Redhead as the woman swayed on her feet. "Nurse!" she called out as Kate's knees buckled Elisabeth helped lower Kate to the ground slowly.
Kate woke up on a biobed several hours later; she only knew it because of the light filtering through the window hitting her face. It was the afternoon sun. She lifted her arm and noted the IV drip in her arm. She slowly sat up and looked around the infirmary she was thirsty and incredibly groggy. Elisabeth walked up to her bed looking more concerned than angry as Kate would have expected. It made her worry.
"How are you feeling?" Elisabeth asked her.
"I'm ok, what happened? Is Malcolm-"
"He's still the same. I'm going to unhook the IV drip and we'll talk privately in my office" Elisabeth told her.
Taylor ran a hand over a sleeping Alicia's stomach enjoying the feel of her swells and curves of her body, the softness of her skin. It was the best part of his morning and today held amusement as one of the girls was lying in a position where her tiny bottom was protruding out the side of Alicia's stomach. While a foot was pressing the other side, he marvelled how he just had to rub a hand over the tiny bottom and it wiggled away and then to the foot to feel them move like they knew he was on the outside.
He had only once before felt so completely in love and that was when he saw Ayani and Lucas as a babe when he returned. But this felt the same but different, he felt completely in tune with Alicia and the girls. He loved all three of them so completely he couldn't help but smile.
"You're staring" Alicia mumbled as she woke up. "It's a little weird" she told him.
"Have I told you I love you lately?" Taylor asked her.
"Every Morning and night sometimes over lunch" Alicia replied with a smile. Taylor's expression became serious.
"If anything happened to you-" he started.
"Hey I'm not going anywhere" Alicia said cutting him off. She ran her hands down the sides of his face. Taylor took one of her hands and placed a gentle kiss on the palm of her hand. It was a topic that came up at an alarming rate the past couple of weeks as Malcolm showed no progress in his recovery and Kate remained vigil at his side even though they all tried to get her to do more than sit with Malcolm and tried to get her to eat and sleep more but it was no use. Jim had given her the afternoons off in the hopes she would actually use the time to get some sleep.
"I just keep worrying about Kate. She is barely functioning, the man she loves lying in a coma." Taylor said shaking his head.
"I know it's hard to watch but can you say either of us would act any different in her position" Alicia said with a sigh. She too was worried about her friend.
"I don't want to think about it" he said lowering his lips to her in a slow and passionate kiss.
"We want… wanted kids, we spoke about it when we were painting the other three bedrooms. He wants three girls and I wanted two boys and a girl." Kate said in a daze, tears rolling down her face as she recollected the moments. She kept mixing her tenses as she was never sure of how to speak about Malcolm.
"I know this is a shock" Elisabeth said placing a hand over Kate's.
"A shock" Kate repeated looking at the floor as the tears continued to run down her face. "Why is it when I finally have everything in place, everything perfect, it just falls to pieces? Why didn't my scans show this early when I came back from 2150?" she asked. Elisabeth watched as Kate became more animated than she had been the last 3 weeks.
"I only focused the scans on your upper body mainly your head and lungs. Today was a generic scan, I don't automatically scan for pregnancy unless the patient is presenting symptoms and I want to confirm it or rule it out. It's going to ok" Elisabeth told her. Kate looked at her.
"Really? The man I love is in a coma for the past three weeks. He has showed no signs that he's going to wake up. You tell me I'm nearly 5 weeks pregnant and that everything is going to be alright? I don't think I can do this alone" Kate said as she wiped the tears from her face sitting away from Elisabeth. She felt nausea roll through her as she was panicking.
"You can and you won't be alone. You have plenty of support here in Terra Nova until Malcolm recovers" Elisabeth told Kate, she knew now she had to feed Kate as many false hopes as she could. Kate needed to focus on taking care of herself and the baby. The thought of doing it alone scared her and the fact that Malcolm hadn't woken up meant she was going to be doing it alone, she was pretty sure she would screw everything up. Sure she could look after people's kids but having one on her own full time when she had pictured it would be a joint thing. Her and Malcolm.
"You mean if he recovers" Kate said as she took slow and measured breaths to calm herself.
"He will recover, his injuries are healing quite well… brain injuries never follow a predicted healing pattern but everything looks fine. There is no reason why he shouldn't be awake but when he does come round we'll know the extent of the damage" Elisabeth said.
