CHAPTER 19
Susan didn't stay long at the hospital because Shelby was doing better and sleeping. When she got home she approached Jess. "Jess we need to talk."
She took her into the guestroom where she was staying and sat her down on the bed.
Jess looked up at her with her big blue eyes and said, "Is Shelby ok?"
"Yes Shelby is doing a lot better. I need to talk to you about another incident. I talked with Scott earlier today and found out that something happened between the two of you. This is why Shelby was been so stressed that it caused her blood pressure to go up."
Jess started to cry and apologize. "I'm sorry. I know that I shouldn't have kissed him like that. Things just got overheated and we weren't thinking about anybody else. It just happened."
"You mean Scott didn't pressure you?"
"No. Why does everyone always assume that he attacked me? It wasn't like that. If anything, I pressured him. I thought that I had feelings for him but now I know that I was just using him to feel better about myself."
"Well that's good to know that he didn't rape you or anything but it still was wrong and we need to face another fact right now."
"What's that?"
"I need for you to take a pregnancy test."
"Oh I'm not pregnant because I just started my period."
"That's not a sure sign of anything because some people can have periods even though they are." She handed Jess the test kit and pointed to the bathroom.
Jess reluctantly went into the bathroom to take the test. The whole time that she was in their Susan waited outside saying a little prayer to herself. She was much in thought that she jumped by the sound of the door opening. Jess handed her the test stick and Susan let out a breath that she didn't know that she was holding. She said a little thank you prayer under her breath and guided Jess over to the bed to sit down again.
"Well thank goodness for that small favor. It's negative. I have something else that I want to say to you but I don't want to hurt your feelings." Jess didn't say anything and waited you're her to proceed on. "I think it might be best for all parties if you went back home with your mother. Don't get me wrong. We don't hate you or anything but I just think that it would help with Scott and Shelby to rebuild their relationship."
"I understand. I even told Scott at the hospital that I should go home but he seemed to think that I should stay here to help with Shelby since she is bed ridden."
"You don't need to worry about Shelby because she will have plenty of help. I won't tell your mother about what happened because that's not up to me. I'll make the necessary plane reservations so you won't get stuck riding a bus for hours. I think it's best if you call your mother and let her know that you are coming." Jess agreed and went to pack her things. She still needed to go back over to the condo because the rest of her stuff was there.
Susan drove Jess over to the condo and brought Scott some dinner. She knocked on the door and stood outside for awhile waiting for an answer. When Scott didn't open the door she looked out and noticed that his car was still parked in the parking lot. Jess dug out her key that Shelby had given her and unlocked the door.
Susan and Jess both just stood in shock with the look of the apartment. It looked like a tornado had been through. Furniture was overturned, curtains were torn down and things were thrown all over the place. "Scott," Susan yelled running through the home looking for him. She ran into his bedroom and found it in the same condition as the rest of the place. She didn't see Scott so she ran to the bathroom and still nothing. She began to panic thinking that Scott might have done something serious to himself because of depression. There was one room left that she hadn't checked and that was the baby's room. She opened the door and finally saw him. He was sitting on the floor clinching a stuff animal and you could tell that he had been crying.
Susan slowly walked over to him so she wouldn't startle him. He looked terrible. His eyes were all red and he was just staring straight ahead at nothing in particular. "Scott honey look at me. It's mom." She reached out to touch him but he shrugged away. She knew that he had sunk into a deep state of depression and it might take therapy to pull him out of it. "Scott everything is going to be ok just look at me." He continued to stare into the abyus. She was concerned that she couldn't snap him out of it. When she tried to pull the stuff animal out of his hands he grabbed on tighter and held it closer hugging it tightly into his chest. She got up and went to the phone. "Jess just stay with him for a minute while I make a phone call. She called Martin at work and told him to come over to Scott's immediately.
Susan and Jess both waited for Martin to arrive and the whole time they never got any kind of response from Scott. Once Martin had arrived Susan went to talk to him. He stood in the living room looking around at the total destruction of the room. "What the hell happened here? Scott throw a temper tantrum again?"
Susan walked over to him and took him by the hand. "Martin it gets worse. Come look at Scott." She ushered him down the hall to the baby's room. He looked in at his son who was still sitting on the floor with his back up against a corner hugging the stuffed animal. "What's he doing?"
