"It'll be okay," Jimmy said lamely, as Jill sprinted back to the operating room.
Max wasn't so sure, and she knew they had both been very lucky so far in terms of miracles. Why did we waste so much time, she pondered, why didn't we figure this out years ago? Kenny, I need you, please come back to me. I can't do this by myself.
"I hope so," Max replied distantly, as most of her thoughts were concentrated on her husband. Good and bad times, she thought as their long tumultuous relationship passed before her eyes. I can't lose him, how do I even begin to say good-bye to the other half of myself?
Jimmy hated the way the she lapsed back into the silent, terrified state, and felt an overwhelming surge of fatherly protection for her. Deep down he feared that they all might lose Kenny, but he knew that if he fell apart, Max would soon follow. Burying his own terror, Jimmy turned back to his pregnant deputy.
"Do you need anything? Max?" Jimmy asked. "He wouldn't want you to worry like this."
"What should I do then? Shall we go out for drinks and dancing?" Max snapped, as her terror flooded to the surface. "Or maybe take in a movie?"
Jimmy watched her internal battle, as she began to pace the waiting room. Jimmy prayed for Jill to come back and tell them that everything was alright, and soon. That this had all been some dumb mistake. He turned his head towards the door, and willed his wife to come back through it.
Max pushed her tangled mess of red hair of off her face, and ran her hand over her bump. She hadn't been this scared when Jen had pulled the gun on her, but the thought of facing the rest of her life without Kenny being a part of it, she honestly didn't know what she was going to do. Even when they were broken up, he was still a large part of her life. Max remembered clinging to that thought during those months apart, but she felt like she had nothing to hold on to now. She heard Jimmy come up behind her, and felt his hand on her arm.
"Have a seat," he said softly. "You're exhausted and it's been a rough day, before all this happened. Not to mention you're six months pregnant, and I don't want to have to worry about two of my deputies tonight."
Max nodded, and let him lead her back to the couch, for another long wait.
"Hi," Carter called nervously from the doorway. "I just heard."
Jimmy waved him, and he joined them on the waiting room couch.
Carter watched his two friends carefully, Jimmy so stoic, and Max just trembling in the sterile room. Jill came bursting back through the double doors, with guilt and relief mixed into her expression.
"I'm so sorry," she began, and Max looked up in dread. "It wasn't Kenny coding. He's still in recovery, but he's doing fine. Max, I don't even know how to begin to apologize for scaring you like that."
Max processed what Jill was saying, and couldn't find the words to express the mixture of relief, gratitude and anger for being put through this emotional wringer twice.
"Jill, he's okay?" Jimmy asked, feeling a lead weight life off of his chest.
"It was someone else, and older patient with heart problems," Jill confirmed. "He's fine too, but I knew what you both must have been thinking."
No you don't, Max thought, as she struggled to respond. "Jill? Can I see him? Please?"
"He'll be up soon," Jill said, hearing the fear in her voice. "And then, yes. He's still critical Max, but he fought hard this far."
"I know him, he won't give up," Max said quietly. "I need to be with him now Jill… I need to see... He needs me there."
Jill nodded, seeing the pain her in young friend's eyes, and Jill hated knowing that she prolonged it. She had watched these two people for years, and she knew how close they were. Remembering how Kenny was practically tethered to Max's bed side after Chuck Dante had shot her, Jill knew that Max would be sticking around for awhile.
"I'll go check to see when he's going to be up," Jill said standing.
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Max watched him sleep an hour later, and took his limp hand between hers. Holding it gently, she squeezed softly and willed him to squeeze back. She watched his chest rise and fall, and tried to stay positive. She half listened to Jill when she went over the damage the bullet had done, and Max knew that it ricocheted around and caused some internal bleeding, which they staunched. Using her other hand to run her fingers through his hair and stroke his cheek, she promised herself that they would both stay out of dangerous situations; although in their line of work it wasn't really that possible. The last thing Max wanted to do was to leave their child an orphan. Or even worse, be raised by her family.
