Part 28: A Trial and a New Life
May 6th 2003
Harm was sitting impatiently waiting for the trial to begin. He could still not believe that he was sitting here. He had never felt as alone as this before. None of his friends from JAG had called during his time in the brig and he had only seen Bud outside of the courtroom before the proceedings started. Where he stood with Mac had been very uncertain when he had been arrested, but he had still thought that she would maybe call him or send some sort of greeting to him in the brig. But none of it had happened. If Mac wasn't here it either meant that she was a witness for the prosecution or that she simply didn't care about what happened to him in this trial. He didn't know what was worse.
When the court was in recess for the day, Bud came up to him before he was taken back to the brig.
"We believe in you," Bud just said.
"Thank you Bud, but I don't think you're speaking for all of you right now," Harm said. He knew he shouldn't take his disappointment with the rest of his friends out on the one who had showed up, but it was still hard not to. "Do you know where Mac is?" he asked so he would know why she hadn't been there.
"Mac is at the hospital," Bud answered him a bit surprised that Harm didn't know about that.
"What? Why" the anger Harm had felt was replaced by concern in a second.
"She went into labor the same day you were arrested and they have been trying to postpone the birth for as long as they can," the guards that were taking Harm back to the brig came up and wanted take him with them and leave.
Harm was still full of questions and Bud's heart went out to him when he saw how concerned he was for her. Whatever he had thought about the nature of their relationship, Bud realized that this was the true thing and neither Harm nor Mac could have stopped this from eventually happening. Right now they deserved all the support they could get to make it better again.
May 7th 2003
The room rapidly being filled with people woke Mac up. It was in the middle of the night she realized. The rhythm of the now so well known beeping of the machines that were monitoring her baby had changed.
"The baby isn't doing very well, so we will have to deliver her now. Do you think you'll be able to do that, Mac?" Doctor Petersen asked her.
During her soon to be two weeks stay she had gotten to know all of the nurses and doctors who worked at the ward she was in and they all called her Mac. Sturgis and she had also been told what would happen to the baby once she was born. There had been no question about her being born early only how early. Sturgis had been able to look at the room where took care of all of the premature babies. The truth was that the doctors had not thought that the birth would be postponed for as long as it had been. Now the baby would have a much better chance of surviving.
The doctor had warned Mac from getting upset and so far she had managed to keep reasonably calm. She had tried to put all thoughts of Harm out of her mind and to just focus on the baby. So far she had actually succeeded quite well with that. She hadn't dared asking about the trial and no one had really told her about it, but she had figured out that it had started yesterday. It wasn't that she didn't care what happened to Harm, she had just recognized that at the moment there was nothing she could do for him and if she got herself upset over him and something happened to the baby, he would probably feel guilty about it.
Mac was rolled into the delivery room and was given another infusion that would put her into labor again. She had been told that they would try to have a normal delivery and not a c-section since that would test the baby's strength right away. It had been set up so that Sturgis would stay with Mac until the baby was born and then try to go with the baby as much as possible. It was still unknown how developed her lungs were and how much medical treatment she would need.
One and a half hour later the baby was born. She was doing better than expected, but the doctors still took her immediately to the ward for premature babies, where she could be properly monitored. Mac didn't even get a chance to see her before they took her away. She was very worried about her and desperately wanted to get some news about her, but the exhaustion took over and she fell asleep.
Mac woke up later and realized she had slept for a couple of hours.
"Are you awake now?" Sturgis, who sat on the chair beside her bed, asked.
"Why are you here? Why aren't you with the baby?" Mac asked accusingly. Then the thought hit her what if something had happened and he couldn't be with her.
"She's OK, I promise you. The nurses will come and get me if something happens. I just wanted to show you something," he put some Polaroid pictures of their daughter on the cover in front of Mac. She looked amazed at them one by one.
"She's so beautiful. I wish I could go and see her for real, but thank you so much for this," she looked at Sturgis and they saw the absolute joy and love for their little baby girl mirrored in each other's eyes.