"Martin he's been like that for hours. He is unresponsive. I can't get him to talk, move or make any contact. He's completely withdrawn and traumatized. I don't know what to do and I've got to get Jess to the airport to catch her flight."
"Ok you take Jess and I'll stay with him until you get back."
"Martin don't bait him or make things worse. This is psychological now. I don't think he's acting."
"I know. I can tell by looking at him that this is serious."
After Susan and Jess left, Martin went over and sat down next to his son. He was feeling pretty bad about some of the things he had said yesterday. He could still see the visible marks and bruises that he had left behind from there little brawl yesterday. "Scott. Look I'm sorry about everything. You know that I do love you even though I don't say it all the time. I was out of line yesterday and I didn't mean the things that I said to you. I've always been proud to have you as my son even with all your screw-ups. Can you just talk to me a little?" He didn't get a response or even a blink. "Listen Scott you need to snap out of this. You can't keep acting this way." Still no response. "SCOTT. Look at me." Martin was starting to get frustrated that he wasn't getting through to him. "Look Scott. Do you want them to carry you off to a psyco ward? You need to snap out of it now." Scott just rolled over to his side and curled up into a fetal position holding on to the stuffed animal. Martin was really getting worried and went to the phone to call the only person that he thought might be able to get through.
"Hello, this is Martin Barringer and I would like to talk to Peter Scarbrow please. Yes I'll wait."
When Peter answered the phone Martin began to tell him everything that had happened lately. He knew that Peter no longer had any commitments to Scott but he thought that he might be able to help because Scott trusted him. Martin had taken the phone into where Scott was and told him that Peter Scarbrow was on the phone and wanted to talk to him. Scott didn't even acknowledge the presence of his father and Peter knew that it was more serious than he thought. He said that he would leave Horizon immediately once he delegated his duties.
After he hung up the phone Martin went and tried to get Scott to stand up so he could walk him to his room but Scott wouldn't budge. The next best thing was for him to go and get a pillow and a blanket and just cover him up where he lay.
It had been a couple of hours when Susan returned from the airport. Martin was busy straightening up the apartment. "Any changes?"
Martin shook his head no. "I even tried to get him to talk with Peter Scarbrow but he wouldn't budge. He finally fell asleep on the floor and I just covered him up."
"Do you think that if we call the hospital and talk to Shelby that maybe she could get him to talk?"
"I don't know. Peter Scarbrow is actually on his way over here. I thought that if anyone could get through to him that it would be Peter. Scott really trusts Peter and if Peter can't help than we have a major crisis on our hands. We should let him sleep now because it looks like he hadn't done it in days. Let's try and get some of this mess cleaned up so it won't look so bad when Peter arrives."
It took several hours and they managed to get the place looking a little better. They both were totally exhausted when they heard the doorbell ring. Martin went over to answer the door and welcomed Peter in. The three adults sat in the living room and discussed the events that lead up to the situation at hand. Peter was actually concerned about the role that Jess played in this whole thing.
"I'm actually concerned about Jess in this whole matter. It appears that she did what she did because she was trying to make some sort of a statement or she is having a hard time dealing with other issues. I know that their stepfather sexually abused both Shelby and Jess. Jess is either getting back at Shelby for leaving her home alone with him or she is trying to escape her tormented past by emulating Shelby's life. It's probably a matter of time before Jess gets admitted to Horizon. A lot of damage has been done to several people here and it's going to take some time to heal them all. I think the best approach right now would be to heal Shelby because she could then help us heal Scott."
Martin objected. "Shelby is fine. Scott is practically in a comatose state. We can't let him stay that way much longer."
"Alright. I'll go and see if he will respond to me. When is Shelby scheduled to be released?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"I'll go see Scott and if possible, I'd like to visit Shelby before she comes home in the morning." Susan escorted Peter into the bedroom where Scott was still laying on the floor. He appeared to be asleep but his eyes were open. He didn't move or didn't blink. Peter walked over and knelt down on the floor next to Scott so that he could be at eye level.
"Hey sport, its Peter. How ya doing?" Peter didn't get any kind of a response. He reached over and put his hand on Scott's shoulder and was surprised that he didn't flinch. He pulled Scott up into a seated position with his back up against the wall. He looked him right in the eyes but saw a glazed stare. "I didn't think that Scott Barringer was a quitter." Peter got eye movement with that statement. Scott looked him in the eye for a split second and than looked away. "What happened to the fighter that I used to know. Are you giving up?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I have nothing to live for anymore."