"Oh, Kenny," she said softly to his still form. "We've got to stop doing this to ourselves. I think we've spent more time in hospitals the last few years, then anywhere else. I love you, and I need you."
Max pulled her legs up to her chest, and tucked her protruding stomach behind them. Lapsing back into silence, she watched her husband sleep, as Jill came back in.
"You should go home and rest," Jill said quietly. "It's been quite a night, and I don't want you to over exert yourself."
"I'm pregnant, not stupid," Max said, not budging from her chair. "I can't leave him alone here, Jill."
The words echoed familiar to Jill, and she was fairly certain that she heard Kenny say the same thing about Max years before. She didn't have the heart to drag Max out of there, especially after giving her an extra scare earlier. She looked at her pale and tired expression with concern, but Jill doubted she would have much luck sleeping at home. Still, Jill wanted Max to get some rest, for her, the baby, and for Kenny.
"There is a spare bed over there. I'll let you stay under a few conditions," Jill relented. "One, you lie down and try to sleep. You're over six months pregnant, Max, and they haven't been the easiest six months. Two, you eat something. Three, tomorrow I'm going to examine you to make sure everything is going alright. Understood?"
"Fine," Max agreed because she wasn't about to just leave him here alone, and if their baby was anything like it's parents it would be used to awkward, odd, stressful situations. "Jill… thank you."
Jill nodded, and pointed to the other bed.
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"Suicide?" Jimmy asked Skeeter over the phone the next day. "When?"
"After we recaptured Dr. Davis," Skeeter informed him. "Cornerstones called and told us that Gina Troy had hung herself. The gist of her note apologizing to Kurt, and saying how she couldn't live without Jen."
"Poor woman, man," Jimmy said, knowing that despite being a murderer, she had lived through terrible circumstances. "No family?"
"All dead," Skeeter continued for him, and most of them had been killed by her after all. "They want to know what to do with the body."
"Kurt's was shipped back to Fort Lauderdale, and buried with their parents. I guess send hers back too," Jimmy said slowly, feeling tiredness creep into his old bones. He stopped by the hospital that morning, and smiled to himself when he saw Max curled up and sound asleep in the other bed.
"I'll let them know," Skeeter said, before pausing. "How's Kenny doing? Carter said he was in bad shape, but…"
"We'll have to wait and see," Jimmy said, trying to stay positive. "I'm going to stop back at Thayer on my way into the office. I'll have an update for you then."
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"You have to eat," Jill prodded the next morning. "I'm not going to have to worry about you too."
Max reluctantly accepted the bagel, and was grateful for the change of clothes Jill had brought her that morning. Jill continued to check her pulse, and Max was anxious to get back to Kenny. She wanted to be with him in case anything good or bad happened. She wanted him to know that she was there for him, the same way he had been for her lately.
"Your pulse is fine, but your blood pressure is up," Jill said briskly, filling in the chart. "I'm not surprised, given the circumstances of late, but you need to relax."
"Relax? My husband is unconscious after being shot and you tell me to relax? Are you serious? Why don't I just fly to the moon then," Max asked, trying to stay calm. "Or maybe I could try and touch my toes?"
"Don't get so testy," Jill advised in doctor tone. "I know you're hurt and scared right now, Max, but you've got to take care of yourself and the baby inside you."
Sighing. "I know."
"Go on. I'll check up on you later," Jill said, as Max slid off of the table.
"Hi there," Max said softly, as Kenny cracked his eyes open to look at her. "I've been waiting for you to wake up."
He looked at her with a blank stare, and Max's relief knew no bounds. She squeezed his hand between hers, and thanked whatever mystical power that was up there for giving them another chance.
"Max," he whispered, placing her. "I didn't think you'd be here."
She pulled back, puzzled by his comment, as Jill came in. "Why not?"
