By Didi
Disclaimer: Though the show has been cancelled, (damn those executives) I still cannot claim them as mine. And anyone that even thinks so would be laughed out of the courts. Don't sue; I'm not making any money out of this.
Timeline: Let's just assume this is after the last aired episode. But assume that Nick Kokoris and Rae Brennan are not together. I could not stand the two on the show so I refuse to write anything where they are together. Don't worry; I won't ignore their history already established as the back-story from the show.
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Extra long chapter, sorry about that. I couldn't seem to end it.
Summary: What would you do in the name of love?
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Chapter Five~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You have eight new messages."
Beep. "Jules, it's Jenna. It's currently 9:30 in the evening. I was hoping that you would be home by now. But given you're crazy schedule, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised that you're not. I need to talk to you. Call me when you get in."
Beep. "Julia, it's David. Please call me when you get in. We just received the analysis packet from the hospital. Jenna is in a bit of a panic and I don't know half of what's being said in this letter. If I can fax this to you for review, I'd be grateful. Please give us a ring when you get in. Thanks dear."
Beep. "Jules, it's your sister. Check your email. David just sent over the documents from the doctors at San Diego Children's Hospital. We thought scanning it would give you a lot more clarity. Please call us."
Beep. "It's me again. It's like midnight, where are you? Call me."
Beep. "Julia, it's David. Could you give Jenna and me a call when you get this? Thanks."
Beep. "Jules, it's currently 8:30 AM and I haven't heard from you yet. I just saw the news with my morning coffee, are you all right? I heard there was a terrible accident yesterday that flooded the hospitals up where you are. Call me when you get in."
Beep. "Julia, it's David. Currently it's nine in the morning. We're taking Kevin to the hospital now for the usual treatment. We'll be back hopefully be in an hour. Call us then."
Beep. "It's your sister again. It's almost eleven now and we're back from the hospital. Kevin's feeling pretty yucky so we're taking him the park for an hour. I know you're probably tired and the last think you want to do is look at more medical documents. But I really need your help, dear. Could you give me a ring when you get in. I've got the cell phone. Love you, and still off the coffee."
Jules took a deep breath and depressed the delete button. She was going to call her sister and brother-in-law back as soon as she got up enough energy to make more coherent noises than a caveman grunt. Setting her keys on to the dining room table, she dropped herself into a hardback chair and stared at the window across the room. Her body was protesting the overly long hours and sleepless night, not to mention the fact that she hadn't had any food since lunch yesterday. She glanced at her near-empty kitchen and whimpered.
She wanted lunch, she wanted her bed, she wanted twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep, she wanted a shower, she wanted to cry, she wanted to kill the drunk driver that managed to live while a total of eleven children, four newborns and a Lamaze instructor will never seen the sunrise again. How many lives are affected by one stupid senseless act? God, there were times when she wondered why she bothered; especially when she is constantly reminded of just how screwed up this world was.
She got up to attempt a shower just as the phone rang again. Too tired to want contact with the outside world, she ignored it and allowed the machine to pick up. Her sister did not need to hear from her when she's this down in the dumps.
"Hi, you've reach Julia. I'm doing something you don't want to know about and I don't want to be interrupted; let's leave it at that. Offer me a greeting and I'll get back to you once I'm free again. Bye." Beep!
"Dr. Keating, this is Janice from OB. We were supposed to have an appointment with Dr. Lenning five minutes ago. We've been trying to reach your through hospital intercom but you appeared to have left. We're going to try to page you next. If you can…"
Jules hand hit the phone and she cursed silently as she picked up the receiver. "Janice, it'd Keating. Sorry about that."
"That's okay," came the sympathetic reply. "I heard about last night. You must be exhausted."
"I am but this is important. Can you reschedule me for this afternoon?"
"Sure. 1:30, okay?"
"Perfect, it'll give me enough time to shower and eat."
"Then we'll see you at 1:30."
"Thanks, Janice," then hung up the phone.
It was going to be a long day.
~~~~
"What are you two still doing here?" Letty demanded with fists on her hips and a look of wholly disapproval on her face. Dr. Jordan was first a mother and then a doctor, a fact that never ceases to amuse her husband.
Slingerland and Kokoris both looked up from the chart they had been studying and gave Letty pathetically weak and guilty smiles. "We've got a case that needed to be looked at before we leave."
Shaking her head, Letty pointed to the clock, "Thirty hours and you're still here. Not a good thing guys. Plus the hospital is having a difficult enough time holding the press back, we don't need any more problems if one of you fall on your face during a procedure."
