What's Meant To Be Will Be 10
"What, what is it?"
"Woahw slow down Commander, Colonel MacKenzie is in recovery and you daughter is in the care of the other doctors, she is a fighter that one."
"You had to deliver the baby!"
"Yes, and I must say, she is doing better than we expected, so is Sarah."
A wave of relief washed over him, they were okay, they had made it.
"Sir if you would like to see your daughter, I can take you too her."
"Yes, yes I would, ummm could the Admiral come as well, I don't think I can do this alone."
"I think that should be alright, but I must warn you, there are a lot of tubes and monitors around, don't let them scare you off, they are making her stronger."
"Okay Thankyou."
They walked toward ICU, where they were looking after the little girl. AJ was walking behind Harm, he was toughed by Harm asking if he could come with him for support and AJ was more than happy to oblige. It wasn't often the nearly 40 year old Commander let down his walls and asked for help or support, and he was sure once he regained his composure it would be a long time before he did it again.
They entered the room and despite the warning were surprised by the amount of monitors surrounding the crib in the center of the room. The little girl was tiny, barely the size of AJ's hand. He stood silently and watched Harm, as soon as they had entered the room he had noticed an instant change in his demeanor, his shoulders relaxed and a small smile appeared upon his ageing face.
"She's beautiful, Congratulations."
"She's tiny, and Thankyou."
"What are you going to call her?"
"I think that should be up to Mac."
"Fair enough, speaking of Mac do you want me to find out if you are able to see her?"
"Yeah I'll stay here a little longer."
AJ left the room and headed back to the nurses station in search of some answers.
"Sir, sir, is there any news yet?" Harriet and Bud were racing towards them, both looking anxious and drained.
"Ahhh yes, The Colonel is in recovery and the Commander is in with his daughter."
At the mention of the little girl, Harriet let out a shriek.
"They delivered the baby sir?" asked a confused Bud "I thought it wasn't due for another 3 months"
"She wasn't but they couldn't alleviate the stress Mac and the baby were under so it was either deliver the baby now or risk losing them both."
There was no need for either of them to answer because the look of both shock and relief was evident on both their faces.
"How's Harm?" asked Bud
"He'll be okay, at the moment he is up with his daughter and doing much better now that they have both made it through surgery."
"He'll be alright, I know he will, he is one of the strongest people I know." Bud was now looking off into the distance, AJ knew that Bud thought of Harm as an older brother/father to him and was his closest friend, it was hurting Bud more than he would let on, to see what Harm was going through.
"If you would excuse me, I need to go and find out if Harm can go and see Mac yet, if you would like, I'm sure the Commander would like some company and a chance to show of 'daddy's little girl.' It's up that corridor second left first right and the third door on the left."
"Okay Thankyou sir."
The Admiral walked over to the nurses station. "Excuse me, is Colonel MacKenzie able to have any visitors yet?"
"I have been told that she is allowed one or two visitors at a time. They are just settling her into room 219 not far from the ICU."
"Thankyou Petty Officer."
OUTSIDE ROOM 219 (Mac's room) Bethesda Naval Hospital
Bud, Harriet, the Admiral and I had just arrived outside Mac's room, 'I don't know if I can do this' I think to myself.
"We'll let you have a few minutes before we come in Commander."
"Thankyou."
I walk into the darkened room, and sit down in the chair beside her bed. I lean over and take hold of the slender hand entwining my fingers with hers. A few tears slip down my face against my will but I don't care, not bothering to wipe them away my eyes fixated on the pale figure in front of me.
The Admiral walked in and stood behind me, no words were needed to express our feelings of relief yet the Admiral still spoke.
"She's going to make it through you know."
"I know, and when she wakes we're going to talk about things, everything."
"It shouldn't be too long before she wakes up, why don't you go and get some coffee while Bud and Harriet come in."
"Yeah I think that would be a good idea, are you going to join me sir?"
"No I think I'll go and see how my goddaughter is doing."
"Goddaughter?"
"Yea, Mac asked me to be her godfather, that is if you don't have any objections."
"No, no, I don't I couldn't think of anyone better to be goddaughter to our daughter."