"Is that the best you can come up with? It sounds like chicken shit to me."
"Why are you here? Just leave me alone. My days of group session with you are over. Go away."
"What and miss the collapse of the great Scott Barringer?"
"Shut up."
"Do you know how pathetic you sound right now?"
"I don't care."
"What do you care about then huh?"
"I care about my baby."
"So by indulging yourself in self-pity and shutting yourself off from the rest of the world is going to make you a better father for your baby?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Why doesn't it matter?"
"Because even if it did survive, Shelby wouldn't let me have anything to do with it."
"First of all, you have to have faith that the baby will be fine and second, Shelby is not that heartless."
"You don't know anything."
"I know everything Scott. Why do you think I'm here? I'm here to help you. You need to be strong. This is not the Scott Barringer that I know. The Scott that I know is a fighter and doesn't give up easily. Where is that person now?"
"He doesn't exists anymore." He was tired of explaining himself to Peter so he just pulled the blanket over his head and lay back down.
"Scott don't shut me out. Talk to me some more." Scott didn't answer this time and when Peter reached over to touch him, he shrugged his hand off. "Fine, I'll let you rest now but your family and I are not going to give up on you. You are loved by many and we'll do whatever it takes to make you realize that."
Peter went back out and told Martin and Susan that he broke through a little. Scott displayed no self-esteem at all and he had given up any hope of survival. Peter did open a little window of hope and now it was up to Shelby to open it up all the way. Susan took him to the hospital to visit Shelby. Shelby was excited to see Peter again but she wished that he had brought Sophie with him.
It took almost half an hour for Peter to explain to Shelby what was going on at home. He told her about Jess leaving and what his thoughts were regarding her actions. Shelby agreed with him and said that was why she had forgiven her. What she didn't understand was Scott's actions and that was what she was having a hard time dealing with.
"Shelby I know that you have every right to be hurt and angry but I need to ask you several things. I want you to be truthful in your answers and I need you to find the answers in your heart and not your emotions. Do you still love Scott and do you want your marriage to survive?"
Shelby pondered the questions for a minute which seemed to bother Peter but he knew that she had to search her soul for the answer.
"Yes I love Scott and I want this marriage to work so that we can raise the baby in a happy environment."
"Ok then I'm going to have to ask you to swallow your pride a little and do whatever it takes to pull Scott out of his comatose state. Right now he has no hope for living and he feels that you are going to keep the baby away from him. He needs to know that you have forgiven him and that you still love him. Depression is a serious illness and we need to pull him out of it so it won't destroy him."
"Ok can you tell him that I'm coming home tomorrow and that I'll need his help."
"Sure. I'll get back that spark that you two once shared. You just get some sleep and your in-laws will pick you up in the morning."
Peter left the hospital with some sort of hope that things were going to work out eventually. When he got back to Scott's home he told Scott that Shelby was going to come home tomorrow. Scott was back to his non-association state. He didn't seem to have any feeling regarding the matter. Peter had tried to get Scott to eat something but with no such luck. Both Martin and Peter tried to get Scott to go into his own room to sleep but he wouldn't budge on that demand either. The only thing now was to wait and hope that the next day would bring an improvement.
The following morning Susan and Martin went to check Shelby out of the hospital while Peter stayed with Scott. He still refused to eat and Peter could tell that his body was getting weaker and weaker. Scott spent his time pushed into the corner of the baby's room clinching a baby blanket. When Peter heard the front door open he ran to greet them. Susan gave him a questionable look.
"He still hasn't left that room and he still won't eat or drink anything. He's getting weaker and weaker and I'm afraid that if he doesn't at least drink some water than he'll need an IV hook up." He looked over at Shelby and nodded his head. "It's up to you now. Go see what you can do without putting yourself in any harm. Yell if you need our assisstance."
Shelby walked down the hall noticing how a lot of things were out of place around the apartment. She walked into the bedroom and saw Scott sitting on the floor just staring into space. She knelt down in front of him and took his face into her hands. He was staring at the corner of the room until Shelby softly spoke his name. "Scott." There was no response from him and he continued to stare off into the far off corner. She bent down and gently placed a sweet kiss on his forehead and that was enough to bring his eyes around to focus on her. He pushed his eyebrows down with the look of confusion but didn't make a sound.