Kenny closed his eyes again, and Jill reached down to check his pulse. Max took a step back to stay out of her way as she examined him. Wondering what Kenny meant by his vague statement, Max attributed it to the drugs and his own drowsiness. Jill walked back over to her, after checking him out.
"He seems okay, just a little groggy. I want to run some more tests and x-rays though," Jill said softly. "He needs to sleep off some of the drugs, Max, so if you want to take a break from all of this, now would be a good time. He needs time to recover, and I know he'll need you to be there for him when he's alert again."
Max nodded, feeling her own exhaustion hitting her. Knowing that Kenny was going to be alright was like being let out of a dark room. She could handle everything else now
"Just a few more minutes? I know he's asleep, but," Max trailed off, hoping that Jill would understand.
"Okay," Jill replied, seeing the look in her eyes. "I'll be back."
Max settled back down in her chair, and watched her sleeping husband.
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"I don't need a baby-sitter," Max told Skeeter and Jimmy later that night. "I just need to go to bed, and get some sleep."
"You promise us that is the only thing your doing after we leave," Jimmy said sternly. "I talked to Jill, and she doesn't want to see you at Thayer until after eight in the morning. No sneaking out."
"I'm not a child," Max said exasperated.
"I don't want to have to tell my good friend why his six and half month pregnant wife was running all over town while he was laid up in the hospital," Skeeter interjected. "Humor us here Max."
"Okay," she agreed. "I'll stay, but would you two please just go? I'm 31 years old, and I'm more then capable of taking care of myself. Despite the increasing number of crazy people who like to try and kill me."
"You've done pretty well fending them off," Jimmy said dryly.
Max smiled for the first time in days at his comment, and Skeeter gave her a quick hug before the two men left.
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"How are you feeling?" Jill asked Kenny the next morning. She'd talked to Max at seven, and told her that she wanted to run some tests on Kenny. Jill knew that she was anxious to see her husband, and told her young friend to come in around nine. She knew that Max wouldn't relax until she was positive that everything was alright. Jill glanced at her watch, and knew they still had a few more minutes.
"Sore," Kenny gasped. "I don't even remember what happened."
"That's normal," Jill replied. "You gave us a scare last night, and I practically had to drag Max out of here."
"Max," he said quietly. "I thought she was mad at me."
"Whatever it was, I'm sure she's forgiven you for it now," Jill said, as she heard a soft rapping on the door. "Well, look who it is."
Max gave her a small smile, and Jill thought she looked adorable in a white peasant maternity blouse and jeans. Her red hair was loose and hung to her shoulders, and Jill could see the relief clear on her face. Whatever fight Kenny had been talking about was long forgotten. Kenny looked at her for a moment before saying anything.
"Max… You're here," Kenny said confused. "How long was I out for?"
Max and Jill exchanged a quick look before Max responded. "Two days. Why?"
Kenny closed his eyes briefly, then gazed at her again. "You look different… I didn't think he'd let you be here."
"Who?" Max asked, having no idea what he was talking about. He seemed alert, just very confused when he looked at her. "Kenny?"
"Danny, who else? I thought he would drag you away from anything to do with me," Kenny said, as Max recoiled away from him in shock and Jill gasped.
"Danny?" Max asked numbly, as she felt nausea building up. "Why wouldn't he let me be here? How could he stop me, Kenny?"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Jill interjected.
"Fighting with Max," Kenny said slowly. "After the drunk driver plowed into the kid."
Max took a deep breath, as she realized that Kenny had no clue about what had happened in the last few years. She turned to Jill, not sure how to respond to this.
"What's wrong?" he asked to the two women, as his gaze focused on Max's pregnant stomach. "I wasn't out just two days was I? Max? You didn't have that stomach a few days ago… Are you pregnant?"
Max nodded, not trusting her voice at that moment.
"You and Danny," Kenny trailed off, trying to be happy for her, even though he detested the man.
She shook her head, not even wanting to think about having a child with that man, as Jill added. "Kenny, I think you're experiencing some memory loss, and I want to run some more tests. The events you're describing, they happened awhile ago."