"That's not going to happen," Kokoris replied as he closed the chart. "Besides, I've been banned from the OR until I've had eight hours in a bed."
Because the situation properly demanded some levity, Slingerland grinned wickedly, "Whose bed?"
Nick didn't find it quite as amusing after longer hours and no sleep; and decided to give some back. "Preferable someone sweet and kind, and has a very good way with children." The return look of unholy amusement made the Greek doc practically ooze with sex appeal.
That cost Slingerland his amusement and then some when he spotted the inferred doctor coming toward them in the hall. And while she appeared as impeccable dressed as usual, there was an air of hurried exhaustion in every movement she made. Leaning to one side of Kokoris, "Jules! What are you still doing here?"
Coming to a skidding halt at having her name practically screamed out in the middle of the hallways, Dr. Keating lost her footing and fell forward. Only by the grace of her natural instinct did she manage to throw her arms forward in time to keep her nose from hitting the polish floor. Scrambling to her feet, she was nearly knocked over again by Slingerland and Kokoris who had both rushed to help her and skidded on the slippery floor. "Whoa there boys!" jumping back as both doctors try to keep their footing.
Glancing at the ground, Slingerland took to Norman, "Can we get maintenance up here and ask them what wax they decided to use on the floor? This is a lawsuit just waiting to happen."
"Not to mention a broken ankle," Letty commented as she came forward at a much subdued pace. "By the way, Jules, what are you doing here? I thought admin. sent you home hours ago."
"They did," Jules said with a weak laugh. She wanted her bed. Really, really, really wanted her bed. Plus she still hasn't gotten any food. "I'm here on a personal matter."
"Personal?" Matt asked, a frown wrinkling his brows. Having to deal with personal matters in hospital is never a good thing; even for a doctor. It usually involved some illness or other. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nosy," she replied with an easy smile. "It's personal, that's why I'm not sharing."
"Not your health, right?" Nick asked carefully.
"No," she stated firmly. "And I'm going to be late for my appointment if I don't hurry. See you guys around," she waved and took two steps before she paused again, "Matt, if you're not busy in say," glancing at her watch, "Half an hour, I need to talk to you about the little matter in X-40."
Startled, Matt blinked for a moment. "Oh! Right. All right, meet you in your office?"
"My office," she confirmed before taking off.
"X-40?" Letty asked, definitely intrigued.
"None of your business."
~~~~
"Pardon me, but could you tell me where Dr. Julia Kidding is?"
Anita looked up over the rim of her fire engine red glasses and stared for a moment at the gray haired matron with an air of perfume that was even over powering the stench of the extensive use of cleaning products the maintenance used to clean up last evenings harrowing experience. "You mean Dr. Keating?"
"Keating, did you say? Like in the playwright?" the hopeful smile stretching her perfectly lipstick stained mouth.
"Who?"
"Never mind, dear," she said gently and with a great deal of understanding in her eyes. "She's a neo specialist, about yea high and reddish brown hair. Quite a charming young thing."
Anita wondered for a moment if she should call psych. ward but decided that the woman was simply eccentric and not loony. "You're talking about Jules Keating."
"Yes, yes, I do believe that's what he called her. Jules, how positively delightful."
"Okaayyy…" Anita shook her head. "Dr. Keating is off today but I did see her go into her office earlier. Room 415. Is this business or personal maybe I can…"
The woman smiled, her dark eyes twinkling delightfully, "Personal, dear. Definitely personal. And don't bother yourself, I'll just pop in and say hi."
Anita decided that it was time to get a new job somewhere else. Pointing with her pencil, "That way."
"Thank you." Then slandered off.
Shaking her head, "Weird."
~~~~
Pulling out the baby blue binder on the shelf, Jules prepared herself for the upcoming interview and prayed silently that the recent injection of hormones isn't going to affect her the same way the last round of conditioning did. She cannot afford another month of erratic mood swings.
Flipping open the binder, she reviewed the final test results of her sperm donor, aka Matthew David Slingerland. With her A positive blood type and his B positive, they have a pretty good chance of producing a child with an AB positive blood type to match Kevin's. She was crossing her fingers and toes in hopes.
