She entered the bedroom in a strapless black dress. The front was pleated and a sparkling pin adorned the waist, the sash accentuating the waist of the tight fitted skirt. Her hair was up, a few pieces free and hanging down the sides of her head, allowing the beautiful earrings to be seen, but covering them just enough to keep them from being boldly on display, the diamond pendant set against her soft, tanned skin, sparkling and drawing more attention to her chest than maybe he'd be comfortable with in mixed company. He stopped fumbling with his tie, his mouth slightly open and his eyes fixated on the vision that was walking toward him.
"Close your mouth Jack." She teased and finished tying his tie for him.
"You look great Kate." He complimented her.
"Thank you, you look pretty great too." She said.
"When we get home I'm going to remove that dress with my teeth." He said in a sexy tone and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"Hmm, maybe I should go put some panties on then. I like having my panties removed with your teeth." She teased, making him groan.
"That's very hot Kate, too hot." He objected and pulled her closer.
"You're jealous. That's cute." She giggled.
"Have you looked in the mirror Kate? Please go put some panties on." He said not overly serious, but serious enough to make her want to eat him up.
"God, you're adorable. I have panties on Jack. I'd offer to let you check that out for yourself, but that would only make us really late for the party, plus Maggie will be in here any minute now." Kate told him and kissed him.
"How is she? Did she give you any problems today?" Jack asked.
"She had a meltdown this afternoon. I made her take a nap and she apologized when she woke up. I added some curl to her hair and put just a little bit of make-up on her." Kate said glancing toward the doorway to see if Maggie was coming.
"How'd you get her to agree to hair and make-up?" Jack chuckled.
"It was her idea. She said she wanted to look extra nice for her dad so be sure to notice and make a big deal about it." Kate told him
He was visibly touched by both the idea that Maggie was shucking her tomboy ways for an evening to make him happy and by the fact that Kate put so much effort into helping her. He was just about to let Kate know just how touched when Maggie walked into the room. He took one look at her and had to swallow the big lump that immediately formed in his throat. She was beautiful, her long brown hair having just enough curl added to it to make it full and lay beautifully around her shoulders, the light make-up accentuating her features, especially her eyes that were sparkling as she looked up at him. The pretty age appropriate party dress with its long-sleeved black stretch velvet top and rich blue tiered skirt with a black silk edged lining and a large black satin bow at the dropped waist made her look less like daddy's little girl and more like the young lady that she was slowly, but surely maturing into. He bent over, placing his hands on his lower thighs and kissed her on the cheek.
"You look fabulous." He told her and she smiled at him.
"Look daddy, the black and blue in your tie matches our dresses. It took me and Kate forever to find the perfect tie for you." She boasted proudly.
"You did great sweetheart. I think when I walk in with the two most beautiful women in the world on my arms they're all going to be jealous." He said.
"Do you really think I'm beautiful?" She asked.
"Inside and out." He told her.
"I'm going to go get my camera so you can take a picture for mom." Maggie said excitedly and left the room.
Jack turned, looked at Kate, the look in his eyes telling her how overwhelmed with emotion he was. She smiled at him, placed a gentle hand on his cheek and kissed him softly.
"You're welcome." She said.
Maggie entered the room and Jack took several pictures of her, then Kate took pictures of Maggie and Jack together and then Jack requested a picture of Kate and Maggie together and to his surprise didn't get met with resistance. He snapped a couple of photos and Maggie demanded to see the camera so she could scan through all the pictures.
"I think mom is going to freak out when she sees me. I want to take a picture of you and Kate dad." Maggie demanded.
They posed arms around one another while Maggie blinded them with flash after flash until Jack had decided he'd had enough and suggest they put the camera away and get going. They entered the large home and Jack immediately noticed the way Kate was carrying herself compared to the way she'd carried herself when he escorted her to the charity event months ago. She was full of confidence and apparently no longer feeling as though she didn't belong in his world and he smiled as he watched her hold her own in conversations and laugh at the bad jokes of some of the older men who couldn't help but flirt with her. It seemed as though she finally believed she was the woman that he'd always seen and he was pleased that one of the women in his life seemed to be enjoying herself.