"What about my time in 2150 will it have side effects tha-"
"No, from the scans everything looks healthy for now but you fainting is not a good sign. You need to change how you have been these past weeks. Malcolm would never want you to sit by his bed day and night burning the candle at both ends like this. You need to start looking after yourself properly and foster that child in you. So he or she will be strong and healthy. Seeing half of the genes are Malcolm's, he or she will probably be high maintenance" Elisabeth joked instead of getting a laugh Kate dropped her head down and started to cry softly.
"Oh Kate, look at me" Elisabeth said gently coaxing the woman to look up at her. Elisabeth brushed the strands of hair out of Kate's face. "It's ok, I know you're upset everything is not working out as it should. But this is good news, you're allowed to be happy about this. Things will work themselves out" Elisabeth said with a kind smile. She watched as the words didn't sink in and wished Kate would believe her as she hated seeing her friend so entirely heartbroken over what was supposed to be good news. even if it was given at a lousy time.
"What do I need to do?" Kate said neither happy nor sad just resigned. Elisabeth saw it as a step in the right direction and assumed Kate was just too overwhelmed to process her emotions.
"Ok, Eat three proper meals a day as well as many snacks you want. You need to gain back the weight you lost and some more, sleep 8 hours a night at least. I'm going to give you the same prenatal vitamins I gave Alicia and you are going to take them religiously. Reduce your exercise regime to only low impact sports only. No sparring. You're exhausted you need to relax and recuperate. When you come in the afternoons to visit Malcolm we'll talk more ok? Anything you want to talk about in regards to your pregnancy and getting your home set up" Elisabeth told Kate who just nodded.
"Can we put the vitamins into nondescript bottles? I don't need any more tongues wagging about me and people laying on the pity" Kate said as she wiped her face knowing she probably looked like a wreck but didn't care.
"Sure" Elisabeth told her.
"I don't want anyone knowing this stays between us right?" Kate asked.
"Doctor Patient confidentiality I won't say boo unless you give me permission" Elisabeth assured her, even though she knew she couldn't keep it a secret. Kate needed more support than ever not isolation.
"When will I have to tell Taylor and Jim?"
"Well it's up to you but usually most people inform their bosses after 12 weeks but if you are hit with bad nausea or generally unwell it might be better to inform them earlier so they can be more accommodating to you and then you can avoid the awkward vomit scenarios" Elisabeth said.
"Right" Kate said with a sardonic chuckle as she recalled how Elisabeth told her the story of how she accidently vomited on Jim when she was trying to tell him she was pregnant with Josh.
"Why don't you go and rest on the biobed you were on and I'll get everything ready for you" Elisabeth said. Kate nodded finally caving in as she did feel exhausted to the bone.
Hours later, Kate left the infirmary with the bag Elisabeth gave her. It was heavy as it had several unmarked pill containers filled with vitamins. She kept her head down not looking at anyone or making eye contact. When she opened the door to her house she was hit by the noise of the laughter and high pitch squeals of Olivia and Sean and the smell of a roast dinner cooking in the oven.
She closed the door quietly behind her and turned to see Evan playing with the kids. Well it looked like the kids were using their father as a jungle gym and he tickling them. She didn't want to disturb so she quietly crossed through the kitchen only her efforts were in vain when Evan called out.
"Hey Kate, you're home" he said cheerfully, she turned to face the living room as it was an open plan living space.
"Yeah" she said as she watched Evan pull himself off the floor only to have his kids wrap themselves around his legs.
"Seriously you two, go play with the colour-in sheets" he said looking down at them but they didn't budge instead they held tighter smiling and giggling up at him. He looked sheepishly at Kate and gave her a shrug. "They get it from their mother's side" he explained.
"Right" Kate said in the best casual smile she could muster up. She just wanted to bury herself in her and Malcolm's bed. Sometimes she would lay in that bed and close her eyes when the bed was warm enough, she could smell the scent of him in the pillow, his clothing. She would pretend and almost believe for a moment he was there with her. When she drifted into sleep she dreamed of him when she woke up it made her feel empty as though she was waiting for him to die than wake up which hurt deeply as so much time had passed and no change. She just wanted Malcolm to wake up.
"Is everything ok with Malcolm?" Evan asked as he stayed still which bored the kids long enough they released him to go play at the coffee table. He moved to the island bench to look at Kate she usually came home after midnight and left before dawn. He also woke up when he heard the door but never heard her footsteps, she was like a ninja. He could have sworn she never lived in the house at all except that every odd day the laundry would be done and a small amount of food was missing from the fridge daily. He told Alicia who he knew was deeply concerned for her friend. He and Alicia were getting on great and his kids loved their aunt. It probably helped she was over at the house every day and always bringing some new piece of strange fruits or baked goods for the kids to eat.
