…Till Death Does Us Part Chapter II – Part 20/26
Disclaimer - See part one for all important informationRoom 534
1:55 PM
Sturgis sat there and watched Mac sleep. She looked so tired, and he wondered why he didn't notice that before. There was an IV in her hand, giving her some medication. There was also a heart monitor attached to her and a fetal monitor for the baby. He watched the lines move up and down on the screen to the left of the bed. The baby's heart rate was fast, but it was starting to get back to normal.
Mac moaned and the sound caught his attention. He leaned over the bed and tried to get her attention. "Mac."
She moved her head this time, and fought with her eyes to open.
"Come on, Mac, that's it."
Mac slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times. She looked around and her eyes fell on Sturgis.
"Hi there." Sturgis smiled to her.
"Hospital?" she asked.
"Yeah, you took a fall."
"My baby?!" Mac tried to sit up.
Sturgis quickly stood up and stopped her. "The baby is fine. Now just sit back and relax."
Mac did so and she used her hand to feel her stomach. "What happened?"
"Harriet found you in your office unconscious on the floor. I was hoping you could tell me what happened?"
Mac through for a second and it all came back to her, the fight with Harm. Her face clouded with emotions and Sturgis caught each one of them. "Nothing."
"Something happened, Mac. You need to tell someone." Sturgis informed her.
"Nothing happened, Sturgis. I stood up too fast."
Sturgis could tell she was lying. He looked up at the heart monitors and got an idea. "Mac, look to your left." She did and saw the monitor. "The top line is your heart, and that fast one below you is the baby's. It's moving too fast for the doctors liking."
He paused and she turned back to him. "Everything you hold in effects this baby. You need to talk to someone about what's bothering you."
Mac fell silent as his words made their way into the deep recesses of her thoughts. Finally the words hit a raw nerve and a tear feel from her eye, followed by another, and faint a sob escaped her lips. Sturgis was shocked to see this amount of emotions from his friend. He moved and sat on a free part of the bed and took her hand into his, his other soothed through her hair as he softly spoke to her. "Hey, I'm right here, Mac. Talk to me."
After a few minutes Mac's tears subsided and Sturgis took a good look at his friend. The woman in this bed wasn't the Marine lawyer he worked with, but a scared woman who had her heart ripped out of her chest.
"He hates me," she said through a sob.
"Who?"
"Harm."
"Harm doesn't hate you," Sturgis softly said.
"Don't lie, Sturgis, you know he can't stand to look at me."
Sturgis shrugged. "He's been a little cold to you lately, but he doesn't hate you."
"He does."
"Mac, what happened in your office before you passed out?" Sturgis asked as he handed her a tissue.
Mac blew her nose and wiped her eyes. "Harm and I had an argument."
"And from one little argument, you think Harm hates you?"
"No, it's from his words, that I know he hates me."
Sturgis took a breath, knowing that Mac was probably over reacting. "What did Harm say?"
Mac spent the next few minutes filling Sturgis in on the conversation. Sturgis hated to admit it, but Harm was in the wrong here. He listened as Mac related the story with anger in her voice and tears on her cheeks again.
Mac finished the story in a sob. "Then he said he hoped the father of the baby isn't in the picture because I'm a walking curse."
Sturgis wiped her tears with his fingers. "You didn't deserve him to say those things."
"He's been thinking them and he shouldn't."
"No, he shouldn't," Sturgis said. "But he is."
"It's not fair to the baby, Sturgis. He can hurt me; I'm use to it, but not my baby." Mac got upset and Sturgis saw the pain her eyes.
"Mac."
"He doesn't know what he saying about the father," Mac stated.
Sturgis decided to take a chance. "Have you told the father yet?"
"No. I can't. He hates me." Mac lowered her eyes to the blanket.
Sturgis took another chance. "When was the last time you saw the father?"
Mac didn't answer the question.
"Mac," Sturgis prompted her.
"Today," Mac muttered.
"When today?" Sturgis asked as his brain thought about where he could beat the crap out of this man for causing Mac so much pain.
Mac's fingers played with the blanket now. "A few hours ago."
"At JAG?" Sturgis asked. Mac didn't answer, so he tried again. "Mac, does the father work at JAG?"
She shook her head.
"Mac." Sturgis sighed, wondering who the bastard was.
The tears started to fall again. "He didn't work there when I got pregnant."
"He…" Sturgis started to repeat, but his sharp mind put two and two together. "Harm."
She shook her head. "He hates me and the baby." The tears fell again at a painful rate.
Sturgis continued to soothe her nerves. "Its okay, Mac."
"This wasn't supposed to happen. I was suppose to wake up in his arms and tell him everything, but he left. All he left was a note and he was gone. I got a note and a souvenir." Mac cried.
Sturgis tried his hardest to make her feel better but there was nothing he could say. Mac was hurt and Harm was to blame. He knew he should hear both sides of the story, before going off the deep end. But he didn't think he could listen to Harm talk. How the hell could his friend cause Mac this much pain? How could Mac tolerate it for so long? How was the baby going to handle it? The questions ran through Sturgis' mind as Mac slowly cried herself to sleep.
Sturgis noticed Mac had stopped crying and he gently raised himself off of the bed and into the chair next to it. He watched as she rolled to her side in her sleep, her IV-ed hand resting on her stomach as her un-IV-ed hand rested in his.
He lifted the hand and gave her knuckles a soft kiss. "Mac, I promise to do anything I can to help you and the baby. You both deserve someone to protect you."
End Part 20
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Carol – Hey, can you believe it's the first day of May.
Michi – I know. The months have just flown by.
Carol – Which I am very thankful for.
Michi – You know what I'm thankful for.
Carol – Chocolate.
Michi – Besides that…..I'm talking about the post at Voy.
Carol – I know they are awesome. We should really do something for them.
Michi – But what???
Carol – I'm not sure.
Michi – (snaps her fingers) I've got it.
Carol – Is it contagious? I've had all my shots.
Michi – (stares at Carol like she's insane.) I worry about you sometimes, but I was thinking of what we should do.
Carol – Oh, I'll listen.
Michi – We should post part 21 later today.
Carol – (quickly reads part 21 and hands Michi the part) Ummmm…Michi, are you sure about that?
Michi – (reads it over) Yeah, we'll just have to add another conversation at the end of it.
Carol – That ought to make a few of them happy.
Michi – And maybe it will get Gum and Shoe off our cases.
Carol – (whispering) I know, I think Shoe stole some of Pepsi.
Michi – (whispering) Gum took some of my chocolate.
Carol – Do you think they're up to something?
Michi - (looks over her shoulder) They might be.
Shoe and Gum – (walk over to Michi and Carol) Hello, Ladies.
Carol and Michi – Oh, dammit.