"Harriet will be here in a few minutes. I called and told them about the birth, Bud had to go into the office, but he said he would tell the rest of them and come by later today. I hope that was OK."
"Sure," as she said that, there was a knock on the door and Harriet came in.
"Congratulations you two," Harriet said. She had brought roses that she put on the nightstand and was also carrying a pink little teddy bear. "This is for the baby from Little AJ."
"The baby is still upstairs," Sturgis explained to her. "I'll go up and see how she's doing now. Would you please thank AJ from us."
"I will do that, sir," Harriet answered and Sturgis took it to place it by the little girl's bed. The pink teddy bear would share that place with many other teddy bears.
"How are you doing?" Harriet asked Mac once Sturgis was out of the room.
"It's better now, but I'm still worried about her," Mac answered her.
"Is that her?" Harriet pointed at the pictures that still lay in front of Mac.
"Yeah."
"How wonderful. Have you come up with a name?"
"We decided on Elena Mackenzie Turner, not long after we found out she was a girl, but decided to keep it to out selves until she was born," Mac answered the love she felt for her daughter was impossible to miss.
The same time at Harm's trial, Bud got a little written message to him. It read; 'The baby was born this morning. They are both doing fine. Hope you can see for yourself soon.' And that was exactly what Harm was hoping for too.
TBC
AN: I got two questions for the last chapter that I had the answers to in my mind, but realized weren't that clear in the story so I added some to this part. First of all, no at that point you wouldn't know if she had asked since Sturgis was thinking hypothetically if Mac asks, he will answer... and second of all yes Mac is very intelligent and would of course understand that they weren't telling her the whole truth about Harm, but (I hope this was made clear in this part) she wouldn't want to think and/or worry about him and therefore accept those lies willingly (She believes in them because she wants to, but deep down she knows what they aren't telling her the whole story). I'm not sure if I've expressed that understandably and if not you'll have to ask again. I appreciate it very much when people ask about things that are unclear, since it gives me a chance to make the story better. Thanks you Cria for beta-reading.
May 6th 2003
Harm was sitting impatiently waiting for the trial to begin. He could still not believe that he was sitting here. He had never felt as alone as this before. None of his friends from JAG had called during his time in the brig and he had only seen Bud outside of the courtroom before the proceedings started. Where he stood with Mac had been very uncertain when he had been arrested, but he had still thought that she would maybe call him or send some sort of greeting to him in the brig. But none of it had happened. If Mac wasn't here it either meant that she was a witness for the prosecution or that she simply didn't care about what happened to him in this trial. He didn't know what was worse.
When the court was in recess for the day, Bud came up to him before he was taken back to the brig.
"We believe in you," Bud just said.
"Thank you Bud, but I don't think you're speaking for all of you right now," Harm said. He knew he shouldn't take his disappointment with the rest of his friends out on the one who had showed up, but it was still hard not to. "Do you know where Mac is?" he asked so he would know why she hadn't been there.
"Mac is at the hospital," Bud answered him a bit surprised that Harm didn't know about that.
"What? Why" the anger Harm had felt was replaced by concern in a second.
"She went into labor the same day you were arrested and they have been trying to postpone the birth for as long as they can," the guards that were taking Harm back to the brig came up and wanted take him with them and leave.
Harm was still full of questions and Bud's heart went out to him when he saw how concerned he was for her. Whatever he had thought about the nature of their relationship, Bud realized that this was the true thing and neither Harm nor Mac could have stopped this from eventually happening. Right now they deserved all the support they could get to make it better again.
May 7th 2003
The room rapidly being filled with people woke Mac up. It was in the middle of the night she realized. The rhythm of the now so well known beeping of the machines that were monitoring her baby had changed.
"The baby isn't doing very well, so we will have to deliver her now. Do you think you'll be able to do that, Mac?" Doctor Petersen asked her.
