"Are you sure, Uncle Rudy?" Robbie looked amazed, then grinned as Ramona groaned in mock disgust.
"He's got to be kidding!"
"I'm sorry, you two, but what you have is false labor. It happens. You probably may have another spell of it, but just in case I want to keep you in the hospital until tomorrow, okay?" Rudy Wells chuckled as the younger Simon laughed then apologized, seeing the face his wife made.
"I'm sorry, darling, I know you're not comfortable, but Mom promised to give you a back rub and I'll get you some pancakes, they always make you feel better."
"Promises, promises, oh, I'm sorry, Uncle Rudy, this Simon just wanted its own birthday I guess." Ramona smiled then reached up and hugged their friend.
"It's all right, my girl, now you just relax and I'll get Rick and Laurie, they've been chomping at the bit to see you." Rudy squeezed her hand, then left Robbie to commiserate with his wife.
In the visitors lobby Rudy was surprised to find only Laurie waiting, she sprung up immediately when she spotted him.
"How is she, Rudy, is she all right, have the contractions stopped?"
"Calm down, Missy, you're just as bad as your son." He took her hand and sat her down, at which she took a deep breath then laughed softly.
"Don't mind me, Rudy, I'm just an impatient Grandma, plus I just sent Rick off to meet A.J.: they're going to tear down that old courthouse this weekend and they have to pick up the last of their court files and turn them in."
"Well, I don't think he's going to miss anything. Ramona just had some false labor, but I already told Allen I want her to stay at least through tomorrow just to be sure." The older man added.
"Poor thing, I'll go in and give her a nice rub, that'll make her feel better." Laurie replied, then kissed Rudy on the cheek.
"If I haven't told you thanks for looking after us recently…"
"You just did, honey. Bless you." He hugged his surrogate niece then helped her up.
"You go take care of your daughter now, I'll let you know when Rick should come back."
As Laurie entered the maternity wing, Robbie came flying out of his wife's room, then spotted his mother.
"Mom, it's Ramona, her water just broke!"
"It's all right, Robbie, go get Rudy and I'll stay with her." Laurie caught his arm, then pointed him toward Dr. Allan's office. As her son rushed down the corridor, she went into her daughter-in-law's room and found a flushed Ramona trying to practice her breathing.
"I'm here, honey, do you want me to help you to the bathroom?" she asked sympathetically.
"No, Mom, Robbie got me there just in time. The pains are about three minutes apart, ooooh, here it comes!" Ramona gasped, then Laurie took her hand and helped her work through the contraction. Just then Rudy came in with Robby and a nurse.
"False labor, huh?" Ramona teased him, then laughed as their friend shook his head.
"All right, honey, you were right, guess this Simon wants out today! Okay, Robbie, you take her hand and let Sharon and I do the hard stuff." The nurse smiled as Ramona gasped "the hard stuff, oh you're funny!"
"Yeah, Uncle Rudy, I always knew you had a good sense of humor!" Robbie added, then sat down next to his wife and practiced puffing with her. As Laurie wiped her forehead off with a washcloth, she realized that Rick might miss his grandchild's birth, so she said, "I'll be right back, sweet, I'm going to call Rick to let him know, he'll be so upset if he's not here."
"Okay, Mom, I'm not going anywhere." The girl answered, concentrating on her breathing.
As Laurie left the room, she put her transmitter on then quietly called, "Rick, it's Laurie."
Across town, Rick had just put the last of their court cases into a box when his brother wheeled a small cart over.
"Is that the last of them?" A.J. asked, then breathed a sigh when Rick nodded.
"Yeah, thank God. I didn't realize how many of these things we filled up, especially the cold case box. Come on, there's not much air in here and I don't want to greet my grandchild in a damp shirt!"
"Yeah, Linda wouldn't much like me to come home wringing wet. Somehow I don't think I'll miss this place much." A.J. grinned, then his face fell as he started looking for something in the top of the files.