Maggie had been stuck to him like glue the entire evening, refusing to let go of his hand and growing crankier and almost infantile as the evening wore on. She wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink and wouldn't let go of Jack.
"Dad, this is so boring. Can we leave?" Maggie whined.
"It's boring because you won't join the rest of the kids and try to have a good time." Jack told her.
Kate rejoined them and a woman approached them. She was new to the hospital staff and Jack had met her briefly in passing once and he began to feel a bit embarrassed as he worked hard to remember what it was exactly that she did.
"It's good to see you again Jack." She said.
"Likewise." He said and shook her hand.
"Look at him, he doesn't have a clue who I am, but he's trying hard not to let it show. I'm Karen Allison, the new thoracic surgeon." She told him.
"I'm sorry. We should make time for lunch or something." Jack offered.
"It's a date. Is this your family?" She asked.
"Yes, of course, sorry again. This is Kate and Maggie." Jack introduced them.
The woman shook their hands and looked down at Maggie.
"My you certainly are a pretty little thing and it's amazing how much you look like your mom." The woman said and looked at Kate.
"Oh no, she's not...." Kate started to correct her.
"She's not my mom." Maggie snapped angrily.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed. I mean they look so much alike." The woman said, embarrassed and looking for a quick escape.
"No we don't! You're stupid!" Maggie shouted.
Jack bent down and made very stern eye contact with his daughter.
"One more word and tonight isn't going to end well for you." Jack warned and straightened back up.
"I'm sorry, she's going through a difficult time right now." Jack apologized, feeling very embarrassed.
"It's fine Jack. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding." The woman said and walked away.
Jack turned to look at Maggie, the look of pure defiance in her face and eyes telling him that she was headed for a meltdown and that he needed to make some quick excuses and leave, but then she looked away and down and shuffled her feet from side to side.
"I'm sorry dad." She said softly.
"Maggie this is getting to the point where 'I'm sorry' just isn't going to cut it any longer. You were rude and disrespectful to that woman and I don't like that you think you can behave that way and make it all okay with a simple I'm sorry." Jack scolded her.
"Jack, do really think this is the place for this?" Kate asked.
"Waiting until the moment is over and rehashing it later doesn't really seem appropriate either. We're going to go find Dr. Allison and you're going to apologize." Jack said, taking Maggie's hand and attempting to lead her out of the room they were in.
Maggie pulled away from him angrily, folded her arms over her chest and refused to move.
"Come with me now." Jack said sternly.
"No!" Maggie refused.
Jack studied the child for a moment, decided he wasn't going to allow a scene to take place in front of all of his colleagues, picked his daughter up and carried her out of the home. He put her in the car and while Kate sat with her to make sure she didn't escape, he reentered the party, made his apologies to the host and rejoined his family, finding them both in tears and wondering not only what had transpired, but how much more of Maggie's behavior he could take.
"What happened?" He asked as he fastened his seatbelt.
"It's not important." Kate said.
"It is important. What did she do? Why are you crying Maggie?" Jack asked and looked back at his daughter.
"I'm going to be in so much trouble." She answered.
"Kate, what did she do?" Jack asked in an extremely agitated tone.
"Jack, she's just upset, she didn't mean it." Kate said.
"Kate. Please." He pushed.
"She was angry and trying to run off. I was holding onto her and trying to get her back into the car. She slapped me in the face and called me a bitch, said she hated me and that she wished I would die. I shouldn't have let it get to me, but she was so angry Jack and her eyes were so….I didn't even recognize her." Kate told him.
Jack glanced back at Maggie again and she dropped her head and began crying harder.
"I'm sorry dad, I don't know........" She started, but was cut off by Jack.
"Hush. I'm not interested in hearing any more of your empty apologies Maggie." Jack grumbled.
He knocked lightly on the door and entered the room. She was curled up in a ball on the bed, holding a stuffed animal and crying. Her behavior had left him no other choice but to take away the one thing she loved the most, which was her being allowed to play basketball and promising that there would be no softball in the spring either if the behavior didn't improve. He got closer, saw the vomit soaked bed coverings beside her and found himself torn and confused, not knowing whether to be angry with her or worried sick about her.