"Well I'm honored to do so."
And with that they both went their separate ways. It was going to be a long night, Harm thought. What am I going to say to her when she wakes up? What if she doesn't want to talk to me, or worse yet, what if she doesn't want there to be an 'us.'
Fear plagued Harm throughout the night and well into the morning, he hadn't left Mac's side all night, and finally at about 4 in the morning he fell asleep slumped over the edge of Mac's bed, his fingers lay entwined with hers as they slept.
Harm woke around 9 in the morning to the smell of coffee and bagels filling the room. He instantly turned around not surprise to find that the source of the smell was his CO standing in the doorway.
"How long have you been there sir?'
"Not long, I thought I'd come in before work and see you were holding up."
"I'm fine."
"No your not, but you are better than you were last night. Did you get much sleep?"
"Yeah a bit I think I fell asleep around 4am."
"Has there been any change?"
"No but the nurse should be in here soon to check her OB's. They were getting better last night, they expect her to wake up sometime this morning."
"Well that's good, I have to go into the office this morning but I'll get the nurse to call if there is any change."
"Sir, I'll call if there is any change."
"Alright Commander."
"Ummm sir, would I be able to organise a week or two leave?"
"I've already put you on 3 weeks leave and if you need more just say the word."
"Thankyou sir."
"I'll be back this afternoon with Bud and Harriet, well actually it might only be Bud, since I dare say it will be hard to keep Harriet away all day, don't be surprised if she turns up around lunch time."
"Alright, would you be able to tell her to bring AJ in with her, I think Mac would love to see him when she wakes up."
"I'll do that. Good day Commander."
The Admiral was almost out he door when Harm stopped him. "Thanks for coming AJ, I know we both appreciate it.
With that AJ gave him a small smiled and left without another word.
MAC'S ROOM 2 hours later.
Harm was standing at the window looking out onto the garden below. He had a sudden idea. He raced out of the room and down to reception.
"Hello, is there anywhere I arrange a bouquet of flowers?"
"Yes there is a florist that come around in about an hour, here is the number, you can have the flowers delivered to any room you like."
"Thankyou."
Harm walks over and sits down on one of the over stuffed armchairs in the waiting area.
"(Hello Frank's Florist, what can I do for you?)"
"Hi I would like to have a dozen red roses delivered to Bethesda. If possible the next time you come around, which I'm told is in a few hours."
"Yes I'll be around in and hour, I can have a dozen red roses delivered. Which room is that for?"
"Uhhh would I be able to pick them up at reception?"
"Yes I'll leave them at the desk for you."
"And would I be able to have white ribbons tied around 4 of the roses?"
"Yes I can do that for you. Would you like a card with that?"
"No Thankyou."
"How would you like to pay for that?"
Harm finished up the conversation with the florist, then went to the girt shop. Once he had what he needed from there he headed back to Mac's room to see if she had woken up yet. Part of him hoped that she wasn't awake yet because he wanted to be there when she did, and he had something to do before she awoke.
Once back in Mac's room he settled down on the table and pulled out the bag from the gift shop, he extracted the contents and began to write. Minutes passed as he wrote and once he was finished he folded it up and placed it in an envelope. He sat down in the chair next to the bed minutes ticked uneventfully by until 40 minutes later when Harm was alerted by a noise coming from the bed beside him.
"Harm?" It was barely a murmur but he had clearly made out it's meaning.
"I'm here, I'm here.."
"My baby. what happened." Tears glazed here eyes making them shine brighter than ever.
"She's fine, the delivered her in emergency, she's strong. Just like her mother."
"Too early" she whispered, strength was slowly coming back into her voice
"I know, but she's doing really well, they have her on lot's of monitors to make sure everything is alright."
Finally she slumped down onto the pillows and closed her eyes. Harm took this opportunity to alert the nurses that she was awake by pressing the buzzer beside her bed.
The nurses came in checked her OB's again, the left and told her the doctor would be into see her soon. Harm waited until the doctor arrived and decided that now was the time to go down to the reception and pick up the flowers. Before he left he slipped the envelope he was holding into Mac's hand giving it a squeeze of reassurance and left.
