Chapter Twenty-Nine:

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Jessica sat down in the chair next to Nikki and Valera. The two lab-rats were getting along swimmingly, and it was handy if either of them ever got too much stress on the job. One could work and the other would take a day off. Valera handed Nikki a sample, who then shot up out of her chair and popped it under the microscope. Nikki gave Valera the results, and Valera wrote it all down. Really they were quite fun to watch, each of them with their own, odd, technical language. Jessica was glad she hadn't taken Horatio's offer of a lab position. Besides, being a CSI had it's perks. Not very many, but still...perks. She picked up the magazine next to her. For the moment, the queasy feeling was gone. Of course, it'd be back.

"You guys almost done over there?" She queried, checking her watch. Delko would not be pleased, after sending her specifically to get the results, and put a rush on the lab-rats.

"Yeah, almost. Don't rush us." Valera shook her head and Nikki agreed with her. Jessica shook her own head and smiled.

"Okay, okay. I wasn't, but, okay." Jessica quickly homed in on an article involving pregnancy. Of course, there just had to be that damned symptom-checker. And Jessica just had to discover that she applied to each and every single one. "Oh, my God..." She muttered, letting the magazine fall into her lap. Nikki turned round and folded her arms.

"What's up, Jess? You don't look so good." She turned to Valera. "A bit peaky, isn't she?"

Valera nodded. "Yeah, just a little. Jessica, do you need anything?"

Jessica looked up, now starting to feel nauseous. "No, uh, I'm good...really." She clambered to her feet and threw the magazine onto the chair, closing it over. No way on earth could she be...no. No way. "Could one of guys page Eric and let him know when you've got those results, please? Thanks..." And she was out the door, headed for the morgue. Alexx could reassure her. She'd tell her it was okay.

"Miss Lucas?" Horatio stopped her in her tracks. She hadn't actually been paying attention, she'd just wanted to get over to Alexx Woods as quickly as possible, no questions asked.

"Yes, H?" She rushed up to him and smiled, feebly. He looked at her sideways, half-smiling. She folded her arms.

"You seem to be in a hurry...something wrong?"

"No, no...not wrong, per se..." She trailed off, staring at anything but Horatio. She wondered if anyone had noticed a change in her. "Uh, could I ask you a question, Horatio?"

"Sure, go right ahead..." He stood upright, now, blinking as if he had only just woken up.

"Have..." Jessica bit her lip and hugged herself a little. She wanted to fidget, to do anything but stand still. "I mean, am I any different to you?"

Horatio frowned. "I..." He stopped, thinking the question over. "I'm not sure if I understand..."

Of course he didn't. She sighed. "Well, you've known me, what, sixteen years? Am I any different this week than, say, three weeks ago?" Horatio opened his mouth to say something, but Jessica held her hand up. "Actually, nevermind. Stupid question- I'm sorry." She continued walking off. What an idiot, going up to her boss and harassing him. How exactly was he supposed to answer such a silly thing, anyway? She pushed open the morgue door and gasped. Ryan was stood there, arms folded, general old gorgeous self. And there was Jessica, agape at the door, probably gone and messed up her whole career as a CSI.

"Oh, hey, Jess...how's it going?" Ryan asked casually. She smiled, cocking her head to the side.

"I'm." She gasped. "Fine. Alexx, could I have a word, please?"

Alexx turned round, finally looking up from the mountain of paperwork that Ryan had asked her to look up for him. After all, he was Alexx's favourite. Or so he chose to believe, fervently. Well, now he could have the chance to look it up. She turned back to Ryan and wordlessly handed him the file. "Have fun, baby."

Ryan grinned and took the file. "Yeah, yeah...Jess?"

"What?" Jessica half-yelled. Alexx stopped and frowned. She, herself, had noticed something different in Jessica and, judging by what Ryan had told her, she knew why.

"I was just...do you want to go to lunch or...?" He was taken aback by Jessica's newfound mood changes. Sometimes talking to her was great, other times- woe be tide. Her expression softened, and she smiled.

"I'd love to." With that said, she walked out, keeping the door held open for Alexx. When they were outside, Alexx decided they would be better in the locker room. She sensed exactly what Jessica wanted to ask her. Upon arrival at the locker room, Jessica sat down quickly and folded her arms. Alexx leant against Ryan's locker, smiling slightly.

"You okay, Jessie?"

Jessica blinked and exhaled. "Yeah, I just...I have a few questions..."

"Regarding your health?"

"Yeah. My health."

"Ryan told me." Alexx smiled and sat down next to her. Jessica arched her eyebrow.