"Maggie if you weren't feeling well why didn't you at least try to make it off the bed?" He asked.
"I can't daddy, my head hurts so bad and I feel too tired to move." She said as a fresh stream of tears rolled down her face.
"Okay sweetheart, but we need to get you up and change your sheets." He said softly.
"I can't do it daddy." She cried.
"It's okay, I'll help you." He said.
"No, it's too embarrassing. Get Kate, please." She pleaded with him.
Jack looked her over and finally noticed that her pajama bottoms were urine soaked and decided at that moment that even though the next day was Christmas Eve, his daughter was going to see a doctor. He hadn't noticed Kate in the doorway, too focused on what was happening to his child to notice anything else.
"I'll just help you into the bathroom and you can clean yourself up. Okay?" He offered.
"I can't do it. Please daddy, you can punish me some more or beat me or whatever, just please don't humiliate me." She cried.
"It's okay Jack, I'll help her." Kate said and entered the room, sitting on the bed and running a comforting hand over the side of Maggie's face.
"I'm sorry Kate. I don't know why I said that mean stuff. I don't want you to die." Maggie cried.
"I know you didn't mean it sweetie. Come on, let your dad bring you into the bathroom and I'll help you get cleaned up." She said and moved so Jack could lift the child out of the bed.
Jack lifted Maggie out of the bed, noticing the limpness in her right side and kissing her on the forehead, checking for fever as he began trying to diagnose her. She was so out of it by the time he got her into the bathroom that it took both of them to get her cleaned up and get a clean change of pajamas on her. He carried her into his bedroom, laid her on the bed and disappeared into the closet to change his shirt. He had the t-shirt over his head and almost pulled all the way down when Kate began screaming for him. When he came out of the closet Maggie was seizing violently while Kate did her best to hold her down. Jack took over and after what seemed like an eternity the child's body finally stopped jerking. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, weak, unaware and barely conscious.
"Jack what's happening?" Kate asked.
"Damn, how could I have missed this?" He mumbled to no one in particular.
"Missed what?" Kate asked.
"We need to take her to the hospital. Can you drive? I need to hold her in case she starts seizing again." Jack said.
Kate didn't question him further. She could tell he was trapped some place between a panicked father and a concerned physician and decided that delaying things by bogging him down with questions would serve no useful purpose.
She listened as Jack talked with another doctor on his cell phone, driving just a little over the speed limit and him not suggesting she speed up or slow down, focused solely on the child sleeping in his lap and what he believed was happening to her. He put his cell phone away and looked over at Kate, his face and eyes showing every bit of fear and desperation he was currently feeling.
"Jack what is it?" Kate asked.
"I missed it all Kate. I should've recognized the symptoms, but I was just too close to her and the situation to look at things openly and objectively." Jack said regretfully.
"Symptoms of what?" She asked.
"I think she's got a brain tumor Kate. The changes in her behavior, the headaches, the nausea, the sudden distaste for foods she used to love, the weakness and tingling in her hand and I bet the day she fell, she didn't trip over her own feet, I bet her leg just gave out on her. She can barely move her right side Kate and the seizure, well there's no telling how many of those she's been having that nobody has noticed. I can't believe I didn't put it together sooner." He continued to beat himself up.
"Jack, don't you think someone would've noticed her seizing?" Kate asked.
"Seizures don't always present themselves that violently Kate. A lot of times a person who is seizing appears to just be staring off into space. It all makes sense now and I've been punishing and scolding my daughter for months over something she had no control over." He said sadly.
"Jack, you can't blame yourself. There was so much going on that it was natural to assume her problems were emotional instead of physical." Kate tried to reason with him.
"Kate I'm a neurologist. I should've put it all together." He argued.
She didn't argue with him because she knew it would be pointless. He was going to blame himself, kick himself and never forgive himself for this and she was going to let him for a little while. She left him alone with his thoughts and focused on getting them to the hospital safely.