He loved his sister for fully accepting him back and how she loved his kids and showed them great amount of patience and support. Olivia was quite attached to her aunt as Alicia would braid her hair daily and play with her even if it was just scribbling on a colour sheet. Sean on the other hand while he loved Alicia he was too wrapped up in wanting to play outside in the sunshine to show the same amount of commitment to Alicia Olivia did.
He looked to Kate and felt the pain she had etched in her expression and the fatigue. She was not the woman he had met 3 weeks ago and he wished there was something he could do for her but he didn't know what to do or how to comfort her as she was not like any woman he had ever known.
"Yeah, no change" She said with a shake of the head tears filling her eyes she looked down at the counter. "Dinner smells good" she commented with a tight and closed smile.
"Yeah Alicia gave me some cooking tips. There's plenty to go round if you want to join us" he offered. Kate nodded, he smiled as he was glad she would eat with them.
"Ok, I just need to lie down will you call me when it's ready?" she asked him wanting nothing more than to just bury herself in her bed but knowing she had to eat and it was easier to join Evan and the kids for dinner than to hide. She was so incredibly tired, she just wanted to lie down.
"It'll be ready in a couple of hours. I'll keep the kids quiet" he said, Kate shook her head.
"Be as noisy as you like it won't disturb me" Kate assured him she didn't wait for him to say anything else before she disappeared into her room and closed the door. She stripped out of her clothes and pulled a soft cotton shirt she always wore to bed and crawled under the blankets.
Alicia was surprised when Evan called her and asked her over for dinner, she had called Taylor telling him they were having dinner with Evan but her husband told her to go by herself as he wanted to get ahead on the paper work and was working late. No matter how hard she tried to get Taylor in the same room as her brother she couldn't make it happen. He wouldn't explain himself either which the most annoying thing of all but it didn't stop Alicia from going to Kate's house to have dinner with her brother.
"Hey, come on in" Evan said as he waved Alicia into the house.
"You know no one has dinner at 5:30pm in the afternoon except for really old people" Alicia said as Olivia ran up to her and held out her arms wanting to be picked up. Alicia would have loved to but she was just way too pregnant to comfortably bend over, let alone kneel down. She had been hanging out with her brother and her nephew and niece most days as she didn't have any duties or tasks it also helped they were close to her house as it was a relaxing short walk.
"Lisha" Olivia said with whiny noises as she desperately wanted to be picked up. Getting Olivia to say her name correctly was a challenge to say the least but Alicia didn't mind as it was incredibly adorable.
"Hey cutie" Alicia said in greeting as Evan lifted Olivia up so the little girl could give Alicia a hug before Evan placed the little girl back on the ground.
"Olive why don't you go get that picture you drew for Alicia?" Evan said to Olivia the little girl gave a nod and toddled off.
"Oh she is way too bright for a two year old. Sure she's yours?" Alicia asked tongue in cheek as she nudged his arm with her elbow.
"Thanks she gets her looks from her mother. Brains are all my genes" Evan told her.
"Somehow I think she only got your height and the rest is her mother" Alicia teased as Olivia was continuously getting taller. She was already in size 3 clothing as she just got taller and taller.
"Well dinner is at 6 because I am old-er and I like my kids in bed super early but I thought you might like to wake Kate up for me" Evan said with a hopeful smile as he changed topic.
"Kate is home?" Alicia asked surprised.
"Yeah she's joining us for dinner." Evan said it was very rare for Kate to be at home let alone join a family meal.
"Really?" Alicia said surprised as it had been struggle to get Kate to eat a few bites of food every day. Today she had gone to the infirmary as usual to find Kate asleep. Elisabeth and she agreed it was better for Kate to sleep.
"Yep, you sound surprised. My roast smells delicious. Who wouldn't want a slice of that bright orange meat?" Evan asked her in a joking fashion.
"We'll see, I'll go wake her up" Alicia said she looked around the living room to find it empty. "Where's Sean?" she asked as Olivia came back with a colour sheet to her.
"He is digging up beetle grubs for the monkey" Evan said, he still wasn't comfortable with the monkey around the house. He kept mistaking it for a rodent just with longer arms and legs. The kids however loved it and the monkey behaved itself to a point and when it grew tired of the kids it would disappear or run for Kate. But it was always on his perch in the lounge room in the morning for a few hours probably because he got a free meal from the kids.