A small twinge of guilt still resided in her mind over her decision to have a child for, while a noble intent, a less than ideal of a reason. How was she supposed to explain to a child that they were brought into the world for the sole purpose of saving another child? How do you explain to anyone the difficulties of any kind of decision like this? Contrary to what she told Harriet, she was not sleeping well at night. Between doubt in this procedure, doubt in being able to carry a healthy child to term, fear that she may be too late, fear that there would be no match, fear that… just plain fear… she was not sleeping at all.
The knocking at the door jerked Jules out of her revere. With a sigh and squaring her shoulders for the battle ahead, "Come in."
Millicent entered the door in the same air that she does everything else, a fairy queen attending court. "Hello, dear. I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd drop on by and have a little chat." She looked around with wide disbelieving eyes. "My, what a… interesting office you have here."
If Dr. Keating had been so tired or so amused by the expression on the woman's face, she might have taken offense. "Thanks. My kids like it."
Blinking eyes the color of the tiger's eye stones on her necklace, "Kids? You have children?"
Not sure why she was finding this funny, Jules gurgled. "Not biological. My patients. I'm a pediatrician by trade."
"Oh," she smiled beautifully at the girl and took a seat. "We didn't really have much time to get to know each other on our last meeting, you being in such a hurry and all."
For a moment, Jules was confused. Then after thinking it over some more, she was even more confused. Why would Matt Slingerland's Mom want to get to know her better?
"But I'm here now," patting the table lightly with her fingers in a cheery manner. "Tell dear, how did you and Matthew meet?"
At sea, Jules answered automatically and honestly. "Here, at the hospital. We are both did our internships then residencies here."
"Yes, yes of course," Millicent clapped her fingertips together excitedly. "You must have had plenty of time to know each other then."
Surprised and little befuddled by this, "Well, yeah. I guess you can say that."
"You're friends, correct?"
She conceded that. "Yes, we're friends."
"And you trust him?"
That she had to laugh at. "Yeah, as strange as that may be, I do trust him though he's given me little enough reason to."
"And he trusts you?" Millicent asked quietly.
"I hope so."
Usually vague eyes sharpened suddenly. "That is why you ask him to father your children?" That threw Jules off enough for Millicent to recognize true shock on the young doctor's face. "Didn't you think his mother would know?"
"I… I didn't know he'd talk to anyone about… no wait," she winced and wanted to have Slingerland there so she could bop him on he head with her plastic blowup hammer with the squeaking head. "He told his father. And last night at the restaurant," everything come in together neatly now. "You asked about my first name cause Matt, big mouth that he is, probably accidentally mentioned my name though he swore that it wouldn't come up again." She nodded to herself, seeing the confirmation in the older woman's eyes. "Is Mr. Slingerland still upset over it?"
*Smart cookie,* Millicent couldn't help but admire. "It's been a contention point between the two. Matt insists on leaving it be, while George… George is insisting on being the business/financial advisor in this case."
"Can you explain that to me a little more?" Jules asked quietly, feeling bad for being the cause of problems between the father and son. "If there's something I can do to…"
"Oh no, dear. This really isn't about you. This about two very stubborn men in my life that refuses to back down from one another." She smiled quietly. "George hates to admit it but he's quite protective when it comes to his only son. You have to understand that while I quite accept that money is not everything, George does not. He did not come from money as I have; he made his the hard way. And George intents to have Matthew protected at all costs."
Jules understood that. "Family. Blood runs thicker than anything."
"Yes, the those two are more alike than either of them care to admit."
Nodding her head, "Okay. So, I repeat, what can I do to help ease the tension between them?"
Millicent accepted the offer. "You're Matthew's friend. Do him a favor and signed something that will release him from any financial, legal or even moral obligations to any child that should arise from Matthew's… gift. It will relieve his father's mind and Matthew will no longer needs to avoid answering questions from his father with smart remarks that only riles them both."
"Have Mr. Slingerland draw them up," Dr. Keating advised with unconscious ease of someone doing good. "You'll understand if I ask my attorney to look it over before I sign it of course."
"I would expect nothing less," picking up her purse from the floor by her feet. "My dear, when men are being bullheaded, we women must take charge of the situation. I'm glad that we can come to an amiable resolution to this." She turned to the door then turned back again with a small frown upon her forehead, "You suggested to him, didn't you?"
"Getting something legal signed to ease Mr. Slingerland's mind?" raising a brow. "Yeah. It seemed like a logical thing to do."
"But he refused?" Millicent asked, half smile on her face telling Jules that she already knew the answer. "Have unwavering faith in your word, does he?"
For some reason, Jules found that extremely funny. "Yeah."
