A/N: Wow, over 200 reviews! Thank you guys so much, you all are wonderful! Thank you for sticking with me this long. It means so much to me. 333
There's some chaos in this chapter, and as Kelby would put it: all hell breaks loose, sort of.
* * * *
Maureen took off her coat as she walked into Mark's apartment. Considering it was the start of Thanksgiving weekend, she expected it to be cold, but not this damn cold. "Hello?" she called out, setting her purse on the table.
"In here," Jackie yelled over. Maureen followed her voice into Jackie and Mark's bedroom.
"Hey sweetie. How are you?"
Jackie shrugged and looked up from her laptop, which was resting on her small belly. Although she was almost nine months pregnant, she only had gained close to twenty pounds, and pretty much only in her stomach. The rest of her body had remained slim, partially because she had been conned into going to the gym with Harvey and Maureen. "Feeling kind of crummy, you?"
Maureen sat down on the edge of the bed and grabbed a pillow, hugging it to her. "Okay. Mark's not back yet?"
"Nope. His mom was having him over for dinner because of Cindy's new baby. I was supposed to go with him but I haven't been feeling that great so I figured I'd be better off laying around my own apartment instead of someone else's house."
Maureen nodded. "What did Cindy and Adam end up naming her?"
"Victoria Megan."
"That's sort of pretty."
Jackie nodded and shut off her laptop. "Yeah." She placed it on the side of the bed and sat up. "So did you have a goodtime last night?"
Maureen smiled. "Yup, I sure did. That was definitely the best birthday celebration I've had in a few years. Roger got wasted, Mimi got pissed at him for it, Collins and Dan were hilarious. I had a good time."
"I'm glad. It was fun." Jackie smiled at her before swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Now I've gotta piss. Give me a few minutes and we'll continue the conversation after the little man stops pressing on my bladder."
"No problem. I'll find a movie we can watch. We can make it a mini girls night, except Mimi and Roger aren't back from Lori and Wes' yet."
"What the hell, we can hang out ourselves."
Maureen dug around in the cabinet, looking for a few movies. She even popped a huge bowl of popcorn and gotten two glasses of soda and set them out on the coffee table in the living room.
"Jac I have popcorn! Did you fall in or something?" she joked, walking over to the bathroom. She knocked on the door. "Jackie?"
"Maureen, something's wrong," she said softly. Maureen didn't even have to see her to sense the panic that was edging onto her voice. "Something's really wrong."
"What? What's wrong?"
"I don't know. I'm bleeding. Like that time of the month bleeding. And I know that's not supposed to happen at all."
Maureen opened the bathroom door. Jackie was resting against the edge of the sink and her one hand was gripping the edge of it. Her face was streaked with tears and she looked up at Maureen with a helpless expression on her face.
"Sweetie, I need you to calm down for me. Take a deep breath," Maureen said to her. "I'm going to drive you to the hospital and we'll figure out what's going on, okay?"
Jackie nodded and followed her out into the living room. Maureen handed her jacket to her and she slipped it on slowly. "I don't know the number to Mark's parents house. And Roger's not home."
Maureen nodded. "That's okay. I don't want you to worry about anything right now. Let me just get you to the hospital and I'll try tracking down Mark. I'll have Collins help me. Roger's sister might have a shift tonight. You'll be fine."
"That's not making me feel any better."
"I know, I'm sorry," Maureen added. She led Jackie out of the apartment and helped her down the stairs. She unlocked her car and made sure Jackie was comfortably sitting in the front seat. She backed the car out and headed down the street before pulling out her cell phone. She made a few phone calls, all the while keeping her eye on Jackie and on the road.
"Now I'm getting cramps. Maureen this isn't right. Are we almost there?" Jackie asked. She was starting to panic again. "It's too late for me to have a miscarriage, I'm almost full term. What the hell is going on?"
Maureen looked over and made another turn. "We're almost there. Just keep calm. I called Harvey and he's leaving rehearsal right now. He'll meet us there as soon as he can get on the subway."
"He left in the middle of class? But that ballet is opening next weekend, he can't do that," she replied miserably.
"Jac honey, he cares about you more than he ever could about some ballet. You know that right? I got Collins and Dan's answering machine, so I left a message and told them to meet us here when they could."