Now that she at least had eye contact she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Scott I had a sonogram while I was in the hospital. Look, here's a picture of our baby. It's doing fine right now." She held it up in front of his eyes hoping that he would take notice of it. At first he didn't do anything and Shelby thought that he didn't care but after a minute he reached up and took the picture from her hand. With tears swelling up in his eyes he finally spoke.
"That's our baby?"
Shelby smiled and brushed away one of the tears that found its way to his cheek. He was staring at the picture. "Yes. Isn't it wonderful? Look you can see the little arms and feet. The baby is sucking its thumb. Doesn't it look so cute? I can't wait to hold it in my arms some day. You are going to be there with me aren't you?"
Scott finally took his eyes away from the picture and looked hard at Shelby. "You can't be here. You need to leave."
"Scott what you talking about? I live here. We both live here. This is our home. Where else I'm I suppose to be?"
"The Dr.'s said that you had to stay away from me or you'll loose the baby. Please don't loose the baby Shelby. You need to hurry and leave before it's too late. No wait, I'll leave. You told me to leave earlier so I'll leave before anything else bad happens." Scott started to stand but Shelby held him down. It wasn't too hard because Scott had become weaker.
"No Scott. You are my husband and we do this together. I love you."
"No Shelby you don't know what you are saying. You can't love me anymore. I don't deserve your love. I failed you and I just need to leave."
Shelby was beginning to think that there was a way to blackmail him. "Scott you can't leave. If you leave than I'll become under a lot of stress and I could loose the baby. Do you want me to loose the baby?"
"No Shelby please don't."
"Scott than you need to help me."
"I'll help you Shel. Just tell me what you want me to do."
"I need to be in bed and I don't want to be alone. I want you to come lay down next to me so that we can be a family again." She stood up and reached her hand down to him. He reached forth his hand and she helped pull him up. Together they walked down the hall hand in hand. When they reached their bedroom, Shelby turned and looked down the hall at the three bystanders who were braking their necks trying to get a look at what was going on. She gave them a smirky smile and a wink as she closed her bedroom door behind them.
Susan didn't stay long at the hospital because Shelby was doing better and sleeping. When she got home she approached Jess. "Jess we need to talk."
She took her into the guestroom where she was staying and sat her down on the bed.
Jess looked up at her with her big blue eyes and said, "Is Shelby ok?"
"Yes Shelby is doing a lot better. I need to talk to you about another incident. I talked with Scott earlier today and found out that something happened between the two of you. This is why Shelby was been so stressed that it caused her blood pressure to go up."
Jess started to cry and apologize. "I'm sorry. I know that I shouldn't have kissed him like that. Things just got overheated and we weren't thinking about anybody else. It just happened."
"You mean Scott didn't pressure you?"
"No. Why does everyone always assume that he attacked me? It wasn't like that. If anything, I pressured him. I thought that I had feelings for him but now I know that I was just using him to feel better about myself."
"Well that's good to know that he didn't rape you or anything but it still was wrong and we need to face another fact right now."
"What's that?"
"I need for you to take a pregnancy test."
"Oh I'm not pregnant because I just started my period."
"That's not a sure sign of anything because some people can have periods even though they are." She handed Jess the test kit and pointed to the bathroom.
Jess reluctantly went into the bathroom to take the test. The whole time that she was in their Susan waited outside saying a little prayer to herself. She was much in thought that she jumped by the sound of the door opening. Jess handed her the test stick and Susan let out a breath that she didn't know that she was holding. She said a little thank you prayer under her breath and guided Jess over to the bed to sit down again.
"Well thank goodness for that small favor. It's negative. I have something else that I want to say to you but I don't want to hurt your feelings." Jess didn't say anything and waited you're her to proceed on. "I think it might be best for all parties if you went back home with your mother. Don't get me wrong. We don't hate you or anything but I just think that it would help with Scott and Shelby to rebuild their relationship."
"I understand. I even told Scott at the hospital that I should go home but he seemed to think that I should stay here to help with Shelby since she is bed ridden."
"You don't need to worry about Shelby because she will have plenty of help. I won't tell your mother about what happened because that's not up to me. I'll make the necessary plane reservations so you won't get stuck riding a bus for hours. I think it's best if you call your mother and let her know that you are coming." Jess agreed and went to pack her things. She still needed to go back over to the condo because the rest of her stuff was there.
