Disclaimer- See chapter 1.

Bringing Up Memories

Chapter 3- The Past

Jesse stood looking around the cafeteria, trying to find an empty table that he could eat and study at. It was his first day of medical school and he had dedicated himself to being the best doctor that he could possibly be. Maybe then his mother would be pleased.

"Hey, Travis!" a voice called. Jesse looked over to see where the voice had come from and he saw a table full of kids that he recognized from one of his classes. The one who called him, Ian Ritodowski, had been his partner in a "getting to know each other" exercise that had been thought up by one of their professors. "Come sit over here."

Jesse walked over and Ian introduced him to the other four people at the table: Nick Murphy, Annie Johnson, Paige Sullivan, and Maggie Montgomery.

"It was cruel to give us a pop quiz on the first day of class," Nick complained, nodding towards a paper with lots of red marks on it.

"I think it was smart. Now when this course is over we can look back to see how much we've learned." Jesse said.

"I agree," Maggie said, flashing Jesse a tooth-paste ad smile. She was the shiest one of the bunch. She was reluctant to share her thoughts, but anyone who evaluated the progress of her medical skills could tell that she was going to be an amazing doctor. Jesse was fascinated with this girl who could argue the points of a discussion for hours in class, but was almost always silent otherwise.

One afternoon Jesse found himself walking to class beside Maggie. He looked over at her and she smiled.

"Maggie, I was wondering if, maybe, you'd like to go out for dinner sometime," Jesse said, looking at his shoes. Maggie didn't answer right away, so Jesse looked up at her. She was giving him another smile.

"I would love to, Jesse," she said. He returned her smile, and stepped aside, holding the classroom door open for her.

Later that evening, Jesse stood outside the door to Maggie and Annie's apartment. He rang the doorbell, and Annie answered, wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt. "Oh, I thought you were the pizza guy," she said with a grin. Then she turned and shouted for Maggie.

"I'll be right there," Maggie said from a bedroom.

"She'll be right here," Annie said, turning back to Jesse and pointing him towards the couch. He sat down and looked around. A photograph above the desk immediately caught his attention, probably because Jesse had the same picture hanging above his own desk. It was a picture of him, Ian, Nick, Annie, Paige, and Maggie, all wearing lab coats embroidered with the phrase "Future M.D." Behind them was a banner drawn on toilet paper with a Sharpie marker, which read "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize." Jesse smiled as he remembered that evening.

A few minutes later, Maggie came out. She was wearing a black dress, and her hair was flowing freely down her back. Jesse had never seen it that way, as Maggie always tied it back for class. And she had removed her glasses, replacing them with contacts.

"Hi," she said with a smile.

"Hi," Jesse returned, handing her a bouquet of flowers. This was just the first of many dates.

When it was just the two of them Maggie began to open up to Jesse more and more. And he was falling more and more in love with her. He found himself bringing her flowers all the time, and took her out to dinner (modest home cooking by Chez Traveez), most nights. They still went out with their other friends, but now they found excuses to wander off on their own.

.

Three months after their first date, Maggie's parents invited them out to their ranch in Texas for Christmas. The night before their flight out, Jesse and Maggie joined everyone else for a Christmas parade they were all to be elves on a Santa Claus float. Jesse donned his elf hat, grinning at Maggie, and making the pointed ears wiggle.

At the end of the parade route, after they had given out every last candy cane on the float, Jesse pulled Maggie aside. They were standing near a large plastic igloo, with mechanical penguins spinning around them. A machine was blowing fake snow up in the air. Jesse held Maggie's hand and got down next to her on one knee.

"Maggie, three months ago, you captivated me with your smile. And then you let me see the real you, and I fell in love. I know that three months isn't a very long time, but I want to ask you to be my bride. Maggie Montgomery, will you marry me?"

Maggie had tears in her eyes as she whispered 'yes.' Jesse slid a ring onto her finger and she held it with her other hand.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, slipping her arms around him. "I love you too."

Maggie's parents shared their joy, and helped them arrange a simple wedding at the ranch the next February. Ian Ritodowski was Jesse's best man, and Paige, Nick, and Annie were also at the Valentine's Day wedding.