Harm took his time walking down to reception, he waned Mac to have read the letter by the time he arrived back, and she would only be able to do that once the doctor had left.
He got to the end of the corridor, left was to the reception and right was to ICU, he decided that he would go and see his daughter first, anticipation welled up inside him and he quickening his pace. He arrived at the room they had his daughter in and was greeted by the doctor who had spoken to him the night before.
"She's doing well Commander Rabb, a lot better than we expected."
"She's just like her mother, strong, determined and beautiful."
"That she is."
"Well I'll leave you to it, I'll be in and out quite a bit all day, and there will be nurses in here most of the time so if you have any questions just ask."
"Okay Thankyou."
The doctor left Harm alone in the room, he walked over to the crib in the center of the room, as he looked down at the little pink bundle, his face broke into a huge smile.
"How is it that I can love you more than anything in this world when your only a day old?" he whispered to himself
"Simple" a voice said behind him "There is no love more powerful than that of a parent for their child."
The voice was that of Petty Officer Smith, the woman that was at reception all last night.
"What brings you here?" He asks
"I wanted to see how she was doing before I went home, this little girl has captured a lot of hearts in this hospital."
"That's very nice of you, she's doing fine, she's very strong like her mother."
"How is Colonel MacKenzie?"
"She woke up a few minutes ago, the doctors with her now and I'm on my way down to pick up some roses I had delivered to reception"
"Their your! Ohhh their beautiful, I was wondering who the lucky woman was."
"Well I must get going, I'll pop in and see how this little one is doing at the beginning of my next shift."
"I'm sure she'll appreciate it."
Petty Officer Smith walked out of the room, then Harm followed not long after. He arrived at reception and picked up the flowers, then walked slowly back to room 219 contemplating the reaction that awaited him
MAC'S ROOM Same Time
The doctor had just left, and her prognosis was good, she would need to stay in hospital for another week or so maybe 2. She picked up the envelope that had been burning a whole in her hand since it was placed there by Harm, as he left. She removed the letter and began to read.
Dear Mac
Words can express the fear that has plagued me the last 48 hours, I was out when the hospital called but they left a message on my answering machine. When I got home and played that message, my blood ran cold. I left without hearing the end of the message and got here as quick as I could. You were unconscious the whole time I was here and there were points in time in which I thought you would never wake up. I was sitting in the chair beside your bed when all of a sudden all the monitors went off and once again my blood ran cold. When I saw them wheel you off down the corridor it felt like my heart was being ripped out. I want to tell you all this now, in this letter because I'm not sure I would make it through, if I told you too your face. I have so much to tell you but not the words to say it with. I know about everything, the baby, why you got the transfer etc. If only you had told me. I would have dropped everything to be with you and our child; I hope you know that now. The past 6 months have been hell; I lost a part of me when you left, the part that allows me to function properly anyway. So much happened the night you had the accident. I was over at Renee's and it suddenly struck me that the baby was due in January, that would mean it had to have been conceived in April, I hadn't seen it before but that was between your engagement party and my accident a period of time in which we hadn't slept together (no surprises as to why that was.) I walked out too angry to comprehend, not because the child wasn't mine but what it had cost me. You. Mac I love you with all my heart, you have to believe, my life with out you is unimaginable. Our little girl is beautiful, I have been in to see her often, unable to stay away. She's strong, determined and beautiful just like her mother. I know I have caused you so much pain and for that I will be eternally sorry, but I promise you know and forever that I will not leave your side, not for anything, I would give up everything to have you Mac, the Navy, flying, my life, because without you none of these things matter to me.
Forever yours Love Harm.
Tears were staining the paper below as she stared at the words on the page, she went to put the letter back in the envelope when something fell out into her hand. The sight of the object bought a fresh batch of tears and a noise at the door alerted her of his presence. She looked up to find a huge bunch of roses staring back at her with those amazing blue eyes and flyboy grin peering back at her. She looked up and smiled. He placed the roses on the table beside her bed and embraced her. Once they had broken apart she looked down at her hand inside was an object that held such meaning.
"Thankyou" she whispered as she opened her hand to reveal the pair of gold wings resting on her palm.