"How long ago?" Kenny asked, studying their worried expressions. "What aren't you telling me?"
"It's nothing to be concerned with yet," Jill said quickly. "I'm going to schedule some tests, so why don't you two visit for awhile? Kenny, you need to rest before we do anything else. Max, keep him entertained for a few minutes?"
She nodded, and didn't really know what to say. Jill gave her a warning look not to get him worked up about not remembering their life and left.
"What's going on?" Kenny asked. "What aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing, nothing," Max insisted, lowering herself into a chair. "You know Jill, she just wants to be cautious. How are you feeling?"
"I've been better," he said, his gaze lowering to her pregnant stomach. "You're having a baby?"
"That seems to be the general reaction around town," Max said dryly, trying not to let her hurt show, and she longed to throw her arms around him and tell him never to scare her like that again. That she wasn't going to have their child grow up without both of its parents.
Kenny couldn't help but feel like he'd lost her when he saw that she was pregnant with Danny's baby, and he knew that the bastard would never let her go now. "Congratulations, Max, you're going to be a great Mom. And Danny… I'm sure he'll be a good Dad."
She nodded quickly, and she wanted to scream that this child didn't belong to Danny Shreve, and hearing his name made her want to vomit. She could have kicked Jill for leaving her here like this, and Max really didn't know what to tell him about anything. Overjoyed that he was alive, but Max had to wonder how he would handle it when they told him everything.
"I'm looking forward to it," she said vaguely. "Two and half more months."
"Hey, you look like you're about to cry," Kenny said softly.
"Hormones," Max replied trying to keep her voice even. "It's not Danny's baby."
"Whose is it then?" Kenny asked confused, as Jill came back in. "Max?"
Jill shot her a look before turning back to Kenny. "We're going to take a couple of more scans now, just to take a look. Max, I need to talk to you out in the hall."
Max nodded. "Um, I'll see you later, okay? Feel better Kenny."
He watched her go in silence, and he felt a deep desire to find out what was going on with her. If it wasn't Danny's baby, he had no idea who it belonged to, and Kenny knew Max wasn't one to sleep around.
"Jill, what's going on?" Max asked quietly in the hall. "Why can't he remember? Listening to him talk about Danny…"
"I'm not sure," Jill replied. "Short term memory loss is common for traumatic injuries."
"Short term? We're talking five years," Max replied quickly.
"That's why I'm having some more tests done," Jill said softly, laying a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I know it looks bad right now, but stay positive."
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Kenny lay in his hospital bed after Jill put him through what seemed like hours worth of medical tests. He didn't like the looks in her or Max's eyes when they were talking to each other, and felt like he had to know what was going on with her. Something about her being pregnant was haunting him, and she promised she would be back soon. He wasn't letting her get away this time without explaining it to him.
"Hey! How are doing?" Jimmy called from the doorway, and Carter came up behind him. After playing telephone tag with Jill all day, Jimmy decided to come down and see how Kenny was.
"Hanging in there," Kenny replied, glad to see them, and he hoped that they might know what was up with Max. "I feel like I got run over by something."
"Not surprising," Carter said.
"Any idea when you're going to be getting out of here?" Jimmy asked.
"Not yet. Jill's being vague about it, and I don't think that they're telling me everything," Kenny said. "I don't like that."
"You've been a cop to long if you're thinking like that," Jimmy replied dryly. "She's probably just being cautious, and I know she doesn't want Max to take on too much while she is pregnant."
"What?" Kenny asked slowly. "Max? What would she have to do?"
"Knowing her, everything. Hell, you married her, you know," Jimmy replied off handily, as Max wandered back in and nearly fell over when she heard Jimmy's comment. Kenny stared at her for a long instance without saying anything, and he couldn't really comprehend what Jimmy had just said.
"I, what?" he sputtered, as Max regained her footing. "Max?"