"Strange how naïve Matthew can be sometimes. But you are a good girl," reaching over as she stood to pat Jules's hand. "I'm glad that it was you."
Standing with her, she smiled. "Thanks. I have to admit, I'm glad that Matt offered cause I was getting nowhere with the sperm banks. Some of the choices there left much to be desired."
"Well, beggars cannot be choosers dear," Millicent replied, reverting to the airy tone of a careless woman of means.
Because she was beginning to catch onto Millicent Slingerland's games, Jules said nothing more but nodded her head. Opening the door to her office, she was prepared to escort her guest out when Matthew Slingerland stumbled in, having been putting his weight forward to put a little energy behind the knock he was about to commence. For a woman accustomed to moving in a lazy snail's pace, Millicent was surprisingly nimble to jump out of the way. Jules was not so lucky and nearly got crushed as internist's weight unbalanced her and they both went to the ground.
"Twice in one day, not a good record to be holding," Dr. Keating muttered to herself as she pushed against Slingerland's side. "Get off, Matt."
"Sorry," Matt apologized with a yawn. "Much more coordinated when I've gotten sleep." Dusting himself off, he finally noticed the other occupant of the room. "Mother? What are you doing here?"
"Having a bit of chat with Dr. Keating," Millicent replied easily, reaching over to adjust her son's tie. "Did you have a good trip dear?"
He made a sore face at that terrible pun, "Mother, what are you…."
"Oh, look at the time," Millicent exclaimed with a great deal of fluttering. "I must be off now. Your father and I are meeting for a late lunch since he had to work through the lunch hour. We'll see you tonight for dinner, won't we dear?"
"I…"
"Of course we will," leaning over and kissing Matthew's cheek. "I'll see you soon, darling. And Dr. Keating, it was a pleasure to meet you again," shaking Jules's hand before sailing through the door. "I hope we meet again in the future."
"Like wise," Jules called after her and put a restraining hand on Slingerland's arm when the internist moved to follow his parent. "What are you going to do? Shake it out of her?" she tugged Matt into her office and shut the door before he could so much as utter a word otherwise. "Let it go."
For a moment, he simply stood there and stared at the door before the better part of him found his curiosity rearing its ugly head. "What did my mother want with you?"
"She wanted to say hi and make peace," she replied easily and changed her mind about what she wanted to talk to him about. "Sit down, I need to ask you something."
He approached the desk and took the seat his mother had just recently occupied with a lot more caution. "Make peace? Why would my mother…"
"Not make peace with me, you silly. Just make peace in general," she waved the confused look on his face away. "But never mind that, I have more important things to discuss with you than your mother's habits of dropping in unannounced."
"She use to do that to me during boarding school, college and medical school. Didn't go over very well with some of my female companions," Slingerland said shaking his head in fond and exasperated memories of those rather unusual times.
Throwing him a skewed look, Jules wisely decided not to ask. "I want to talk to you about your patient, the one sixteen year old with the heart problem."
"Charles O'Reilly."
"Charles," she repeated slowly, allowing the name to roll off her tongue for a moment. "A good solid name for what is likely to be a very lucky young man."
Slingerland raised one brow at her tone. "Explain please."
"All right," resting her arms on the desktop and putting her most professional face on. "I've been thinking a lot since I recklessly promised you and Nick that I'd find you stem cells to use on your patient. And the thought of approaching any of my patients for stem cells… well, it's a little unnerving to say the least."
"You're not going to do it," he concluded with a sigh. He couldn't really say that he was terribly surprised. It wasn't a job he'd look forward to either."
"I didn't say that," Jules replied softly. "I said that I didn't want to approach my patients for the stem cells. But I didn't say anything about myself."
That threw Matt off. "Excuse me?"
"Did you forget that I've got about a dozen frozen fertilized eggs in storage right now? Any one of those eggs could be defrosted and used to extract stems cells." She smiled, glad that she thought of this. *I'd be killing two birds with one very large and morally questionable stone.*
Blinking for a moment, "Hold the farm," he shook his head; sure that he must have heard it wrong somewhere along the way. "You want to use one of our eggs …"
"My," she corrected quickly. "One of my eggs."
His teeth snapped together audibly. There was fierceness in her eyes that he wasn't too sure he was comfortable with. "Fine, one of your eggs to extract stems cells for Charles?"
Nodding her head vigorously, glad that he hadn't argue the point about possession of the eggs, she smile widely. "Logical, isn't it?"