Susan drove Jess over to the condo and brought Scott some dinner. She knocked on the door and stood outside for awhile waiting for an answer. When Scott didn't open the door she looked out and noticed that his car was still parked in the parking lot. Jess dug out her key that Shelby had given her and unlocked the door.
Susan and Jess both just stood in shock with the look of the apartment. It looked like a tornado had been through. Furniture was overturned, curtains were torn down and things were thrown all over the place. "Scott," Susan yelled running through the home looking for him. She ran into his bedroom and found it in the same condition as the rest of the place. She didn't see Scott so she ran to the bathroom and still nothing. She began to panic thinking that Scott might have done something serious to himself because of depression. There was one room left that she hadn't checked and that was the baby's room. She opened the door and finally saw him. He was sitting on the floor clinching a stuff animal and you could tell that he had been crying.
Susan slowly walked over to him so she wouldn't startle him. He looked terrible. His eyes were all red and he was just staring straight ahead at nothing in particular. "Scott honey look at me. It's mom." She reached out to touch him but he shrugged away. She knew that he had sunk into a deep state of depression and it might take therapy to pull him out of it. "Scott everything is going to be ok just look at me." He continued to stare into the abyus. She was concerned that she couldn't snap him out of it. When she tried to pull the stuff animal out of his hands he grabbed on tighter and held it closer hugging it tightly into his chest. She got up and went to the phone. "Jess just stay with him for a minute while I make a phone call. She called Martin at work and told him to come over to Scott's immediately.
Susan and Jess both waited for Martin to arrive and the whole time they never got any kind of response from Scott. Once Martin had arrived Susan went to talk to him. He stood in the living room looking around at the total destruction of the room. "What the hell happened here? Scott throw a temper tantrum again?"
Susan walked over to him and took him by the hand. "Martin it gets worse. Come look at Scott." She ushered him down the hall to the baby's room. He looked in at his son who was still sitting on the floor with his back up against a corner hugging the stuffed animal. "What's he doing?"
"Martin he's been like that for hours. He is unresponsive. I can't get him to talk, move or make any contact. He's completely withdrawn and traumatized. I don't know what to do and I've got to get Jess to the airport to catch her flight."
"Ok you take Jess and I'll stay with him until you get back."
"Martin don't bait him or make things worse. This is psychological now. I don't think he's acting."
"I know. I can tell by looking at him that this is serious."
After Susan and Jess left, Martin went over and sat down next to his son. He was feeling pretty bad about some of the things he had said yesterday. He could still see the visible marks and bruises that he had left behind from there little brawl yesterday. "Scott. Look I'm sorry about everything. You know that I do love you even though I don't say it all the time. I was out of line yesterday and I didn't mean the things that I said to you. I've always been proud to have you as my son even with all your screw-ups. Can you just talk to me a little?" He didn't get a response or even a blink. "Listen Scott you need to snap out of this. You can't keep acting this way." Still no response. "SCOTT. Look at me." Martin was starting to get frustrated that he wasn't getting through to him. "Look Scott. Do you want them to carry you off to a psyco ward? You need to snap out of it now." Scott just rolled over to his side and curled up into a fetal position holding on to the stuffed animal. Martin was really getting worried and went to the phone to call the only person that he thought might be able to get through.
"Hello, this is Martin Barringer and I would like to talk to Peter Scarbrow please. Yes I'll wait."
When Peter answered the phone Martin began to tell him everything that had happened lately. He knew that Peter no longer had any commitments to Scott but he thought that he might be able to help because Scott trusted him. Martin had taken the phone into where Scott was and told him that Peter Scarbrow was on the phone and wanted to talk to him. Scott didn't even acknowledge the presence of his father and Peter knew that it was more serious than he thought. He said that he would leave Horizon immediately once he delegated his duties.
After he hung up the phone Martin went and tried to get Scott to stand up so he could walk him to his room but Scott wouldn't budge. The next best thing was for him to go and get a pillow and a blanket and just cover him up where he lay.
It had been a couple of hours when Susan returned from the airport. Martin was busy straightening up the apartment. "Any changes?"
Martin shook his head no. "I even tried to get him to talk with Peter Scarbrow but he wouldn't budge. He finally fell asleep on the floor and I just covered him up."