"But no Mark."
Maureen sighed and shook her head as she pulled into the parking spaces reserved for emergencies. "No Mark. But if Lindsey's on tonight she'll know the numbers to Mark's parent's house. Or she'll call her mom who will call Mrs. Cohen. So he'll be here soon too."
Maureen wrapped her arm around Jackie's waist and helped her into the emergency room. She found a seat for her and helped her sit down before she started to raise hell with the charge nurse at admit. It must have worked, because the next thing Jackie knew, an orderly was helping her into a wheelchair and heading with her into the nearest trauma room.
"Maureen! What the hell is going on?" Lindsey Davis had just come out of a nearby exam room and spotted her heading for the trauma rooms. She jogged over to her, adjusting her stethoscope over her nursing scrubs. "Oh god, it's Roger isn't it? It's Roger?"
Maureen shook her head. "No, it's not Roger. Roger's out with Mimi at his friend's apartment. It's Jackie, Mark's girlfriend. She started bleeding before so I brought her here. She's almost nine months pregnant."
Lindsey pulled her light brown hair back into a low ponytail and headed towards the trauma room side by side with Maureen. "How much bleeding?"
"Like--bleeding."
"Shit." Lindsey pushed the doors open. "Hey Jackie."
"Hey," she answered softly. She had already changed into a gown and was hooked up to an IV and various monitors, including a fetal one.
"Beth, I've got this one. She's my brother's best friend's girlfriend."
The other nurse nodded and left. "I'll just cover your other charts."
"Alright thanks," Lindsey added. "So what's going on Jackie?"
"There's just a lot of blood. And it's gotten heavier than before we left."
"Okay. I'm gonna do an ultrasound and we already paged your OBGYN. We'll run some labs and check a few things out."
Jackie nodded. "Can you try to get a hold of Mark? He's at his mom's house and I don't have the number."
"I'm getting everyone cell phones and pagers for Christmas," Maureen added, trying to lighten the mood.
"Good idea," Lindsey smiled at her. She looked over at the fetal monitor as she started the ultrasound. "His heart rate's a little on the low side."
"Is that bad?" Jackie asked, looking over at the screen.
"It means we're just going to keep an eye on it and see if it jumps up a few numbers. Nothing big to worry about right now, but we'll monitor it."
"Okay." Jackie relaxed a little against the pillows.
Jackie's doctor walked in just as Lindsey finished up the ultrasound and took over.
"I'll see you in a little bit, okay Jackie?"
Jackie nodded as Dr. Chesek started her exam. Lindsey pulled off her gloves and tossed them into the trash and motioned for Maureen to follow her out of the room.
"So? How is she?"
Lindsey bit her lip. "She's stable for now. She's losing a lot of blood and the baby's already in the beginning stages of fetal distress."
"She's going to be okay, right?"
"I won't know much of anything until the labs come back and the doctor finishes up the exam. But what it's looking like right now is a placental abruption, and not just a minor one. Basically the placenta serves the purpose of getting all the nutrients to the baby throughout the pregnancy and after a woman delivers a baby, it's passed out after. But in Jackie's case, the placenta is already detaching from the uterine wall. That's what's causing the bleeding, because the body thinks that the pregnancy is over, but it really isn't."
Maureen's face paled a little at this. "Holy shit. So if the placenta comes out, then won't the baby—" She couldn't even bring herself to say it.
"Which is why we're going to prevent any of that from happening. She's already going to need a blood transfusion, and after the exam I'm going to find out from the doctor whether or not the baby's going to need to be delivered a few weeks early. If it were minor bleeding, we'd stabilize her and send her home on bed rest. But since it's not, most likely she's going to either need to deliver now—normally or by c-section."
"Which one is better?"
"If the baby's stats keep dropping like they are now, they'll prep her for an emergency c-section."
"Jesus Christ, we need to track down Mark," Maureen stated.
"I'm going to go to the desk and make the call and find him on my way to pick up the labs. Do you have her family's numbers in Sydney?"
"No. I don't even have Mark's parent's number."
Lindsey nodded. "Ask Jackie if she wants us to call her parents."
