A/N:
I see how it works… You guys review when you want something. Well fine… Here it
is!
Title:
Terror
Name:
Joy
Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com
Rating: PG-13
Jondy wept but managed to say, "Something went
wrong with the test."
Everyone was on their feet in a moment. "What
do ya mean?" Cindy asked.
"I don't know," she said
seeking shelter in Zack's arms. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. She
was getting to have a normal life."
Logan stayed at the doors waiting to
be told something or be let back in. No one was going to talk to him in this
condition. Fiona came up to Logan and put her arms around him. "Come here
Loggie. Come sit. Talk to me," she said softly. He turned around and
clutched his sister for all she was worth.
"I can't lose them now. I
can't," he muttered.
"It's ok… She's strong."
Fiona and Logan sat down and she got him to look at her. "What did Jessica
say was happening?"
"She said that the test… She
said that the needle…" he began to sob again.
Fiona held his hand and said,
"The needle started a spontaneous miscarriage?" Logan nodded his head
and wept. "Logan, listen to me. You remember when I was pregnant with
Ryan? The same thing happened… remember?" Logan's eyes met hers.
"She's strong Logan… Your baby is strong… Ryan made it to full term."
The lobby was eerily silent with
family while they absorbed the pain. Zack continued to hug Jondy while Cindy
paced with Bling. Fiona sat with Logan constantly touching his hand or arm so
that he would remember he wasn't alone. Waiting for news is the hardest thing
for a family to do. No one functions at all. Twenty minutes of agony were ended
by Jessica reappeared to talk to Logan. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Fiona… You might want to come
with us," she said quietly. Both Cales feared the worst. When they got
behind the large metal doors Jessica began, "Max is alright for the most
part. She is on oxygen and saline so that you know. Your baby isn't as well.
There is partial separation from the uterus…Meaning a miscarriage at this point
is what we want to prevent. We hope that with medicine and rest the situation
will improve. I know you didn't want her checked into the hospital under her
own name, but I can't release her to be moved. I checked her in as Alexis
Saint. I don't know what else to do. I did get the fluid we need to begin to
the tests… I can already tell you, your son is a fighter. He was very reactive
to what was going on."
"Son… We're going to have a
boy?" Logan asked.
"YES!" Zack screamed from
the lobby.
"My brother in law… He has
amazing hearing…" Logan tried to cover.
"OH… Well… You didn't want to
know, did you?" Jessica said with a grimace.
"Actually, with the stress of
the last several minutes… I needed to hear something that made him more
real," Logan said with a sigh.
"Glad to help then."
Fiona was still holding Logan's hand
with tears in her eyes. "Go be with Max. I'll be the drill sergeant out
here," she said with a hug as they parted company.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The door to Max's hospital opened
revealing Logan. "Hey babe," she whispered with tubes in her arm and
nose.
"Hey," he said softly
sitting close to her, caressing her face and hair. "You scared me,"
Logan said with a kiss to her temple.
"I scared me too," she
whispered crying a bit. They embraced through the tangle of tubes. "What
if…" she began to sob.
"Ssshhh… It didn't. It didn't
happen. You're both going to be fine," he said kissing her lips.
"Logan, it's a boy. I heard the
nurses talking about how strong and reactive he is… We're going to have a
son!"
"I know. Jess let it slip when
we were in the hall."
Max rolled her eyes, "I doubt
it… I said I wasn't going to tell you as a joke. I guess she thought I was
serious because she said it was wrong to keep it from you."
"Clever lady."
"That's why she makes the big
bucks."
Logan stroked Max's cheek and said,
"Well, Fiona was with me when Jess 'slipped' so I'm sure the lobby knows,
plus Zack 'overheard' the conversation. He must have really wanted you to have
a boy by the excited yell that came from the waiting room."
Max chuckled, "Old joke."
Logan looked at her quizzically. "We did have some Literature classes at
Manticore. When we read MacBeth, Zack loved the line about Lady MacBeth only
bearing 'man children'. He said I was like that… I can't believe he brought
Jondy to see me."
"He's really changing… You're
gonna have to stay here for a while so for the time being you're Alexis Saint.
I'm sure Zack and Jondy will keep watch over you."
"Sounds like a plan," she
said with confidence rubbing her belly. "Hear that munchkin? Your uncle
Zack and aunt Jondy will be staying to take care of us."
"You ready to see people
yet?" Logan asked placing his hand on Max's stomach.
"Not yet. We need some time
alone," she said snuggling into his arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fiona came out to the waiting area
to see many frightened faces. "Has Zack already filled you in?"