"What did he tell you, exactly?" Nothing bad, she hoped.

"Just that you were sick...and tired. He said you were sleeping a lot more." Alexx tilted her head to the side. She hoped she was right, she really did.

Jessica sighed. "He's worried, isn't he? I hate it when he's worried, Alexx."

"He is. He thinks you're a fool for not going to see a doctor." Alexx pointed a finger at Jessica. "And so do I!"

Jessica smiled. "Well, you're a medical examiner...couldn't you examine me?"

Alexx raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "I think Ryan would feel better if you went to see a real doctor. Not me, sweetie." She stopped and glanced around the room. "Do you have any idea what might be wrong, Jess? Say, pregnancy."

The room turned very hot all of a sudden and Jessica could almost felt sick again. She placed a hand on her stomach. She nodded, hesitantly. "It's possible...but I...I couldn't, Alexx. I'm not ready." She simply would not believe it. Even if she was...well, then, she still wouldn't believe it. "Wait, what does Ryan think I've got?"

Alexx laughed. "Cancer. Or worse."

Jessica groaned. Poor Ryan. "Well, could you tell him that you checked me out and I'm not in any life-threatening circumstances...and maybe you could tell me what to do."

Alexx stood up and sighed. "I don't know what to tell you." Starting for the door, she smiled again, widely. "Except...go pee on a stick then come get me when you're done, okay?"

Jessica laughed and nodded. Good old Alexx, always had a pearl of wisdom or two.

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Instead of a stick, Jessica concocted a cunning plan, using a small vial that she was currently sending to the lab. Easy. No one would ever have to know. She encountered Alexx on the way, but thankfully she was busy chatting to Horatio. Oh, God...Horatio. If she was pregnant, then how would she tell him? And Stetler! Oh, the shame of it all. Just another thousand-odd reasons why she couldn't possibly have a baby yet. She was too young. And then there was Ryan. Poor, naive, innocent little Ryan Wolfe. He'd probably dump her and run off with Erica Sikes. No, Jessica shook her head, Ryan was too nice for any of that. Besides, he liked her too much. Before she could come up with anymore awful situations and reasons why this could never in a million years happen to her, she reached the lab and found Nikki sitting reading some gossip magazine or other.

"Oh, hello, Jess! What can I do for you?" Nikki slammed the magazine down on the counter and smiled. It was actually a little bit strange to think on Nikki frowning. Such a rare occurrence.

Jessica put some other random vials down on the counter and pushed her hair back. "Actually, I've got some DNA and stuff...Delko wants this blood ran for drugs, Natalia wants you to see if you can match that to her suspect and..." Jessica halted herself, making sure Valera or anybody else weren't lurking around the lab, maybe in the vain hope that someone would have juicy gossip. "You know what 'off the record' means, don't you, Nikki?"

Nikki raised her eyebrow, leaning over the counter. "Yes, I do...why?"

Jessica swallowed and handed Nikki her own sample. "I need you to run this urine, do a tox-screen or whatever and then call me as soon as you're done."

Nikki folded her arms. "Alright. Who am I running it for?"

Jessica gasped. Of all the tricks in all the world, she had to fall into that one. Well, she could hardly say 'me!', now could she? "Well, if anyone asks, Katie Drake. Possible victim of drug-abuse...just, please, keep it under wraps. I'll take you out for a beer or something, okay?" Nikki wouldn't have thought anything else about running the urine sample if it weren't for the soft, pleading look in Jessica's eyes.

She nodded. "Yeah, alright. I'll page you when I'm done."

Jessica grinned. "Thanks, Nikki."

And then she waited.

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A very long, very torturous few hours later - after a bumpy lunch with Ryan, in which Jessica couldn't concentrate or anything and ended up being ten times more fidgety than Ryan ever was -, the results still weren't back. She finished her paperwork, ran some things for Horatio and they still weren't done. She decided it wouldn't hurt anyone to apply some pressure. She opened the door of the lab and stepped in. It was unnaturally quiet. She paused and had a look around.

"Hello?" She called out and a few seconds later, Valera came out of nowhere.

"Jessica! We were looking for you. Well, Nikki was, but then she pulled me into it." Valera folded her arms and smiled. "She's got some results for you...but she wouldn't tell me what they were, so." She shrugged and got back to her microscope. Jessica discovered that she then had to wait for Nikki to come back. When she did, she then had to wait another few minutes for the results.

"Why didn't you check them for me? You know, memorize them?" Jessica whispered, steering away from Valera. The girl was lovely, but she sincerely didn't know how to hold on to a secret.