"Do you think that if we call the hospital and talk to Shelby that maybe she could get him to talk?"
"I don't know. Peter Scarbrow is actually on his way over here. I thought that if anyone could get through to him that it would be Peter. Scott really trusts Peter and if Peter can't help than we have a major crisis on our hands. We should let him sleep now because it looks like he hadn't done it in days. Let's try and get some of this mess cleaned up so it won't look so bad when Peter arrives."
It took several hours and they managed to get the place looking a little better. They both were totally exhausted when they heard the doorbell ring. Martin went over to answer the door and welcomed Peter in. The three adults sat in the living room and discussed the events that lead up to the situation at hand. Peter was actually concerned about the role that Jess played in this whole thing.
"I'm actually concerned about Jess in this whole matter. It appears that she did what she did because she was trying to make some sort of a statement or she is having a hard time dealing with other issues. I know that their stepfather sexually abused both Shelby and Jess. Jess is either getting back at Shelby for leaving her home alone with him or she is trying to escape her tormented past by emulating Shelby's life. It's probably a matter of time before Jess gets admitted to Horizon. A lot of damage has been done to several people here and it's going to take some time to heal them all. I think the best approach right now would be to heal Shelby because she could then help us heal Scott."
Martin objected. "Shelby is fine. Scott is practically in a comatose state. We can't let him stay that way much longer."
"Alright. I'll go and see if he will respond to me. When is Shelby scheduled to be released?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"I'll go see Scott and if possible, I'd like to visit Shelby before she comes home in the morning." Susan escorted Peter into the bedroom where Scott was still laying on the floor. He appeared to be asleep but his eyes were open. He didn't move or didn't blink. Peter walked over and knelt down on the floor next to Scott so that he could be at eye level.
"Hey sport, its Peter. How ya doing?" Peter didn't get any kind of a response. He reached over and put his hand on Scott's shoulder and was surprised that he didn't flinch. He pulled Scott up into a seated position with his back up against the wall. He looked him right in the eyes but saw a glazed stare. "I didn't think that Scott Barringer was a quitter." Peter got eye movement with that statement. Scott looked him in the eye for a split second and than looked away. "What happened to the fighter that I used to know. Are you giving up?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I have nothing to live for anymore."
"Is that the best you can come up with? It sounds like chicken shit to me."
"Why are you here? Just leave me alone. My days of group session with you are over. Go away."
"What and miss the collapse of the great Scott Barringer?"
"Shut up."
"Do you know how pathetic you sound right now?"
"I don't care."
"What do you care about then huh?"
"I care about my baby."
"So by indulging yourself in self-pity and shutting yourself off from the rest of the world is going to make you a better father for your baby?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Why doesn't it matter?"
"Because even if it did survive, Shelby wouldn't let me have anything to do with it."
"First of all, you have to have faith that the baby will be fine and second, Shelby is not that heartless."
"You don't know anything."
"I know everything Scott. Why do you think I'm here? I'm here to help you. You need to be strong. This is not the Scott Barringer that I know. The Scott that I know is a fighter and doesn't give up easily. Where is that person now?"
"He doesn't exists anymore." He was tired of explaining himself to Peter so he just pulled the blanket over his head and lay back down.
"Scott don't shut me out. Talk to me some more." Scott didn't answer this time and when Peter reached over to touch him, he shrugged his hand off. "Fine, I'll let you rest now but your family and I are not going to give up on you. You are loved by many and we'll do whatever it takes to make you realize that."
Peter went back out and told Martin and Susan that he broke through a little. Scott displayed no self-esteem at all and he had given up any hope of survival. Peter did open a little window of hope and now it was up to Shelby to open it up all the way. Susan took him to the hospital to visit Shelby. Shelby was excited to see Peter again but she wished that he had brought Sophie with him.
It took almost half an hour for Peter to explain to Shelby what was going on at home. He told her about Jess leaving and what his thoughts were regarding her actions. Shelby agreed with him and said that was why she had forgiven her. What she didn't understand was Scott's actions and that was what she was having a hard time dealing with.
"Shelby I know that you have every right to be hurt and angry but I need to ask you several things. I want you to be truthful in your answers and I need you to find the answers in your heart and not your emotions. Do you still love Scott and do you want your marriage to survive?"
