"Mr. Rainey?" A very low female voice woke Mort from his sleep. "Mr. Rainey, someone is waiting for you."
Mort rubbed his eyes and reached for his glasses, which he had put on the metal tray next to Alex's bed. He didn't need to ask who was waiting for him. He eased himself away from Alex, extremely careful not to wake her. "Let her sleep?" he asked.
"Of course," the nurse answered.
Mort took a quick side trip to the bathroom before going to face his one time arch nemesis. Once out in the ER's waiting room, he spotted Ted right away. Here we go…
"What the hell happened?" Ted asked gruffly.
"Well, you know, Ted, I'd love to know that myself. Could you not be, well, 'you' for a moment and have an adult conversation without spitting out accusations?" Ted face reddened in anger, but he didn't say a word. "Sit down, please."
"Mort…"
"Before you start to blame me for anything else, let me inform you that I am happily married, have a beautiful daughter and another is on her way. I had no idea Amy was coming here, and, quite frankly, no desire to see her. She called me twice without letting me know who she was, then just showed up on my doorstep yesterday during my daughter's birthday party."
"How did you know about her being here?"
"My wife went into false labor – it was a fluke that I even saw Amy. Did you talk to the doctors?"
Ted nodded. "She's banged up, but she'll be O.K."
"Did you talk to the police?"
"She wouldn't try to kill herself," Ted said defensively.
"I just told you what I was told."
Ted shot Mort a look that made his blood run cold. "Why did she come to you anyway?"
Mort sighed. "I don't know. Well, she gave me a reason, but God help you if it's true."
"Me?"
"Are you trying to take my money now too, Ted?"
Ted actually looked puzzled. "What?"
"Amy said that you want to move and that you want the money from the house to…"
"Move? We're not moving, Mort, and I sure as hell don't need your money."
"I knew it was an excuse," Mort mumbled.
"What was that?"
Mort cocked an eyebrow. "I said I knew that was an excuse. Were you apathetic about the baby?"
"Baby?"
"Yeah, baby. She said that she lost your baby and…"
"She was pregnant?"
Mort rolled his eyes. "I really don't think that she'd lie about that, but you mean she didn't tell you?"
Ted's demeanor changed. "No. We're supposed to get married in two weeks…and she came here to find you and told you about my baby?"
"I don't know what she's doing, Ted, but I can't worry about it. My wife needs to go home and stay in bed for the next month – I have other concer…"
"Why did she come to you?"
"I don't know! She certainly didn't want to come to me when she had me…"
"Mr. Milner?" A doctor approached Ted. "She's awake now." Without another word to Mort, Ted went to Amy's room. Mort, went back to Alex's, far more than eager to leave the hospital.