"Okay I will. And don't have Mark bring his mother here. Just tell him to excuse himself without any huge family drama," Maureen said seriously.
Lindsey smirked at this. "No problem."
* * * *
Harvey practically tripped over a gurney as he tore down the corridor. He pulled off his scarf and turned the corner, pausing the exam rooms leading up the major trauma rooms. He found Maureen sitting off to the side, drinking a cup of coffee and staring at the floor.
"Hey," he greeted her. He could tell she had been crying, although she attempted to put on a brave face when she saw him.
Maureen stood up and wrapped her arms around his back, pressing her tear-streaked face into his shoulder. "This is so fucking unfair."
He kissed the top of her head. "What did her doctor say? How is she?"
"She's hanging in there." Maureen gave him all the details. "She's bleeding out pretty bad, but they want to see if her blood is going to clot with the medication they're giving her. Which it's obviously fucking not! And they're risking so much with her just sitting there slowly bleeding to death when they can just give her a c-section and get the baby out. And where the fuck is Mark? She's been asking for him and he's still not fucking here! I can't find Collins or Dan, and I gave up on Roger and Mimi a long fucking time ago," she said angrily.
"Hey hey, none of that, okay? The doctors know what they're doing. And Mark will be here soon, I hope. So just stop crying, okay? I'm gonna go in to see her."
Maureen nodded and pulled away from him. "Okay," she sniffled, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.
As Harvey went it, Roger came strolling down the hall hurriedly. He was hand in hand with Mimi and they both were searching for the trauma room. Roger turned the same corner Harvey had moments before and almost collided with his sister, who was walking in the other direction.
"Hey!" Lindsey greeted.
Roger dropped Mimi's hand and gave her a hug. "Hey, is everything okay with Jackie. What's going on?" He linked his hand through Mimi's again and pulled her closer to him.
Lindsey quickly explained and pointed in the direction of Jackie's room. "Mark should be here any minute. I got a hold of him at his mom's house."
"He's not gonna bring the entourage, is he?" Roger asked, referring to Mark's family.
Lindsey shook her head. "Nah, I told him not to. Whether he listens or not is another story."
"Mark's a softie around his mother so that's gonna get us all real far," Roger muttered sarcastically.
Mimi rested her head against his arm. "Let's just go see how she is?"
"Yeah you're right. I'll see ya later Linds. Have fun playing doctor and nurse," he grinned, giving her the thumbs up.
"You're a shitface."
"But you love me," he reminded her.
"Bye Mimi," she smiled before walking down the hall and disappearing.
* * * *
"Roger."
Lindsey slipped out of the trauma room and into the hall. Maureen and Mimi were in with Jackie, sitting on her bed and talking to her. Harvey had made a run to the cafeteria to get coffee to everyone. Collins and Dan were still MIA, along with Mark.
Roger looked up at her. "Yeah?"
"We might have to prep her for a c-section. She's losing too much blood and the baby's in distress. Do you have any idea where Mark is?"
"Fuck." Roger ran his hand through his hair. "No. He might be stuck in traffic on the parkway."
"Okay. I hope he gets here within the next five minutes because I don't think he'd want to miss him son being born," she added softly. "But I got the okay for Maureen to be in the operating room with her as a standby in case Mark doesn't get here on time."
Roger smirked at this. "The ex girlfriend and the girlfriend. Interesting."
Lindsey nodded and sat down next to him. "Yeah. Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah sure."
"How long have you been positive?"
Roger stared at her. The question had caught him off guard. He wasn't expecting it. "How did you know?"
"Remember that one weekend you came up? And you had left those pills in the bathroom and I gave them back to you? I read the label, Roger. I'm not stupid, I'm a nurse. I just sort of have been wondering since then."
"About three years," he answered slowly. "After—"
"Your girlfriend, right?"
"Yeah," he nodded again. "After her."
"Okay. You're still taking your pills right?"
"Yeah I am."
"Okay good." She stood up again. "And don't worry, I'm not going to tell Mom. That's a conversation you should have with her on your own."
"Thanks," he said, giving her a smile. Her last statement reminded him of their years growing up in Scarsdale. Whenever Roger did something that could potentially get him in trouble with their parents and tried to keep it a secret, Lindsey would never tell. Ever. And she still was that way. He had always been able to trust her with anything and know that she would never tell anyone unless he wanted her to, and even then she was hesitant about it. "I love you Linds, you know that right?"