Shelby pondered the questions for a minute which seemed to bother Peter but he knew that she had to search her soul for the answer.
"Yes I love Scott and I want this marriage to work so that we can raise the baby in a happy environment."
"Ok then I'm going to have to ask you to swallow your pride a little and do whatever it takes to pull Scott out of his comatose state. Right now he has no hope for living and he feels that you are going to keep the baby away from him. He needs to know that you have forgiven him and that you still love him. Depression is a serious illness and we need to pull him out of it so it won't destroy him."
"Ok can you tell him that I'm coming home tomorrow and that I'll need his help."
"Sure. I'll get back that spark that you two once shared. You just get some sleep and your in-laws will pick you up in the morning."
Peter left the hospital with some sort of hope that things were going to work out eventually. When he got back to Scott's home he told Scott that Shelby was going to come home tomorrow. Scott was back to his non-association state. He didn't seem to have any feeling regarding the matter. Peter had tried to get Scott to eat something but with no such luck. Both Martin and Peter tried to get Scott to go into his own room to sleep but he wouldn't budge on that demand either. The only thing now was to wait and hope that the next day would bring an improvement.
The following morning Susan and Martin went to check Shelby out of the hospital while Peter stayed with Scott. He still refused to eat and Peter could tell that his body was getting weaker and weaker. Scott spent his time pushed into the corner of the baby's room clinching a baby blanket. When Peter heard the front door open he ran to greet them. Susan gave him a questionable look.
"He still hasn't left that room and he still won't eat or drink anything. He's getting weaker and weaker and I'm afraid that if he doesn't at least drink some water than he'll need an IV hook up." He looked over at Shelby and nodded his head. "It's up to you now. Go see what you can do without putting yourself in any harm. Yell if you need our assisstance."
Shelby walked down the hall noticing how a lot of things were out of place around the apartment. She walked into the bedroom and saw Scott sitting on the floor just staring into space. She knelt down in front of him and took his face into her hands. He was staring at the corner of the room until Shelby softly spoke his name. "Scott." There was no response from him and he continued to stare off into the far off corner. She bent down and gently placed a sweet kiss on his forehead and that was enough to bring his eyes around to focus on her. He pushed his eyebrows down with the look of confusion but didn't make a sound.
Now that she at least had eye contact she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Scott I had a sonogram while I was in the hospital. Look, here's a picture of our baby. It's doing fine right now." She held it up in front of his eyes hoping that he would take notice of it. At first he didn't do anything and Shelby thought that he didn't care but after a minute he reached up and took the picture from her hand. With tears swelling up in his eyes he finally spoke.
"That's our baby?"
Shelby smiled and brushed away one of the tears that found its way to his cheek. He was staring at the picture. "Yes. Isn't it wonderful? Look you can see the little arms and feet. The baby is sucking its thumb. Doesn't it look so cute? I can't wait to hold it in my arms some day. You are going to be there with me aren't you?"
Scott finally took his eyes away from the picture and looked hard at Shelby. "You can't be here. You need to leave."
"Scott what you talking about? I live here. We both live here. This is our home. Where else I'm I suppose to be?"
"The Dr.'s said that you had to stay away from me or you'll loose the baby. Please don't loose the baby Shelby. You need to hurry and leave before it's too late. No wait, I'll leave. You told me to leave earlier so I'll leave before anything else bad happens." Scott started to stand but Shelby held him down. It wasn't too hard because Scott had become weaker.
"No Scott. You are my husband and we do this together. I love you."
"No Shelby you don't know what you are saying. You can't love me anymore. I don't deserve your love. I failed you and I just need to leave."
Shelby was beginning to think that there was a way to blackmail him. "Scott you can't leave. If you leave than I'll become under a lot of stress and I could loose the baby. Do you want me to loose the baby?"
"No Shelby please don't."
"Scott than you need to help me."
"I'll help you Shel. Just tell me what you want me to do."
"I need to be in bed and I don't want to be alone. I want you to come lay down next to me so that we can be a family again." She stood up and reached her hand down to him. He reached forth his hand and she helped pull him up. Together they walked down the hall hand in hand. When they reached their bedroom, Shelby turned and looked down the hall at the three bystanders who were braking their necks trying to get a look at what was going on. She gave them a smirky smile and a wink as she closed her bedroom door behind them.