"I hope he doesn't ruin his appetite. Beetle grubs are addictive" Alicia joked with a wicked smile.
"I should go keep an eye on him" he said looking slightly concerned at Sean eating too many bugs.
"Olive and I will wake up Kate" Alicia said with a chuckle as her brother pick up his step to go outside to his son. Alicia turned to Olivia who held up a picture which was just scribbles and swirls of colours. "Oh wow this pretty" Alicia said to Olivia. The little girl smiled proudly at the compliment "You know who would love a picture?" she asked Olivia the little girl shook her head. "Kate, why don't you go to the coffee table and draw her something pretty" Alicia told her.
After Olivia was settled with another colour in sheet and pens Alicia moved to Kate's room and gently knocked on the door. When Kate didn't answer she slid open the door to find Kate on the bed or a lump in the middle of the bed under the blankets she assumed to be Kate. She moved to the bed and sat down next to the lump. She was about to wake Kate up when she noticed a bag on the dresser where a pill container had rolled out. She got off the bed and moved to the dresser and picked up one of the containers.
The containers were unmarked. She opened the lid and poured out a couple of the tablets. She immediately recognised them as the prenatal vitamin folic acid. She quickly put the tablets into the container and closed the lid before replacing it back to its original place.
"I'm pregnant" Alicia heard Kate whisper behind her. Alicia turned around and saw Kate looking at her with tears in her eyes. "Five weeks give or take a few days" Kate said as she shook her head in disbelief before burying it in her pillow. Alicia moved back to the bed and sat down on the edge and gently stroked Kate's hair in a comforting manner.
"And you're surprised?" Alicia asked, Kate nodded turning her head to the side. It was obvious the woman had been crying her eyes out.
"I've been getting light headed the last couple of weeks but I thought it was just fatigue or whatever until I passed out today. Elisabeth ran a scan while I was unconscious" Kate told her with a roll of her eyes. "Yes I'm surprised I'm on the shot and we were careful. We planned everything" Kate told her before burying her face again.
"Plans never work out. We both know this but not to worry everything will have a way of working itself out" Alicia said, Kate muffled something into the pillow "What?" Alicia asked, Kate lifted her head up and looked at Alicia.
"Nothing works out for me. I get what I want but then it's all out of order or parts are missing. It's like a cosmic joke that never ends" Kate told her before dropping her head face down into the pillow again for a moment before she jerked her head up again.
"I mean what am I supposed to do? What if Malcolm doesn't wake up or he does wake up and he's brain is completely fried and he's a vegetable? I feel so lost without him around. Malcolm and I were supposed to do this together a couple years from now. Not like this" Kate said. Alicia felt the urge to say 'it's going to be ok' but knew it wouldn't comfort Kate. It was the first time Kate had opened up in weeks to anyone.
"Well we'll just have to make it work until Malcolm wakes up and gets off his ass. the limey bastard" Alicia joked, Kate gave a sardonic chuckle.
"And what if he never wakes up?" Kate asked her voice filled with the fear she felt.
"We'll worry about that if it happens" Alicia told her. She stressed the 'if' so Kate knew she believed that Malcolm would wake and would be fine. "Now until he does wake up the rest of us will pick up the slack for him. I just feel sorry for my brother when the morning sickness kicks in" Alicia said.
"Oh thanks" Kate said dryly.
"Honestly it's unnatural the noises you make" Alicia said feeling the mood lighten in the room.
"At least people know I'm being sick"
"I'd call it being possessed"
"Well not all of us can sound like pornstars while chundering" Kate told her they both laughed at the digression of their conversation until Kate sobered into a serious expression. "Can we not announce this to the whole colony?" Kate asked.
"Whatever you want. It's your news to tell" Alicia told her as she knew the last thing Kate needed was for the colony to smother her with attention and pity.
"You won't tell Taylor will you?" Kate asked.
"Just because he's my husband doesn't mean I tell him everything. But if I were you I'd wait and see how long it takes his old noodle to figure it out" Alicia said with a smile. She rubbed Kate's back gently "Now come on let's get you cleaned up for dinner" Alicia said.
Later that evening,
"I went to the infirmary and found Kate wasn't there" Taylor said as he got ready for bed. Alicia was already lying in bed on her side reading something on her plex.
"She wasn't feeling well so she went home. Don't worry Evan and I made sure she ate a proper meal before shuffling her off to bed" Alicia informed him.
"How was your day?" Taylor asked as he crawled under the blankets and spooned Alicia from behind.
