Alicia wasn't sure
why she stayed. She supposed it was
because she couldn't even stand. Max
and Logan had gone into the kitchen. She didn't even try to listen in. She was too tired to make sense of anything. She just had to get out of there before Zack showed up. There hadn't been a day in the last five
months that she didn't think about him. She should have stayed with him. No, she shouldn't have. It was
better this way, she reminded herself.
Bling helped her to
the couch and had her lie down. "No
more needles," she said firmly when he looked at the IV. She'd been poked enough in the last few
weeks. What had they given her? Please let him be OK, she prayed as she had
countless times before. Whatever
happens to me just let him be OK.
She might have dozed
for a while. Her eyes opened, and Bling
was still there, but she could smell something wonderful. Real food. She sat up carefully. Bling was
reading a book on Yoga. It went well
with the gun holstered on his hip. He
looked like he should be wearing flowing robes and chanting. He was enigmatic to say the least.
"Normally Logan
doesn't like food being eaten in here," he said, "but he made an exception for
you. They already went to bed." There was a TV tray with a covered
plate. Just like a fancy dinner, she
thought. Where's my furs, we're off to
Cale's to dine.
Bling helped get her
situated. He uncovered the tray
revealing a bowl of soup. She had an
idea it was Bling's suggestion. Anything heavier and she wouldn't be able to tolerate it. She played with it for a moment, knowing
Bling was watching her. He had a very
peaceful aura to him. She knew he
wanted to ask, but was trying to be respectful. He'd been nice at least; she could answer a harmless question.
"It's been a while
since I was able to eat and not wonder what they're putting in my food," she
said still looking at the soup. She
took a bite. It was a seasoned chicken
broth. Lovely. The first bite was staying down. That was a start. She ate slowly, glad to not have to worry that the black flecks
in it were anything but pepper.
"Your siblings
aren't looking for you, are they?" Bling asked.
She shook her
head. "I think…no, I know Cole knows I
was going to go to Seattle." After what
she'd found, yeah, he knew she was going to make a run for it. "If they wanted to find me, they would. But, they know what happened was wrong
regardless of my mistakes."
He wanted to
question her further, but she didn't want to be pushed. Being involved in medicine, he understood
that getting problems out was healing, but like any recovery, pushing it too
far too fast could make it worse. She
finished her soup in silence.
She was feeling much
better now. Still tired, but keeping
some food down was helping. Bling
showed her to the guest room. She was
much more stable on her feet. There was
a large t-shirt on the bed. Good. These clothes were pretty rank. Not much she could do about that after the
last few days.
"If you want to take
a shower or anything else, the bathroom connects through that door," he said,
pointing.
She smiled, a real
one. First time that had happened in a
while. "Thank you," she said. Bling left her alone. She got cleaned up and put on the
shirt. It felt wonderful to be clean
again. The shirt came almost to her
knees and that was perfect for now. It
was tight over her stomach, but she could live with that.
She looked at
herself in the mirror. Except for her
stomach she was way too thin. The dark
circles were still under her eyes, but everything else was healed. She rubbed her tummy and felt a movement
under her hand. Tears overflowed her
eyes. He was still in the game. She crawled into bed and was asleep
instantly.
A few hours later a
loud crash had her running into the living room. She was nearly mowed down by Max flying past her. By the time she and Logan could get in
there, Max had already pulled another body off of Bling, jerking her fist back
for a punch.
Max froze. "Zack?"
If she could have
moved her feet, Alicia would have run the moment she heard Max say his
name. She didn't know how he'd gotten
here so quickly. She felt paralyzed
from the neck down.
Max let him go, not
knowing what to say. 'By the way, your
girl is here, but she's knocked up' seemed wrong somehow. Bling was getting to his feet behind
Max. He'd seen someone on the balcony
opening the door. He'd grabbed the intruder,
but found himself immediately pinned against the wall. Then Max had hauled his attacker off.