"Yeah I do. I love you too." She kissed him on the cheek as she stood up again. "I've gotta get back in there."
"Where's your car parked?"
"Section E5, second level of the parking deck. Why?"
"Just give me your keys. I'm gonna go and see if I can find Mark."
"They're in the lounge. Just um—damn, here." She took off her ID badge and handed it to him. "If anyone asks what you're up to, just show them that and tell them you're my brother. My purse is in the first cubicle on the left."
Roger tried to remember everything. "Alright, I think I got it." He took off down the hall.
Lindsey reentered the trauma room and started checking the monitors. As she had figured, the baby's heart rate had dropped and so had Jackie's stats. Although she was sitting up in the bed talking to Maureen and Mimi, she was very pale. "How do you feel Jac?"
"Mmm not that great. I'm feeling kind of dizzy," she added.
"Okay." Lindsey adjusted Jackie's IV and checked a few things. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to kick both of you out."
Maureen nodded and squeezed Jackie's hand. "We'll be right outside."
"Yeah," Mimi agreed. "Just holler if you need anything."
"Thanks," Jackie replied weakly. "So what's the story? Really."
Lindsey sat down on the edge of the bed. "It's not good."
"I kind of figured that. How bad is it?"
"If the baby's stats don't peak in five minutes we're prepping you for an emergency c-section."
"Great." She slumped against the pillows. "And Mark is nowhere to be found."
"I'm sorry about that. But if it makes you feel any better, Roger is out looking for him right now."
"Yeah."
An alarm started beeping on the monitors and Lindsey looked over. Jackie's heartbeat had slowed considerably. "Shit," she cursed under her breath. "Jac how do you feel?"
"Really dizzy."
Lindsey pressed the emergency call button on the wall. "Lay back down and keep talking to me."
"Uh huh."
"What's your favorite color?"
It took Jackie a second to respond. "Silver." She closed her eyes and Lindsey shook her awake.
"You can't go to sleep. Not yet. Stay awake for me."
"I can't."
Jackie's doctor rushed in along with another two nurses. "We're cleared, let's go."
"What? Cleared for what?" Jackie panicked.
Lindsey grabbed her two IVs and followed off to the side as they started wheeling the bed out of the room. "Jackie, your baby's heart rate has dropped again so we're taking you upstairs for the emergency c-section, do you understand? We have to stop the bleeding."
Jackie shook her head. "Not without Mark. Not without him, okay! You have to wait until he gets here!"
Maureen, Harvey, and Mimi stood up when they saw Jackie coming out. "Does anyone want to tell us what the hell is going on?" Mimi demanded.
"This baby needs to come out now," Dr. Chesek answered her. "Meet us upstairs in surgery."
Maureen released Harvey's hand and dragged Mimi to the stairs.
Jackie reached her hand over to the side. "I said not without Mark, goddammit! What part of that don't you people understand! I can't do this without him!" She looked over at Harvey. He grasped onto her hand.
"We're gonna find him for you, okay Jac? Jac, can you hear me?" Jackie had slipped into unconsciousness, her hand limp in his own.
"Jackie," Harvey said louder. "Come on Jac, wake up, don't do this," he begged her.
"Sir, we'll need you to step back—"
"What the hell is going on with her?" he shouted angrily as they wheeled Jackie out of the elevator.
"She lost so much blood that she passed out. We'll set her up for a transfusion in the operating room," Lindsey answered quickly for him as they jogged next to the gurney.
Roger sprinted down the parking lot and slammed straight into Mark, almost knocking his glasses to the floor. "God, you stupid fucker! Where have you been!" he shouted at him, steadying his balance.
"The fucking traffic on the parkway! It's snowing like hell out there and there were accidents all over the place!" he shot back at him. "Where is she? What's going on with Jackie and the baby?"
"It's not good Mark. They have to do an emergency c section because she's losing too much blood."
Mark started panicking as they hurried down the hall. "What?! When the hell did this happen? She was fine this afternoon when I left!"