To Be Continued.
"What, what is it?"
"Woahw slow down Commander, Colonel MacKenzie is in recovery and you daughter is in the care of the other doctors, she is a fighter that one."
"You had to deliver the baby!"
"Yes, and I must say, she is doing better than we expected, so is Sarah."
A wave of relief washed over him, they were okay, they had made it.
"Sir if you would like to see your daughter, I can take you too her."
"Yes, yes I would, ummm could the Admiral come as well, I don't think I can do this alone."
"I think that should be alright, but I must warn you, there are a lot of tubes and monitors around, don't let them scare you off, they are making her stronger."
"Okay Thankyou."
They walked toward ICU, where they were looking after the little girl. AJ was walking behind Harm, he was toughed by Harm asking if he could come with him for support and AJ was more than happy to oblige. It wasn't often the nearly 40 year old Commander let down his walls and asked for help or support, and he was sure once he regained his composure it would be a long time before he did it again.
They entered the room and despite the warning were surprised by the amount of monitors surrounding the crib in the center of the room. The little girl was tiny, barely the size of AJ's hand. He stood silently and watched Harm, as soon as they had entered the room he had noticed an instant change in his demeanor, his shoulders relaxed and a small smile appeared upon his ageing face.
"She's beautiful, Congratulations."
"She's tiny, and Thankyou."
"What are you going to call her?"
"I think that should be up to Mac."
"Fair enough, speaking of Mac do you want me to find out if you are able to see her?"
"Yeah I'll stay here a little longer."
AJ left the room and headed back to the nurses station in search of some answers.
"Sir, sir, is there any news yet?" Harriet and Bud were racing towards them, both looking anxious and drained.
"Ahhh yes, The Colonel is in recovery and the Commander is in with his daughter."
At the mention of the little girl, Harriet let out a shriek.
"They delivered the baby sir?" asked a confused Bud "I thought it wasn't due for another 3 months"
"She wasn't but they couldn't alleviate the stress Mac and the baby were under so it was either deliver the baby now or risk losing them both."
There was no need for either of them to answer because the look of both shock and relief was evident on both their faces.
"How's Harm?" asked Bud
"He'll be okay, at the moment he is up with his daughter and doing much better now that they have both made it through surgery."
"He'll be alright, I know he will, he is one of the strongest people I know." Bud was now looking off into the distance, AJ knew that Bud thought of Harm as an older brother/father to him and was his closest friend, it was hurting Bud more than he would let on, to see what Harm was going through.
"If you would excuse me, I need to go and find out if Harm can go and see Mac yet, if you would like, I'm sure the Commander would like some company and a chance to show of 'daddy's little girl.' It's up that corridor second left first right and the third door on the left."
"Okay Thankyou sir."
The Admiral walked over to the nurses station. "Excuse me, is Colonel MacKenzie able to have any visitors yet?"
"I have been told that she is allowed one or two visitors at a time. They are just settling her into room 219 not far from the ICU."
"Thankyou Petty Officer."
OUTSIDE ROOM 219 (Mac's room) Bethesda Naval Hospital
Bud, Harriet, the Admiral and I had just arrived outside Mac's room, 'I don't know if I can do this' I think to myself.
"We'll let you have a few minutes before we come in Commander."
"Thankyou."
I walk into the darkened room, and sit down in the chair beside her bed. I lean over and take hold of the slender hand entwining my fingers with hers. A few tears slip down my face against my will but I don't care, not bothering to wipe them away my eyes fixated on the pale figure in front of me.
The Admiral walked in and stood behind me, no words were needed to express our feelings of relief yet the Admiral still spoke.
"She's going to make it through you know."
"I know, and when she wakes we're going to talk about things, everything."
"It shouldn't be too long before she wakes up, why don't you go and get some coffee while Bud and Harriet come in."
"Yeah I think that would be a good idea, are you going to join me sir?"
"No I think I'll go and see how my goddaughter is doing."
"Goddaughter?"
"Yea, Mac asked me to be her godfather, that is if you don't have any objections."
"No, no, I don't I couldn't think of anyone better to be goddaughter to our daughter."
"Well I'm honored to do so."