Zack glanced over at
Logan to give him the usual sneered hello. He did a double take. Alicia was
there. He had to be hallucinating. She was standing there. Her hair was longer, and her face was
thinner, but it was her. Nobody was
saying anything. Why did she look so
terrified?
His eyes zeroed on
her stomach. She looked…no…that was
impossible…there was no way…well, ok; there was a way, but no. His eyes met hers. She looked like she was about to cry. Oh my God, he thought. She is.
He couldn't stand it
a moment longer. Answers would come
later. He took two steps towards her,
and she felt her paralysis break. She
was in his arms in a second. He pulled
her against him as tightly as her condition would allow. Her arms wrapped around his neck. She didn't care who was there or what anyone
would think as their lips met. For five
months she had dreamt of seeing him again, praying for it, and now nothing was
going to spoil it.
"Cole said you
needed me," he said when they finally pulled away from each other enough to
speak. "But he didn't say that you
were…I mean, I didn't know …I can't believe this…is it…" he didn't get any
further in his stumbling.
"Don't you dare try
and say it's not yours!" Alicia shouted at him, jerking back. Her eyes blazed angrily. "You know damn well you're the only
possibility! I might not know which
time but I do know who got this baby started!" He didn't say anything, just stood there with a stupefied
expression. She hit him. It was that or do something that would
prevent him from ever fathering any more children.
He stumbled back
from the blow, but didn't let go completely. He pulled her back into his arms. She couldn't fight him. Not like
she really wanted to get away anyways. "Baby damn well better be mine," he whispered into her ear.
She started to
cry. Ever since she found out she was
pregnant, she'd been tough. She
couldn't let herself weaken for a moment. There'd been a few moments where a tear or two had fallen, but she'd
gotten control of herself quickly. In
the institution, she couldn't show any expression ever. But now she didn't have to be tough. Zack was there to protect her. He held her against his chest, stroking her
hair and back while she cried.
Zack didn't even
notice that they were suddenly alone. Max, Logan, and Bling had slipped out of the room. Max wanted to stay, but Logan nudged her
out. Max was still in a little
shock. This was Zack's baby? Alicia was too emotional about it for it to
not be true. It was funny in a strange
way though. Zack was their fearless
leader. Mr. Ice. It was funny to hear him stammering in utter
shock. It just wasn't Zack.
Alicia didn't think
she'd cried very long, but she found herself sitting on Zack's lap on the couch
when the tears finally slowed. "Why
didn't you tell me?" he asked, sounding hurt.
"If you knew, you
would have come after me in a second. It's what they wanted to happen," she said simply. She sat up a little so they could see each
other. "I didn't realize it until I was
three months along. Then Dad found out,
and we talked, and decided on what to do, but I was really just being given
time to contact you. They were waiting
for you to show up. You're the gateway
to the X-5's. But I surprised
them. I didn't call for you."
She thought about
something he'd said. "When did you talk
to Cole?" she asked suddenly.
"Three days ago
there was a message to your special address on the game," he replied. "It just let me know that you needed me, and
you were probably going to come here."
Cole, you idiot, she
thought. You could have gotten yourself
killed over this! Cole was almost scary
sometimes with the way he did things. She knew that he had covered his tracks well. If by chance another sixer knew what he was doing, they'd never
betray him. Hell, he'd probably done it
all himself, and still made it seem he was home the entire time.
Zack could see that
physically she looked fine, but he knew that was just because her body healed
fast. He could see the stress in her
eyes though, and he knew her. He knew there
was a lot more going on then she'd said. She probably hadn't told Logan and Max everything that had happened to
her. Whatever it was, it was severe. He could imagine Lydecker's response at
hearing she was pregnant with his baby.
"What happened?" he
asked gently.
She didn't even think about lying or evading. The others were gone. "About three months ago I started getting sick. You know how rare that is for us. I couldn't keep anything down, and I was feeling horrible all the time. Cole knew what had happened between us and he's the one who said I might be pregnant. I didn't want to believe it, but then we got an EPT, and I took it, and the stupid thing showed two lines instead of one."