Jimmy and Carter turned to her puzzled, and she could feel all three men watching her and waiting for some sort of explanation. Silently cursing Jill for not letting her tell Kenny everything earlier, she really didn't know what to say.
"Um. He doesn't remember the past couple of years," Max settled on.
"You don't?" Carter asked dumbly.
"You're my wife," Kenny asked, as if he hadn't heard him. "We actually got married?"
"How can you not remember?" Jimmy asked.
"And you're pregnant? Max? We're having a baby?" Kenny asked, as if they were the only two people in the room. "You're not kidding?"
She shook her head, and couldn't respond. Her emotions were all over the place of late, and she now had a full understanding of pregnancy hormones. She struggled not to cry, and she could see as dazed as Kenny was by the news, he didn't seem to upset by it.
"I think we'll give you two some alone time," Jimmy interjected. "And we're going to find Jill."
Max watched them all but flee from the room, and she didn't know what to say to Kenny then. He was watching her expectantly from the bed, and she knew Jill wanted to keep him calm. She moved slowly over to his side, and longed to hold him in her arms. "I'm not kidding," she began, trying to stay together. "We got married almost two years ago, and we've had out ups and downs… but it's been good."
"You're my wife," he repeated in disbelief. "I never thought that you'd actually want to be. What happened to Danny?"
"I've always wanted to be with you," she said hoarsely, avoiding his question because she knew it would upset him. "Shh. Just rest okay? We've got plenty of time to talk about this."
"I want to remember," he said drinking her in. "I always wanted you."
Max smiled sadly at him, as Jill came in to examine him after all of the revelations.
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Kenny lay in bed the next morning contemplating that fact that he was actually married to Max, and she was pregnant with their child. He concentrated as hard as he could to try and remember their life together, but nothing came to him. It was a big blank slate, and it killed him to know that there was a huge chunk of his life missing. An important part, and he knew it had to be rough on Max as well. She did her best not to show it, but he knew her to well to know when she was upset. He couldn't believe that he could just forget everything, and he longed to remember just something about his life.
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"Will anything come back? You have to know something," Max asked Jill, at the same time Kenny was trying to piece his life back together.
"We'll have to wait and see, and be patient," Jill said calmly. "He's been through a terrible trauma Max, and it takes time to recover from that."
Max nodded, and felt frustrated with the whole thing, and part of her wanted to cry out. She wanted to know why us, and not some of the other of millions of people out there.
"He's fine physically," Jill continued. "As for the rest, just be with him. You've always been friends, and he obviously wants you there, even if he was shocked to find out the two of you were married. He certainly didn't seem opposed to the idea."
"That was a relief," Max replied dryly. "I don't know… not to sound full of self pity, but why do these things keep happening to us? Would it be possible to have a few days not full of drama?"
"You're living in the wrong town if you're looking for normal. Go see your husband, I know he was looking for you earlier," Jill replied. "Talk to him, and maybe something will come back."
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Kenny watched her as she did her best to hold up her end of the conversation, but could see the strain on her face.
"Max," he said, interrupting. "Could I ask you some stuff? You know, about us? I know Jill wants me to remember it, but I hate not knowing how I ended up being married to my best friend."
"How do you think it happened?" Max asked, curious to see what he'd been thinking about over the past few days.
"I don't know," Kenny said frustrated, as he saw faint images dancing around the edges of his thoughts. "You said there was good and bad, and I want to know something at least. You're my wife, which sounds so weird to me, how did we get to this point?"
"It took awhile," Max said softly. "It started a year and half after your memories end off, on Valentines Day. Everything, all the games we had played with each other… they all just came to head and everything came pouring out."
"I told you," Kenny trailed off as something flashed through his thoughts. "I told you that…"
"You told me what?" Max asked quietly, seeing him struggling with something. "Kenny?"
"That I was afraid that you would go, and I couldn't handle that," Kenny continued, as that night came tumbling back to him. "Max, I remember it."
She grinned at him, and he stared at her, as memories drifted back.