"Good, I hung out with my brother came home for an afternoon nap and then Evan called and spent the evening with him, Kate and the kids. Olivia drew me a picture" Alicia told him somewhat proudly.
"Another" he said as it wasn't the first nor the last picture Olivia would ever draw but he was grateful that they couldn't hang said pictures on the fridge as the colour-in sheets weren't made for that purpose.
"Yep all rainbow swirls and scribbles this time. She still can't say my name correctly I think I'll be Lisha for a while" Alicia said with a wide smile as Taylor kissed her shoulder. He looked at the plex reading the titles.
"You're brushing up on your French?" Taylor asked.
"Sean is learning French, I figured I can help him practice. He spoke with Kate at dinner tonight"
"Oh?"
"He asked her why she was sad and she said her friend who is ill is not getting better and she missed him a lot. I wish Malcolm would wake up" Alicia said with a sigh as she turned the plex off and placed it on the bedside table before turning her head to look at him. "How was your day?" she asked changing the topic.
"Busy and boring" he told her as he ran his hand over her large stomach, he smiled as the twins kicked and wriggled under his hand.
"Oh, make them stop" Alicia groaned to him.
"They are pretty active in there tonight" Taylor commented he loved feeling the twins squirm and move.
"I will be really happy when my body is my own again. I love them and love when they move around but sometimes I just want to relax and can't because these naughty little kids won't stop kicking their mom" Alicia said as she took a deep and calming breath.
"They get it from you"
"Oh because you're so passive" Alicia drawled sarcastically with a chuckle. Taylor laughed as he continued to massage her body enjoying the feel of her soft skin under his hands. Alicia made a murmur of pleasure as her body thrummed with arousal under his ministrations that were going from innocent to sexual the line between those two were blurry as Alicia was so sexually frustrated by the lack of it that even innocent brushes were enough to heat her up. "Don't start something you're not planning to finish" she warned him.
"I'm just giving my wife a massage" Taylor murmured in her ear before kissing the sweet spot below said ear. Alicia's toes curl in pleasure as he continued to his path down her neck.
"This is far from relaxing and you're breaking your rule" Alicia told him with a sexy chuckle.
"I'm not breaking the rule, have you forgotten how those two were made?" Taylor asked.
"Yes I have, show me how it was done and be very thorough in your teachings." Alicia half deadpanned and said seriously as she wanted sex in all its variety of flavours. "Start slow and gentle" Alicia told him in a husky tone. Taylor groaned at her words.
"In 4 months time you're on" Taylor told her. Alicia gave an aggravated sigh and pushed herself up off the bed. "Where you going?" Taylor asked.
"I'm going to the kitchen. If I'm not getting sex then I'm going to eat and cool off" Alicia told him in an uptight manner as she was pissed off. She pulled a wrap off the door to the bedroom and covered her naked form. She knew he found her attractive but it still stung he wouldn't have sex her especially when he teased her into such a state.
"Alicia" Taylor said in a placating tone.
"No, you're working late most nights and when you come home you rub me up and get me all into the mood then cut me off. It is mean especially as Elisabeth said it would be fine if we had sex as long as we aren't rough. I want sex" Alicia told him. Taylor smiled at her which made her blood boil as he wasn't taking her seriously. "Don't smile at me like that. I know you want it too. You can't hide that" She said gesturing to where the sheets tented in his lap.
"What do you want me to say?" Taylor asked her as this was probably the most fun he had all day.
"Nothing, I want you to do me instead of treating me like a human oven" Alicia told him finally telling him what she had been keeping bottled up for weeks.
"I don't mean to treat you like a human oven but I don't want to take any unnecessary risks especially this late in the game" Taylor told her as he got out of bed and pulled on his trunks and moved towards her. "You think I like walking around with this?" Taylor asked her gesturing to his erection. "Especially when I have a beautiful and sexy wife panting for me just as much as I want her. At least you can hide your arousal" he added with a wry smile.
"I don't pant" Alicia told him darkly as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Oh but you do get this dark hungry look in your eyes and then you lick your lips in such a way that drives me wild." he told her as he moved closer and rubbed her arms.
"Yet you aren't doing anything about it" she told him petulantly.
"Oh don't you worry I'm making a long list of the things I want to do to you after the kids are born" Taylor assured her in a husky voice that made Alicia melt. "But for right now let's have some sorbet" he said as he pinched her ass and walked past her to the kitchen. "I need to cool off myself now" he said tongue in cheek.
TBC~ Yep I had to have a bit of fun and you know the drill cya all in a week!