And with that they both went their separate ways. It was going to be a long night, Harm thought. What am I going to say to her when she wakes up? What if she doesn't want to talk to me, or worse yet, what if she doesn't want there to be an 'us.'
Fear plagued Harm throughout the night and well into the morning, he hadn't left Mac's side all night, and finally at about 4 in the morning he fell asleep slumped over the edge of Mac's bed, his fingers lay entwined with hers as they slept.
Harm woke around 9 in the morning to the smell of coffee and bagels filling the room. He instantly turned around not surprise to find that the source of the smell was his CO standing in the doorway.
"How long have you been there sir?'
"Not long, I thought I'd come in before work and see you were holding up."
"I'm fine."
"No your not, but you are better than you were last night. Did you get much sleep?"
"Yeah a bit I think I fell asleep around 4am."
"Has there been any change?"
"No but the nurse should be in here soon to check her OB's. They were getting better last night, they expect her to wake up sometime this morning."
"Well that's good, I have to go into the office this morning but I'll get the nurse to call if there is any change."
"Sir, I'll call if there is any change."
"Alright Commander."
"Ummm sir, would I be able to organise a week or two leave?"
"I've already put you on 3 weeks leave and if you need more just say the word."
"Thankyou sir."
"I'll be back this afternoon with Bud and Harriet, well actually it might only be Bud, since I dare say it will be hard to keep Harriet away all day, don't be surprised if she turns up around lunch time."
"Alright, would you be able to tell her to bring AJ in with her, I think Mac would love to see him when she wakes up."
"I'll do that. Good day Commander."
The Admiral was almost out he door when Harm stopped him. "Thanks for coming AJ, I know we both appreciate it.
With that AJ gave him a small smiled and left without another word.
MAC'S ROOM 2 hours later.
Harm was standing at the window looking out onto the garden below. He had a sudden idea. He raced out of the room and down to reception.
"Hello, is there anywhere I arrange a bouquet of flowers?"
"Yes there is a florist that come around in about an hour, here is the number, you can have the flowers delivered to any room you like."
"Thankyou."
Harm walks over and sits down on one of the over stuffed armchairs in the waiting area.
"(Hello Frank's Florist, what can I do for you?)"
"Hi I would like to have a dozen red roses delivered to Bethesda. If possible the next time you come around, which I'm told is in a few hours."
"Yes I'll be around in and hour, I can have a dozen red roses delivered. Which room is that for?"
"Uhhh would I be able to pick them up at reception?"
"Yes I'll leave them at the desk for you."
"And would I be able to have white ribbons tied around 4 of the roses?"
"Yes I can do that for you. Would you like a card with that?"
"No Thankyou."
"How would you like to pay for that?"
Harm finished up the conversation with the florist, then went to the girt shop. Once he had what he needed from there he headed back to Mac's room to see if she had woken up yet. Part of him hoped that she wasn't awake yet because he wanted to be there when she did, and he had something to do before she awoke.
Once back in Mac's room he settled down on the table and pulled out the bag from the gift shop, he extracted the contents and began to write. Minutes passed as he wrote and once he was finished he folded it up and placed it in an envelope. He sat down in the chair next to the bed minutes ticked uneventfully by until 40 minutes later when Harm was alerted by a noise coming from the bed beside him.
"Harm?" It was barely a murmur but he had clearly made out it's meaning.
"I'm here, I'm here.."
"My baby. what happened." Tears glazed here eyes making them shine brighter than ever.
"She's fine, the delivered her in emergency, she's strong. Just like her mother."
"Too early" she whispered, strength was slowly coming back into her voice
"I know, but she's doing really well, they have her on lot's of monitors to make sure everything is alright."
Finally she slumped down onto the pillows and closed her eyes. Harm took this opportunity to alert the nurses that she was awake by pressing the buzzer beside her bed.
The nurses came in checked her OB's again, the left and told her the doctor would be into see her soon. Harm waited until the doctor arrived and decided that now was the time to go down to the reception and pick up the flowers. Before he left he slipped the envelope he was holding into Mac's hand giving it a squeeze of reassurance and left.
