Indifference
November 22th 2002
It was Friday again. The appointment with the OB had gone well. The doctor, a woman in her late fifties, had if she'd had an opinion on unmarried parents not shown it a bit. Mac and Sturgis had explained that they weren't a couple and she hadn't asked any questions about it. It was a relief to both of them to see that some people would just accept it like that, but they had no illusions about the fact that it probably was an exception.
They had ridden in different cars to Bethesda, but well in the waiting room they had been alone to talk about the baby for the first time since Monday. Slowly they were starting to like the situation much better. Of course it would have been even better if they hadn't risked hurting Harm, who were both of their best friend. They finally decided that Mac would tell him about her pregnancy the same evening and call Sturgis afterwards telling him how it had gone.
Mac went to Harm's apartment as soon as she thought he would be home from work. She didn't want to put this off any longer. All week they had only talked about work related issues. They had been civil to each other, but not more friendly than you would have expected strangers to be with each other. Harm had tried to smile at her to make sure she knew that it was all right and that he still wanted to be friends with her. She'd tried to act like she hadn't noticed.
She knocked on the door and eventually he came and opened. She was the last person he had expected to be there.
"Come on in," he was glad that she had come. She surly wasn't here to talk about anything work related and he hoped that they'd be able to talk about the important things instead.
"Am I interrupting anything?"
"No, not at all. I'm glad that you are here"
Mac had no idea where to start to explain it all and remained silent.
"I guess I was moving to fast last Friday. I don't know why you ran out, but I accept that you don't want to go there with me. Can we just forget it happened and go back to being friends?"
"Something has happened."
Harm was worried. These weren't her normal insecurities. Something really had happened.
"Harm, I'm pregnant," she blurted out. There was no way she could find to say it in a more gentle way. With her words Harm's world crashed together. The moments of complete despair of what she had said were after two short seconds replaced by a cold indifference.
"I didn't realize you were seeing someone."
"I'm not. Look, Harm, I'm sorry. In a way I feel like I've betrayed you. We were moving forward and I screwed it up. I hope you can forgive me someday."
"There's nothing to forgive. You can sleep with who ever you want to. I don't care, we're not in that kind of relationship. I don't even understand why you're here to tell me," he answered her calmly trying to put all the coldness he could bring up in his voice.
The words hurt Mac more than anything else could have. She'd rather had that he'd be angry with her and scream at her. She could handle that from him, but she couldn't handle trying to pretend that they weren't important to each other.
"So who is the lucky guy, anyway?" he asked sarcastically.
"Sturgis is the father," Harm felt like it just got worse the more he found out about the whole thing. His best friend had slept with the woman he. Whatever it was it didn't matter any more.
Mac was getting closer to tears by the second and made plans for a fast retreat before they would betray her. For Harm though, who knew her so well, they were already obvious.
"Why don't you go to your boyfriend if you need to cry?"
"Harm, we're not together like that."
"Oh, Mac, there's no need for you to lie about it. I saw you at his apartment last week and it's none of my business anyway obviously. If it were you would have told me about your affair or relationship whatever it is earlier."
She understood that he wouldn't listen to her today. At some point he'd might be interested in hearing her story, but not now. She left the apartment. Neither of them said any words of goodbye, but Harm stood at his window and watched as she got into her car and sat there letting the tears fall freely before she was able to drive off. Who would have thought they would end up like that?
TBC
November 22th 2002
It was Friday again. The appointment with the OB had gone well. The doctor, a woman in her late fifties, had if she'd had an opinion on unmarried parents not shown it a bit. Mac and Sturgis had explained that they weren't a couple and she hadn't asked any questions about it. It was a relief to both of them to see that some people would just accept it like that, but they had no illusions about the fact that it probably was an exception.
They had ridden in different cars to Bethesda, but well in the waiting room they had been alone to talk about the baby for the first time since Monday. Slowly they were starting to like the situation much better. Of course it would have been even better if they hadn't risked hurting Harm, who were both of their best friend. They finally decided that Mac would tell him about her pregnancy the same evening and call Sturgis afterwards telling him how it had gone.
Mac went to Harm's apartment as soon as she thought he would be home from work. She didn't want to put this off any longer. All week they had only talked about work related issues. They had been civil to each other, but not more friendly than you would have expected strangers to be with each other. Harm had tried to smile at her to make sure she knew that it was all right and that he still wanted to be friends with her. She'd tried to act like she hadn't noticed.
She knocked on the door and eventually he came and opened. She was the last person he had expected to be there.
"Come on in," he was glad that she had come. She surly wasn't here to talk about anything work related and he hoped that they'd be able to talk about the important things instead.
"Am I interrupting anything?"
"No, not at all. I'm glad that you are here"
Mac had no idea where to start to explain it all and remained silent.
"I guess I was moving to fast last Friday. I don't know why you ran out, but I accept that you don't want to go there with me. Can we just forget it happened and go back to being friends?"
"Something has happened."
Harm was worried. These weren't her normal insecurities. Something really had happened.
"Harm, I'm pregnant," she blurted out. There was no way she could find to say it in a more gentle way. With her words Harm's world crashed together. The moments of complete despair of what she had said were after two short seconds replaced by a cold indifference.
"I didn't realize you were seeing someone."
"I'm not. Look, Harm, I'm sorry. In a way I feel like I've betrayed you. We were moving forward and I screwed it up. I hope you can forgive me someday."
"There's nothing to forgive. You can sleep with who ever you want to. I don't care, we're not in that kind of relationship. I don't even understand why you're here to tell me," he answered her calmly trying to put all the coldness he could bring up in his voice.
The words hurt Mac more than anything else could have. She'd rather had that he'd be angry with her and scream at her. She could handle that from him, but she couldn't handle trying to pretend that they weren't important to each other.
"So who is the lucky guy, anyway?" he asked sarcastically.
"Sturgis is the father," Harm felt like it just got worse the more he found out about the whole thing. His best friend had slept with the woman he. Whatever it was it didn't matter any more.
Mac was getting closer to tears by the second and made plans for a fast retreat before they would betray her. For Harm though, who knew her so well, they were already obvious.
"Why don't you go to your boyfriend if you need to cry?"
"Harm, we're not together like that."
"Oh, Mac, there's no need for you to lie about it. I saw you at his apartment last week and it's none of my business anyway obviously. If it were you would have told me about your affair or relationship whatever it is earlier."
She understood that he wouldn't listen to her today. At some point he'd might be interested in hearing her story, but not now. She left the apartment. Neither of them said any words of goodbye, but Harm stood at his window and watched as she got into her car and sat there letting the tears fall freely before she was able to drive off. Who would have thought they would end up like that?
TBC