"Not the word I would have chosen," he replied honestly. Troubled, and more than a little uncomfortable, Slingerland stood and began to pace the length of the office. His preoccupied mind took in the various Loony Toons character with amused appreciation of her sense of the ridiculous while running through all the reasons why this little idea of hers should not be utilized. "Not sure if this is wise."
Surprised by his reply given his urgency and constant nagging, "Why?"
"Because this is our… your chance at a child that you're giving away. This is part of us… you and I don't want you to easily give that up," flustered and angry for no reason at all. "The administration would have a fit."
Jules smiled knowingly. Leaning back in her seat to watch him pace, she crossed her arms. "Not so easy when it involves your DNA, is it?"
He halted mid way cross to her bookshelf and turned to her. The smug, almost arrogant, expression on her face would have been annoying… if she wasn't a hundred and ten percent on the money. "You're not so cute when you're being so right."
The girl had the audacity to grin at him. "You think I'm cute?"
"I think you're a brat," he replied with a roll of his eyes then took a seat again. "Go home, Jules. I'll think about it some and get back to you tomorrow."
"No."
"No?"
She shook her head again. "I'm telling you out of professional and friendly courtesy. The decision is ultimately mine and it's already been made. Let's try to keep in mind whose eggs these are? And who has the legal rights to them." She wanted that firmly in his mind. No way in hell she was going to give him even the remotest chance of stopping what's already in motion.
He swallowed that with some difficulty. "So even were I to oppose this idea, you would go ahead and do so anyways?"
Nodding her head with some forged and some real regret, "I'd feel real bad about it but I would still do it. And how much would you like to bet that Nick would have no problems using stem cells from me? Or you for that matter if I were to make it a reality for you?"
Resentment started to boil up slowly, "Not that you're giving me much of a choice."
"Of course," she replied, not the least bit bothered by the fact that he looked like a man that would dearly love to put his hands around her throat and squeeze… hard. "That's why it doesn't always pay to be a do-gooder. We generally get out emotions and morals and other stuff trampled upon."
He grunted his reply and got up, acknowledging the truth of the matter but not quite ready to give up yet though why he was evening fighting it… "I'm heading home and to bed. We'll talk tomorrow when my head is less cloudy and you've had sleep." He offered his hand, noting the exhaustion in her eyes no matter that chirpy tone of her voice as she baited him, "By the way, I'm sorry about the twins."
She took the offered sympathy and that hand of concern, "You heard, huh?"
"Yeah, how old?"
"The twin?"
"Yeah."
"One was zero hours, D.O.A. And the other lasted six minutes and forty-eight seconds."
Matt almost winced as he guided her to the door, "Did they even stand a chance?"
"At twenty-one weeks? The chances would have been astronomical," she admitted reluctantly.
"You couldn't stop the labor?"
"Placenta had been dislodged. Harriet tried everything short of manually reaching in and reattaching the placenta. But the mother had been a bleeder, too weak to do a surgery. We're lucky she made it out of child birth at all." Though the young woman had looked ready to die with her children, conceived after months of fertility treatments, her miracle babies. The father had wept bitterly as well. Both had given a valiant effort at thanking Harriet and Jules trying their best, knowing that there was nothing either doctor could have done more. "Lord, what a day!"
"You're telling me," pulling the office door shut behind him. "Another day like this and I might think about taking my mother up on starting a private practice just to get away from this. If I have to tell one more mother that their child didn't make it out of surgery…" he didn't want to relive it. The screaming, the crying, the heart wrenching sobs, the accusations, the fury, the rage, the grief… it was so overwhelming at times. "Hey, did you have lunch yet?"
"Yes," she replied unconvincingly.
"What?"
"What are you? My mother?"
"What did you have?" he asked again with a no-nonsense manner.
"Yogurt."
"And?"
"And what?"
"JULES!"
"Don't yell at me," she ordered sharply.
"You've got to eat."
"And you've got to sleep."
"I will, as soon as my stomach stop reminding me that I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday."
"You're kidding?" recoiling from him in mock horror.
It made him feel better to see her this way, playfully sweet. "Come on, I'll buy you lunch."
Because she was feeling hungry and Harriet had warned her about eating healthy for the next ten months, "Not if its going to be cafeteria food."
"Heaven forbid," he gave a shudder and guided them both toward the elevator. "I know of this great French pastry shop that has light lunches. Want to go?"
"Sure."
"Great," ushering her into the elevator with a grin. "Then you can tell me what you and my mother chatted about earlier."
"MATT!"
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TBC….