Harm took his time walking down to reception, he waned Mac to have read the letter by the time he arrived back, and she would only be able to do that once the doctor had left.
He got to the end of the corridor, left was to the reception and right was to ICU, he decided that he would go and see his daughter first, anticipation welled up inside him and he quickening his pace. He arrived at the room they had his daughter in and was greeted by the doctor who had spoken to him the night before.
"She's doing well Commander Rabb, a lot better than we expected."
"She's just like her mother, strong, determined and beautiful."
"That she is."
"Well I'll leave you to it, I'll be in and out quite a bit all day, and there will be nurses in here most of the time so if you have any questions just ask."
"Okay Thankyou."
The doctor left Harm alone in the room, he walked over to the crib in the center of the room, as he looked down at the little pink bundle, his face broke into a huge smile.
"How is it that I can love you more than anything in this world when your only a day old?" he whispered to himself
"Simple" a voice said behind him "There is no love more powerful than that of a parent for their child."
The voice was that of Petty Officer Smith, the woman that was at reception all last night.
"What brings you here?" He asks
"I wanted to see how she was doing before I went home, this little girl has captured a lot of hearts in this hospital."
"That's very nice of you, she's doing fine, she's very strong like her mother."
"How is Colonel MacKenzie?"
"She woke up a few minutes ago, the doctors with her now and I'm on my way down to pick up some roses I had delivered to reception"
"Their your! Ohhh their beautiful, I was wondering who the lucky woman was."
"Well I must get going, I'll pop in and see how this little one is doing at the beginning of my next shift."
"I'm sure she'll appreciate it."
Petty Officer Smith walked out of the room, then Harm followed not long after. He arrived at reception and picked up the flowers, then walked slowly back to room 219 contemplating the reaction that awaited him
MAC'S ROOM Same Time
The doctor had just left, and her prognosis was good, she would need to stay in hospital for another week or so maybe 2. She picked up the envelope that had been burning a whole in her hand since it was placed there by Harm, as he left. She removed the letter and began to read.
Dear Mac
Words can express the fear that has plagued me the last 48 hours, I was out when the hospital called but they left a message on my answering machine. When I got home and played that message, my blood ran cold. I left without hearing the end of the message and got here as quick as I could. You were unconscious the whole time I was here and there were points in time in which I thought you would never wake up. I was sitting in the chair beside your bed when all of a sudden all the monitors went off and once again my blood ran cold. When I saw them wheel you off down the corridor it felt like my heart was being ripped out. I want to tell you all this now, in this letter because I'm not sure I would make it through, if I told you too your face. I have so much to tell you but not the words to say it with. I know about everything, the baby, why you got the transfer etc. If only you had told me. I would have dropped everything to be with you and our child; I hope you know that now. The past 6 months have been hell; I lost a part of me when you left, the part that allows me to function properly anyway. So much happened the night you had the accident. I was over at Renee's and it suddenly struck me that the baby was due in January, that would mean it had to have been conceived in April, I hadn't seen it before but that was between your engagement party and my accident a period of time in which we hadn't slept together (no surprises as to why that was.) I walked out too angry to comprehend, not because the child wasn't mine but what it had cost me. You. Mac I love you with all my heart, you have to believe, my life with out you is unimaginable. Our little girl is beautiful, I have been in to see her often, unable to stay away. She's strong, determined and beautiful just like her mother. I know I have caused you so much pain and for that I will be eternally sorry, but I promise you know and forever that I will not leave your side, not for anything, I would give up everything to have you Mac, the Navy, flying, my life, because without you none of these things matter to me.
Forever yours Love Harm.
Tears were staining the paper below as she stared at the words on the page, she went to put the letter back in the envelope when something fell out into her hand. The sight of the object bought a fresh batch of tears and a noise at the door alerted her of his presence. She looked up to find a huge bunch of roses staring back at her with those amazing blue eyes and flyboy grin peering back at her. She looked up and smiled. He placed the roses on the table beside her bed and embraced her. Once they had broken apart she looked down at her hand inside was an object that held such meaning.
"Thankyou" she whispered as she opened her hand to reveal the pair of gold wings resting on her palm.
To Be Continued.