"No! Bionic Boy screamed then
shut up," Original Cindy said with much annoyance.
"Who the hell are you
anyway?" Jondy said getting in Cindy's face.
"Jondy, calm down. This is
Cindy, Original Cindy. She was Max's roommate," Zack said putting his arm
around Jondy to prevent her from taking a swing at her or something stupid.
"She's one of the Seattle fam, k?" Jondy nodded.
"Seattle fam?" Bling asked.
"That's what he calls us to
explain Max's situation to the other sibs," Fiona said quietly.
"Alright… Max is registered as Alexis Saint. She can't be moved until the
meds have taken affect."
"That's not what the doc
said," Jondy snapped.
"But she's been through this…so
she knows," he said to pacify his sister.
"Ok, you two are best equipped
to 'watch' over Max to make sure nothing funny happens. The rest of us should
get stuff for Max and Logan to be comfy for a couple days… And last but not
least… It's a boy," Fiona stated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max and Jondy sat in her room while
Logan called in favors to protect Max's identity. Jondy began quietly, "So
you trust this Doc? What about this Fiona chick? What's her story? Come to
think of it…I don't even know how you and Logan got together."
"Well since they all go
together I'll give you the short version… I broke into Logan's place to rip him
off. He knew enough about Manticore to recognize a Chimera in action. I helped
him with his fight against crime and he helped me find you guys. We became
friends and then more. When we got serious Logan's sister, Fiona, showed up on
the scene to meet me and to live closer to her boyfriend Bling, Logan's
physical therapist. They got hitched and we followed their example. Fiona,
Bling, and Logan researched to find the best doc for me during the pregnancy.
Jessica is one of the best in her field and a good friend of Fiona's. Fiona has
been doing an amazing job taming Zack so I see her as the miracle worker,"
Max explained.
"Zack was being tamed prior to
Fiona…believe me!"
"What do you mean?" Max
asked.
Jondy got a cocky smile and said,
"Let's just say Fiona is encouraging a change that someone else
inspired."
"WHAT?!?"
"Zack would kill me!"
"Fess up, Jondy. You know you
want to tell me!"
"You're right… Zack has a thing
for my roommate Rachel. When I moved, she moved. We're that tight. Anyway, I've
never seen Zack go do-eyed before."
"No way."
"Oh yeah! You say her name, he
blushes!" Jondy announced.
"Hell is officially
frozen!"
Zack walked into the room as the
girls were chuckling about his sad state of affairs. "I told the nurse
staff that we have a restraining order against our over zealous father who is
in the military. I gave them a picture and everything… We should be good."
"Thanks Zack. Come and sit with
me," Max began, patting the bed. "Help me out here. I'm trying to
think of boy names and all I can come up with are girl names. I thought about
Elizabeth after Logan's mom."
"I'm not good at this stuff
Max," he said gruffly.
Max pretended a light bulb lit in
her head. " Rachel? What do you think of Rachel, Zack?" she said with
a huge smile.
Zack glared at Jondy who was
cracking up. "I hate you," he muttered. "What part of 'keep your
opinions to yourself' did you not grasp?"
"Come on… After what she just
went through, I can deny her nothing," Jondy said rocking her chair back.
"I'm sorry I was teasing… It's
just Fi gets all the details and I don't even get the name. It kind of
sucks," Max said with a pout.
"Fine. Now you know."
"Oh… Come on… Tell me
something!" she pled.
"Like what?" Zack asked shrugging
his shoulders, oblivious how to conduct girl talk especially with two girls who
sucked at it.
"Well, why her? You are a hot
boy… It's in the genes, ya know," Jondy joked. "Why her?"
Zack twisted on the bed
uncomfortably, "I don't know… I guess because she was never intimidated or
threatened by me. Whenever she looked me in the eye I couldn't be gruff… she
saw past the wall. She seemed to like having me around… She's really gentle. I
like that." Both of his sisters smile at him. "Stop that!" he snapped.
"We're just happy for
you," Max said rubbing his arm.
"Yeah… I get to see my big
brother much more often and my roommate is on cloud nine when you're
around," Jondy commented.
Zack looked slightly shocked,
"Really?"
"Oh yeah. You two stared at
each other for five minutes easy before speaking the last time you came into
town. I thought she might actually reach over and kiss you."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"I thought about it," Zack
said looking at his hands.
"So did she… before you say
anything, yeah she told me so," the blond sister said to her rough and
tumble brother.
"She won't want to have
anything to do with me the minute she realizes what I am…" he spit out
with anger in his eyes.
"You're a moron, ya know
that?"
"Why?"
