CHAPTER 15
A/N: Thanks to everyone that reviewed! Wow, I'm glad I still have such a great audience! Thank you!!
Anyway, this chapter is a little on the short side, but I wanted to get it up and I had some exams to study for today/tonight. Check back this weekend and I should have another chapter up. :o)
Enjoy, and leave me some more great reviews!!
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CHRISTMAS EVEJen placed the scissors on the coffee table and grabbed the scattered wrapping paper off the floor on her way to answer the door. "Hey," she greeted.
Maureen smiled and took off her coat. "Hi. Last minute wrapping?"
"Yeah." Jen tossed the scraps in the garbage can. "Figured I get to Roger's while he's still out shopping with Mark."
Maureen sat down on the couch and picked up a package of bows. "They're shopping? Now? And I thought I was a procrastinator!' she laughed.
Jen shrugged and placed a label on a papered box. "He said he forgot something. But anyway, how do you feel?"
"Not so hot, but better than I did this morning. I spent the whole morning in the bathroom. It was horrible. Like the stomach flu but multiplied by ten," she frowned. "To top it all off I still had to go to work because two of the other girls called out sick."
Jen walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She pulled out a can of ginger ale and grabbed a glass before walking into the living room and setting it in front of Maureen. "Drink some of that. It'll make you feel so much better. At least it did for me."
"Thanks. Maureen poured the can in the glass and took a sip. "I tried everything this morning and nothing worked. I would have tried some of this too but I didn't have any and didn't feel like running out to the store to get some."
"Have you thought about telling Mark?"
She shook her head and set the glass down on the table. "Not really. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I'm still trying to figure out a few things."
Jen nodded and cut some more wrapping paper off with her scissors. She didn't want to push Maureen to talk about something she didn't want to, especially a sensitive subject like this one was.
"Hi Mo!"
Abby had walked into the room and climbed on the couch next to Maureen, who had leaned over to give the toddler a hug.
"Hi sweetie," she answered. "Ready for Santa tomorrow?"
"You bet! I can't wait!"
Jen smiled and pulled at one of Abby's blonde pigtails. "Okay munchkin, I think it's bedtime. The Grinch was over half an hour ago."
"But Mom—"
"No way." Jen scooped up Abby and kissed the top of her forehead. "When Roger comes home he'll come in and say goodnight to you. But if you don't go to bed right now, I'm going to tell Santa to skip us and come back some other time!"
"Ooh Jen, you're mean!" Maureen teased.
"Yeah, you're mean Mom!" Abby stuck out her tongue and Jen started tickling her as she carried her into the bedroom.
The phone started ringing just as Jen got Abby tucked under the covers. "Mo, can you get that for me?"
"Yeah sure." Maureen leaned over and picked up the phone.
Jen turned back to Abby and kissed her forehead. "No getting up. At all. Until at least seven o'clock tomorrow morning. Or until you hear Roger get up. Agreed?"
"Uh huh. I promise." She yawned and closed her eyes briefly. "When's Roger Daddy gonna be home?"
"Soon I hope." Jen raised her eyebrow and stared back at her. "Roger Daddy?"
"Well I don't know what I'm supposed to call him, so I guess I'll call him Roger Daddy."
"Abby we talked about this at least five times already. You can call him Daddy, it's okay. I promise."
"Okay. Night Mommy."
Jen stood up and turned off the light. "Night baby."
Maureen looked up and bit her lip. "Jen?"
"Yeah?" She bent down to pick up the crayons that had rolled onto the floor, along with one of the pictures Abby had drawn that afternoon.
"It's the hospital—"
"Oh. My dad's on tonight?" Jen asked, confused. "Is everything okay? He usually doesn't call me from the hospital."
"Uh, no. It's—Roger. The paramedics brought Roger in about twenty minutes ago."
Jen stared at her and swallowed the lump that had just formed in her throat. "What? Is he okay? Oh my god."
"I don't know. Apparently Mark asked the charge nurse to get a hold of you. She said something about an accident and that you better get down there as soon as you can."
Jen threw on her coat and gloves. "Where's Mark at?"
"With him."
"Okay, Jesus, okay. What am I supposed to do with Abby?"
Maureen grabbed her arm in an attempt to calm her down. "Sweetie it's okay. I'll stay up here and watch her."
"Thank you so much. The last thing I want her to see is the person she practically idolizes in a fucking hospital bed on Christmas Eve."
"Call me and let me know what's going on. I'll stay here overnight if I have to." Maureen gave Jen a quick hug and pushed her towards the door.
"If you're not feeling up to it because---if you need any help, have Collins come up, okay? I don't want you to wear yourself out."
"I'll call Collins right now anyway and let him know what's going on. What about Roger's family?"
"I'll take care of it when I get there." Jen pulled the door open and paused to look back at Maureen. "You sure you're okay?"
"I'm feeling better. Just go, don't worry about me."
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Jen practically collided with person after person as she passed through the emergency room. It was crowded for the night before a major holiday, but when wasn't an ER crowded?
She hadn't tried to think too much on the subway, because she was afraid of what she would see when she ended up at the hospital. She tried not to think about the worst possible scenario, but in the back of her mind there was that nagging though that Roger might not be okay. Roger might be dead. Shut up, Jen. Just shut up and keep walking.
She paused briefly to have the admitting nurse direct her to the third double door trauma room at the end of the hall. She found Mark outside, sitting on one of the chairs.
"Mark what happened?" she asked, running over to him. "Is he okay?"
"He's alright. It was just a stupid fucking accident. Wrong place, wrong time kind of deal," he blurted out.
"What?"
"We went shopping and got something to eat, but after that Roger decided that he needed to get his paycheck from the bar and then talk to Wes. So we get there and Roger gets his check and then some kind of fight breaks out. We tried to get out but then one of the guys that started the fight just started shooting, and he got a few random people, including Roger. It was so crowded in there that I lost him for a second and didn't notice that he was hurt until he slumped against the wall near the door."
Jen pressed her hand to her mouth. "How bad is it?"
"It's not too bad. Your dad came down here and looked at it before and he booked him for surgery. Actually, he probably should be back down in about ten minutes to take him up because they were backed up or whatever. The bullet hit his right shoulder, so he won't be playing guitar for a while. Won't be lifting much of anything. But your dad said that once the wound heals he could get him into physical therapy a few days a week until he gets the strength back in it."
"Okay." Jen let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god he's okay."
"Yeah. He's gonna have to spend Christmas day in the hospital though. They probably won't release him until the 27th."
"Dammit. He's going to hate that, and I know Abby really wanted him around for Christmas."
Mark nodded and smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, speaking of, where did you leave her?"
"With Maureen. She came by before the hospital called."
"Oh." Mark processed this and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Is she okay? She seems kind of sick lately."
Jen bit her lip and shrugged. "Yeah, I'm sure she's fine. Probably just a cold or the flu," she lied.
Great, now she was lying to people. The last person she wanted to lie to was Mark, but she couldn't force Maureen to tell him about the baby. Not until she was ready to, and Jen certainly wasn't going to be the one to share that news with him.
"I guess I'll bring her something to eat later tonight then."
"Yeah, maybe you should." She looked in the trauma room. Roger was sitting up, and she could tell just by the look on his face that he was uncomfortable. "I better get in there and see how he's doing."
"Yeah," Mark agreed. "Listen, I might as well check up on Maureen and keep her some company while she watches Abby. But if you need anything else, than call me, okay? I have Roger's cell phone with me."
Jen nodded and hugged him. "Thanks Marky. I will."
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