"What's the matter, lost your train of thought." Rick needled him as he put his hat on.
"Very funny, oh, for the love of, Rick, I'll be right back; I left our license forms in the office upstairs." A.J. grumbled. "Hurry up, I'll need your help with the labels, why don't you take the freight elevator?"
"All right, be back." The younger Simon promised, then wheeled the first load of papers to the far end of the basement. Entering the old cage style lift, he squeaked his way out of sight.
As he waited for A.J. to come back, Rick heard a beep from his watch, then realized someone was trying to reach him. Just as he turned the receiver on, footsteps sounded nearby and he called out, "Hello?"
Silence, then a pompous voice cut through the heavy air. "Simon?"
"Yo." Rick recognized the tone as that of Lt. Ronald Masterson, the overbearing detective Ron had dealt with for years before his promotion.
"I thought I heard you and your brother, what are you doing here?
Rick smirked as the officer stepped into the light of the unshaded overhead lamps. "Don't worry; we have permission from Chief Branson. We're retrieving our court files before the place goes boom."
"I see. And everyone else is gone. Interesting."
Something in the detective's voice gave Rick a chill, and instinctively he turned up his transmitter, only to hear his wife's voice.
"Rick, A.J., are you there?"
A startled look came over Masterson's face. "Where did that come from? You have a radio?"
Ignoring him, Rick answered, "Sweetheart, I'm here, what's up?"
"Can you come to the hospital? Ramona's in labor. I think your grandchild wants to be born today." Rick grinned, he could just about see Laurie's smile when she said that.
Laurie was smiling, then her vision clouded, and a cold chill washed over her, as she saw a figure standing over her husband's body, blood trickling from Rick's face. "NO!" Laurie heard her own voice cry out, then the man turned, a sick grin on his face and ran up a flight of stairs. As she frantically called Rick's name, Laurie watched as the man turned at the top of the steps, then jerked open an emergency door, and headed toward a parking lot.
Suddenly Laurie found herself gasping, then Cecilia's voice was calling to her.
"Honey, Laurie, what is it, I'll get Rudy…."
"No, Mom, I…I'm all right." Her sight cleared, and she realized she was standing in the hospital corridor.
"Listen, call Ron, tell him Rick's in danger, someone's going to attack him in the basement." Laurie managed, then turned on the send again and called, "Rick?"
Distracted by Laurie's calling his name, he didn't notice Masterson's approach until he heard a footfall, then …
Pain, then he was on the floor, his watch being taken off his wrist, then hands pulling his pockets inside out. Dazed, Rick realized Masterson had attacked him, then he thought "A.J., mustn't let him hurt A.J."
"No!" Rick came off the floor and head butted the policeman, driving him into the file cabinets that lined the basement wall. Surprised, Masterson shook his head, then blindly came at Rick, snarling, "No, you're not going to stop my plans." Rick tried to sidestep his attacker, only to have his arm grabbed then twisted in back until pain screamed through his whole side. "Only one chance." He thought, then he twisted back against Masterson and threw both of them to the concrete.
Suddenly a small 'BOOM" went off in the corner of the room, and debris rained down on the two men.
Instantly the officer got to his feet, then laughed. "Time for me to go, goodbye Simon." Through the smoke and dust Rick saw him race to the emergency stairs, then another explosion shook the room, and ceiling panels fell all around him.
Frantically he crawled to the doorway of the file room, then cried out as a chunk of wall struck a glancing blow to his head. As he sunk into blackness, he heard a voice calling him, then nothing.
Not getting an answer, Laurie knew something had happened, and she started to go into Ramona's room to tell Rudy there was an emergency.
"AHHHHH, Mom?" her daughter-in-law's cry brought her back to reality. Ramona and Robbie needed her right now, so she pushed aside her fear and opened the door, saying "I'm here, hang on, honey."
Both Rudy and her son turned, noticing her pale expression, but said nothing as Laurie went to Ramona's side and took her hand.
"Okay, sweet, let's go, Rudy?"