Back in L.A., Jesse and Maggie found themselves a tiny apartment, which consisted of one tiny bedroom, a cubicle-sized kitchen connected to a miniscule living room, and the bathroom. The shower stall was about as big as a casket, and the kitchen table folded out of the wall to save space, but they didn't complain. Their love made it seem like a mansion.

.

May 17, 1992 Jesse glanced over at Maggie, who was asleep beside him. Then he looked back to his alarm clock. It read 2:56 a.m. Jesse sighed. He found it very hard to sleep, knowing that it could happen any second. Fifteen minutes later he was shook awake by his wife.

Twenty minutes later, Maggie and Jesse were at the hospital. At 8:00 sharp, Maggie gave birth to a baby girl, whom they called Carley Anne.

"She's perfect," Maggie whispered when she and Jesse were alone. The doctor had ordered her to get some rest, and a nurse had taken Carley to the nursery. Jesse had pulled a chair over to the side of the bed. Maggie scooted over to the other side of the bed, and patted the sheets beside her. Jesse climbed up and sat down nest to her, and they both fell asleep, elated about the baby girl that they had just brought into the world.

Two days later, Annie, Nick, Paige, and Ian crowded into the hospital room to see Baby Carley. She had inherited her mother's red curls, and her father's smile. Maggie showed her friends all of Carley's perfect little fingers and toes, each of which had a tiny little fingernail.

"She's perfect," Ian said with a smile, looking down at the baby in Paige's arms. Jesse hovered around whomever was holding Carley, watching his baby like a hawk.

"You know, Maggie, I don't know how you two can stand it in that tiny apartment," Nick said. "I helped Jesse put up the crib this morning, and now you can't walk around the left side of your bed."

"I know. I'll have to climb over to get to the closet," she said with a smile. "Paige, you'd better give Carley over to Jesse before he has a heart attack."

Laughter rang around the small room, as Paige handed the baby to her father. Jesse grinned and sat down in a chair next to Maggie.

"Don't you all have class?" she asked, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Yes, we do," Nick said, kissing her cheek. "Time to go, Jesse."

"Aw, do I have ta go to school today?" Jesse said in a baby voice. "I want to stay home and play."

"You can come back later, Honey, after your final exam," Maggie said with a smile. "Now let me have the baby."

"You just want her to yourself," Jesse said with a grin.

"You've got that right," Maggie said, kissing her husband. "I love you." Jesse turned and followed the others out, glancing back at his wife and daughter. Life, for him, was perfect.

While Maggie and Jesse were at school, their neighbor, Mrs. Lewis watched Carley. She was a retired home daycare provider, and a happy volunteer to keep the baby.

As she grew, Carley knew all of her parent's friends, calling them her aunts and uncles. At two years old, she loved to have them come over for a 'study party' with her parents, although her participation was barred to watching a Barney video in the living room.

.

Carley's third birthday dawned bright and clear. Jesse and Maggie had finally broke down and found themselves a bigger apartment. Now it was decorated for Carley's 'Wizard of Oz' birthday party. Blue and white crepe paper hung from the ceiling, and Maggie had made a cake with a small plastic 'Dorothy' toy on top. Jesse had made a yellow brick road by sponging bricks on a roll of paper like doctors use on their exam tables.

There was only one problem, and that was Jesse's classes. Carley's new babysitter had not been able to watch her the week before, so Jesse had to miss a very important exam. The only day that he could make it up was Carley's birthday.

"Good morning, Daddy," Carley said, as Jesse leaned over her bed to give her a kiss.

"Morning, baby. I didn't want to wake you up," Jesse said with a smile.

"Well, now I'm up! And it's my birthday!" the girl said, bouncing on the bed.

"Yes it is, Sweet girl. Listen, Daddy has to go to school and take a test now."

"Will you be home in time for my party?" Carley asked. She had stopped bouncing and climbed onto her father's lap.

"Of course I will. Now, Birthday girl, Mumma made you breakfast," Jesse stood up and carried Carley into the kitchen.

"There's a yellow-brick road in our house," she said, giggling with joy. Jesse handed Carley to his mother and gathered his books.