"She moved with me… She knows
all about the nice men in military gear and guns looking for us. Rachel knows
exactly what she's getting into. She even understands you moving around all the
time to check on us," Jondy stated with crossed arms.
"You put her in danger by telling
her…" Zack began to grow agitated. He calmed down then said, "Sorry…
Force of habit... So…she knows." He sat bewildered for a moment.
A minute later Jondy's cell phone
went off. "Hello… Hey… Sorry, I forgot to call. We arrived just before the
procedure. Life's been crazy… I'll let Zack explain it to you since I was in
the middle of something with Max," Jondy said removing the phone from her
ear and handing it to Zack.
He stared at the phone until Max
mouthed, "It's Rachel… Take the Call!"
Zack took the phone from his
sister's outstretched hand. "Hey Rachel. Yeah… We made good time…" A
smile started showing in the corners of his lips. "Well, I promised to
return her in one piece…" Zack said as the smile grew. He turned from his
sisters aware of their inquisitive eyes.
"He's got it bad!" Jondy
whispered.
"Yeah… I remember doing this
with Logan, talking on the phone and having no ability to stay cool in front of
your friends because of the person on the line. Your heart beats too fast, your
mouth is always dry, and you'll smile at anything."
"I want that," Jondy
pouted.
Max kissed her sister's head,
"You'll find it… If Zack can, we all can."
"So… uh… When Jay and I get
back in town why don't we go to one of those coffeehouses with the musicians you
keep telling me about? Yeah… I'd like that too… I don't know how long we'll be
with Max in the hospital and all… I hope not too long," Zack said
sheepishly.
Both sisters smiled at him. He
seemed startled by their attention; "I better give you back to Jondy…
Yeah…" He turned from them again and said, "… I … I miss you."
She said something that made him laugh because a great belly laugh came and he
responded, "Well Jondy might want to see me some… You're right. She does
get to see me now… Here she is." Zack handed the phone back to Jondy and
smiled as they switched spots.
"Going to steal my brother, are
you?" Jondy said making her way to the hallway out of earshot.
"It's not all phony
sentimentality, is it?" Max asked Zack putting her hand on his.
"I guess not… It's
different…"
"Yeah… It is," she said
rubbing her swollen belly. "Lydecker would be so disappointed."
"Good," Zack said with a
genuine smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The days passed without incident.
Original Cindy and Jondy spend time playing cards with Max while Bling helped
over see the managing of her case so fewer nurses would come in contact with
her chart. Zack and Logan prepared different game plans for the actual birth
along with aliases and 'reservations' at a hospital in Oregon. Fiona did her
best to stay out of the way. Having lost her baby at the end of her pregnancy
caused a great deal of anxiety to watch her sister in law go through some of
the same problems. She found it easiest to be the mediator between Logan and
Zack when the inevitable fights arose almost every hour.
Dr. Spencer worked round the clock
on the gene sequencing trying to unravel what Manticore and God had created in
this child. She found too many chromosomes along with shark, feline, and wolf
DNA in the sequence. Before long, fear over took the good doctor and she called
Fiona to steady her. Fiona arrived to have a cup of tea with her dear friend.
Her friend wanted answers…at least in part.
"So what's up Jess? I know
you too well to think this has nothing to do with my nephew," Fiona said
with confidence.
"When you asked me to take
this case, you said I would encounter genetic anomalies that I might be tempted
to bring other doctors in on. You said that for the safety of your family that
would be impossible and I would have to work on my own. Fiona, you did not tell
me I would be faced with a genetically engineered individual… You didn't tell
me that my client wasn't entirely human. That's different then a genetic
anomaly," Jess said setting down her cup.
"What would have changed if I
told you? We'd be in the same position. People would still want to get their
hands on my sister and nephew. I need you Jess… They need you. My nephew needs
you to help him be as healthy and normal as possible," Fiona begged.
"I don't know what to do… I'm
not even sure how to help. I can't test anything because if I give it to Max it
might injury the baby."
"I'm sure one of her siblings would be willing to help…
Zack or Jondy. I think they said Tinga and Zane live near by too. What do you
need to help?" Fiona asked.
"I need to find one of them
that has the same animal genes that your nephew does."
"Fine. Let's head to the
hospital and talk it over with Max and Zack," Fi said abruptly.
"What about Logan?" Jess
asked.
"I don't want him
interfering."
"But it's his son!"
"That won't be very healthy
if we don't get some outside help!" Fiona insisted.
Jessica stared at her friend hard,
"Logan will not be left out…or I'm out."
"Fine. Logan will be
there."