Roger explained to him what both the doctor and his sister had told him about the placenta. "They have to take her up. They're both in trouble if they don't."
"You're just making me feel a whole lot better, you shit!" Mark hollered at him.
"Hey! What the fuck are you yelling at me for!" Roger said. They flew up the five flights of stairs and Roger held the door open at the top.
"Roger, Mark!" Harvey yelled out, waving them over. He tossed Mark a surgical gown. "Just get in there."
* * * *
Roger's sister greeted Mark automatically. "Hey." She pulled over a chair near Jackie's head. "She's out of it right now, but she's been asking for you for the two hours she's been here."
"How is she?" He sat down and slipped his hand through Jackie's pale one and started stroking her hair with his other.
"She'll be a hell of a lot better when we get her to stop bleeding and we get the baby out."
"He's okay to come out now, right?"
Lindsey nodded and pulled her mask down over her face. "Yeah. He's almost 37 weeks. It's fine."
Mark kissed Jackie's forehead. "Hey. Jac, can you hear me?"
She groggily opened her eyes and turned her head to this side. "You're here," she whispered hoarsely. "About damn time."
Mark smiled and squeezed her hand. "Wouldn't want to miss this show for anything, would I?"
"Nah. I knew you'd be here," she smiled sleepily.
"Liar."
"True," she closed her eyes again.
"One minute from skin to baby, people," Dr. Chesek called out as she started making her incision.
"What kept you so long?"
Mark stroked her cheek as he watched the doctors and nurses bustle around the operating room. "Damn traffic. It's snowing out. It caused a fucking pileup, I'm sorry."
"I'm glad you're here now."
"So am I," he said to her.
Dr. Chesek lifted the baby out and held it up so Mark and Jackie could see it. "It's a boy!" she called out to them before handing the baby over to Lindsey to get cleaned up.
"It's a boy Jac. Did you hear that?" Mark asked her. He kissed her and started stroking her hair.
"How's he look?" she whispered.
"He looks good, Jackie," Dr. Chesek answered. "You gave us quite a scare there, but the bleeding for the most part has stopped. And once we clean you up and move you to a post op room, you can hold him. But your boyfriend can hold him in a minute."
"Okay," she answered.
"You did good, Jac. I'm proud of you, you know that?"
"What for? Laying on a table while I'm doped up on something that's making me feel really woozy?" she laughed sarcastically.
"Yeah, that," he smiled before kissing her again.
"You're not getting another damn thing from me for Hannumas," she warned.
"Hannumas?"
"Hanukkah and Christmas put together."
"Oh right, it's another word you make up and only you know. I forget these things."
"Want to hold him, Daddy?" the doctor asked, placing the baby in Mark's arms.
Mark held the yawning baby and Jackie reached out for his tiny hand. "We need a name for him."
"I don't know. We'll think of something," she added. "Hey little man. You were being a little troublemaker already."
* * * *
Roger pulled Mimi onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. "Looks like things are okay."
"Thank god," she added, resting her head back against his chest. "What are you eating?"
"Turkey sandwich?" He broke it in half and handed one piece to her. "Hey we have to spend Thanksgiving Eve in the hospital. Might as well get a little festive." He opened his mouth wide and showed her the half chewed turkey bits.
"God Roger! That is so fucking disgusting!" she laughed with a disgusted look on her face. "Manners much?"
"Nope." He swallowed the food and kissed her neck. "That better?"
"I can't believe Collins and Dan missed the whole thing," Mimi giggled into his neck. "They're going to be so pissed that Jackie had the baby without them here."
"Yeah well, speaking of," he pointed down the hall. Collins and Dan were rushing down it like everyone else had a few hours before.
"What's going on? What'd we miss?" Dan asked frantically.
Mimi smiled at them. "You missed a few things here and there."
"Yeah?"
Roger slid Mimi off his lap and stood up. "I'm gonna go and get Jay. She'll tell you the story."
"Tell Lori I'll call her later," Mimi added. "And tell Wes I'm sorry that he got stuck with two babies."
"Payback's a bitch, what can I say. I told him if he wasn't nicer to me I was gonna make him baby sit," Roger smirked.
"So there's a story?"
Mimi laughed. "There definitely is. This is one Thanksgiving we're all going to remember."