"I'll be back later," he said to Maggie, kissing her. He bent over his daughter and kissed the top of her head. She turned and stood on her chair, hugging her father's neck, and leaving a wet, sticky kiss on his cheek. "I love my girls," Jesse said just before he closed the door, watching Maggie as she wiped Carley's face and listened to the girl's endless chatter.

On his way home, Jesse picked up three helium balloons, each of which said "Happy Birthday!" on its side. When he pulled into his parking spot, an ambulance was pulling away from the building. Panic set in on Jesse, and he dashed up the stairs to his apartment, hoping that he would find his girls exactly as he left them.

The door to his apartment was open. Annie and Paige were sitting on the couch, tears in their eyes, looking away from the dining room. Nick was standing nearby, his head leaning on his arm, which was resting on top of the TV hutch. Jesse's heart leaped when he saw the blood on the dining room rug.

"What happened?" he yelled.

"Mr. Travis, I'm Detective Claire Van Sickle, from the L.A.P.D. Your wife and daughter have been shot. They are on their way to Community General Hospital."

Jesse didn't hear anything else, he just jumped into his secondhand car and sped all the way to the hospital. There, he was sent to the waiting room. He had been informed that Maggie was going into surgery when he arrived. They hadn't said anything about Carley, and Jesse didn't know whether to take that as a good sign or a bad sign.

The tiles on the floor were almost abraded from the path that Jesse was pacing. Nick, Annie, and Paige wanted to help him, but there was nothing they could say or do to get him to sit down. Inside, they were each wondering what had happened to Ian Ritodowski, for he never showed up for Carley's party.

Three hours after he arrived at the hospital, a doctor finally cane over to Jesse. He introduced himself as Dr. Jack Stewart.

"I'm sorry," he said, "But we lost them."

Jesse leaned against the wall and sunk down until he was hugging his knees. He put his head down, crying too hard to look up at anyone.

Dr. Stewart looked around, unsure. He never knew how to comfort with the grieving families. Annie got on her knees, and put her arms around Jesse. Her eyes were filled with tears. She had never imagined losing her childhood best friend. To a cold-blooded killer.

Paige was crying steadily in her seat and Nick put an arm around her shoulders.

"Detective Van Sickle arrested Ian Ritodowski," Jesse said to his friends.

"Your best friend? What was his motive?" Amanda queried.

"He was jealous of me," Jesse said, looking down. "He snapped and killed Maggie and Carley."

"Did he ever confess?" Mark asked.

"No, but Detective Van Sickle showed me all kinds of evidence against him."

"What happened?"

"He was convicted, and sent to jail. I took all the stuff from the apartment and put it in a storage shed so I could start over. I got a new apartment, new furniture, and, in December when I came to Community General, I got new friends."

"Did you say Claire Van Sickle?" Steve asked. Jesse nodded.

"Is she the one who tried to prosecute Mark for killing Ernie Pitt?" Amanda asked.

"Yes she is," Mark answered. Then her turned back to Steve. "What are you thinking, Son?"

"Maybe I should give Claire a call and find out the specifics of the case."

"Can you do that?" Susan asked.

"Sure. Van Sickle owes me a few favors," Steve replied.

"I could tell you what I know. I even have a case file lying around somewhere," Jesse offered.

"Jesse, there's no reason that you should have to relive this over and over again," Amanda said softly.

"If it means putting the man who killed my daughter back behind bars, I'll do anything."

"Maybe we should call it a night," Amanda said. "We can talk some more tomorrow." She put a hand on Jesse's shoulder. "Try to get some sleep, okay?"

Jesse nodded to Amanda and gave her a small smile. She went out in the storm and ran to her car.

"Amanda has to get back to her kids, but you two are welcome to spend the night here if you want," Mark said. "It's storming pretty badly."

"Thanks, Mark, that would be great," Susan said. She went to help Mark make up the guest bed, and Steve went downstairs. Mark brought Jesse a glass of milk, which he and Susan had slipped a sleeping pill into. They felt guilty doing it, but Jesse needed a good night's sleep before he talked any more about Maggie and Carley.