During her soon to be two weeks stay she had gotten to know all of the nurses and doctors who worked at the ward she was in and they all called her Mac. Sturgis and she had also been told what would happen to the baby once she was born. There had been no question about her being born early only how early. Sturgis had been able to look at the room where took care of all of the premature babies. The truth was that the doctors had not thought that the birth would be postponed for as long as it had been. Now the baby would have a much better chance of surviving.
The doctor had warned Mac from getting upset and so far she had managed to keep reasonably calm. She had tried to put all thoughts of Harm out of her mind and to just focus on the baby. So far she had actually succeeded quite well with that. She hadn't dared asking about the trial and no one had really told her about it, but she had figured out that it had started yesterday. It wasn't that she didn't care what happened to Harm, she had just recognized that at the moment there was nothing she could do for him and if she got herself upset over him and something happened to the baby, he would probably feel guilty about it.
Mac was rolled into the delivery room and was given another infusion that would put her into labor again. She had been told that they would try to have a normal delivery and not a c-section since that would test the baby's strength right away. It had been set up so that Sturgis would stay with Mac until the baby was born and then try to go with the baby as much as possible. It was still unknown how developed her lungs were and how much medical treatment she would need.
One and a half hour later the baby was born. She was doing better than expected, but the doctors still took her immediately to the ward for premature babies, where she could be properly monitored. Mac didn't even get a chance to see her before they took her away. She was very worried about her and desperately wanted to get some news about her, but the exhaustion took over and she fell asleep.
Mac woke up later and realized she had slept for a couple of hours.
"Are you awake now?" Sturgis, who sat on the chair beside her bed, asked.
"Why are you here? Why aren't you with the baby?" Mac asked accusingly. Then the thought hit her what if something had happened and he couldn't be with her.
"She's OK, I promise you. The nurses will come and get me if something happens. I just wanted to show you something," he put some Polaroid pictures of their daughter on the cover in front of Mac. She looked amazed at them one by one.
"She's so beautiful. I wish I could go and see her for real, but thank you so much for this," she looked at Sturgis and they saw the absolute joy and love for their little baby girl mirrored in each other's eyes.
"Harriet will be here in a few minutes. I called and told them about the birth, Bud had to go into the office, but he said he would tell the rest of them and come by later today. I hope that was OK."
"Sure," as she said that, there was a knock on the door and Harriet came in.
"Congratulations you two," Harriet said. She had brought roses that she put on the nightstand and was also carrying a pink little teddy bear. "This is for the baby from Little AJ."
"The baby is still upstairs," Sturgis explained to her. "I'll go up and see how she's doing now. Would you please thank AJ from us."
"I will do that, sir," Harriet answered and Sturgis took it to place it by the little girl's bed. The pink teddy bear would share that place with many other teddy bears.
"How are you doing?" Harriet asked Mac once Sturgis was out of the room.
"It's better now, but I'm still worried about her," Mac answered her.
"Is that her?" Harriet pointed at the pictures that still lay in front of Mac.
"Yeah."
"How wonderful. Have you come up with a name?"
"We decided on Elena Mackenzie Turner, not long after we found out she was a girl, but decided to keep it to out selves until she was born," Mac answered the love she felt for her daughter was impossible to miss.
The same time at Harm's trial, Bud got a little written message to him. It read; 'The baby was born this morning. They are both doing fine. Hope you can see for yourself soon.' And that was exactly what Harm was hoping for too.
TBC
AN: I got two questions for the last chapter that I had the answers to in my mind, but realized weren't that clear in the story so I added some to this part. First of all, no at that point you wouldn't know if she had asked since Sturgis was thinking hypothetically if Mac asks, he will answer... and second of all yes Mac is very intelligent and would of course understand that they weren't telling her the whole truth about Harm, but (I hope this was made clear in this part) she wouldn't want to think and/or worry about him and therefore accept those lies willingly (She believes in them because she wants to, but deep down she knows what they aren't telling her the whole story). I'm not sure if I've expressed that understandably and if not you'll have to ask again. I appreciate it very much when people ask about things that are unclear, since it gives me a chance to make the story better. Thanks you Cria for beta-reading.