Nikki smiled and shook her head. "Oh, I don't know...didn't want to pry, I suppose."

Jessica couldn't help but laugh at that one. Lab-rats had a tendency to spread every morsel of gossip that they had around the lab. "Right." Then the printer beeped again, and out came a normal enough sheet of paper. "Now, you're sure you don't have to run this again? It'll be accurate?"

Nikki nodded. "This thing," She pointed to the machine. "Does not kid around." She removed the paper and handed it to Jessica, not sure if she should even be handling it. She studied Jessica's very nervous face and waited for a few moments until the suspense almost killed her. "Well? Is it good news or bad?"

Jessica bit her lip. She wasn't sure. But one thing she knew; she was definitely in need of Alexx Woods.

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No less than half an hour later, Jessica ended up back in the morgue. She had managed to avoid all of her colleagues and go directly to the woman herself. The woman in question was currently done up in her best suit, hair flowing loose around herself. Alexx greeted Jessica with a wide smile. Jessica sighed and looked down at her feet. Honestly, it had been a tiring day from the very start, waking up very early, puking her guts out, getting another lecture from Ryan about going to see a doctor and, well, work. Those results had only made her even more exhausted, physically and emotionally. She daren't even have begun to think about how she would tell Ryan. Ryan that she loved so much that it actually hurt her.

"How are you, sweetie?" Alexx questioned, noticing Jessica moving closer to her, eyes glassy and kind of wet looking. She couldn't be sure in the glare of the morgue light, though.

Jessica swallowed and pulled a chair over. "I'm fine...pregnant, but fine." Of course this response thrilled Alexx. Ryan and Jessica were pretty much her dream couple. So nice and cute together, but she knew Ryan would look after her and vice versa. "Oh, Alexx...I'm an idiot. A complete, stupid idiot."

"Oh, honey, no you're not. It happens every day." Literally.

Jessica sighed, feeling world-weary. "No, Alexx. Not to CSIs. Not to CSIs that aren't supposed to be going out with other CSIs. Stetler-"

"Never you mind Stetler. It's none of his business." Alexx folded her arms, still casting a motherly eye over Jessica.

"And my mom, what's she gonna say?"

"If she's got any sense, she'll be thrilled." Alexx softened her expression. "You want me to tell Horatio you need a few hours off?"

Jessica shook her head. "Nope...I wanna work. I have to work. If I don't work-" She was cut off by Ryan entering the room. He smiled.

"Hey, what are you doing here...again?" He folded his arms and stood next to her. Alexx smiled to and attempted to busy herself with paperwork.

Jessica shifted her weight. "Oh, uh...I asked Alexx if she would check me out, you know...cause she's a medical examiner and all."

Ryan raised his eyebrows, hoping and praying that it was good news. "Are you okay? Alexx, is she okay?"

Alexx nodded, still grinning. "More than okay. She's perfect." She pointedly stared at Jessica who was still shuffling about uncomfortably. She took a deep breath.

"See? I'm perfect."

Almost.

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Jessica POV

I'm pregnant. Holy cow- I'm pregnant! One on hand, I feel great about it, because I love kids so much...but on the other hand - my pessimism kicks in and I keep thinking about all of these awful situations that could happen. What will my mom say? Stetler? Horatio? The rest of the team and then...well, Ryan was a whole other ball game. All day I'd wondered what he would say...maybe he'd run out...God, I was so scared about everything. Anyway, me and Ryan left the morgue, and I still had the results folded up in my pocket. Thankfully, though, Ryan wasn't fidgeting about as much as he had been. But I was still afflicted with the awful sickness-feeling. I had kinda twigged that something was wrong when I woke up every morning and vomited. Seriously unpleasant. So myself and Ryan had some dinner and I just couldn't bring myself to say much, at all. Ryan talked enough for the both of us, however. I told him I was going for a walk, but I ended up at my mom's house, full of nerves and worries.

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A/N: Aaw, poor Jessica. Hola, by the way!

Anywho, thanks again to my lovely, shiny, pretty little reviewers - you are the most amazing people ever! And, if I knew where you all lived, you'd be getting twenty-foot long bars of chocolate...of course, I'd then have to find a place that sells them and, well, that would be a bit of a difficulty. But, if I could - I would!

Oh, and I've got a copy of True Vinyl on the computer and it's amazing!!! Definitely the best obscure film ever! And has anyone seen the Casted videos on you-tube with Jonathan Togo and Justin Long? A-maz-ing! Very funny, but kinda random.

Anywho, please read and review, R&R or just enjoy it!!! Nah, actually just stick with the R&R!

Have a great day,

JauntyChick

XOX