Chapter Sixty-four
Rafe held Ella closer. She was heavy with sleep but he didn't care. It made him feel better to know there was one of his daughters who still needed him. As soon as Billie brought her over it was clear that it had been wrong to have kept her away. He was once again reminded that even though they'd raised three children before her there was always something to new they could learn.
Alison's head rested on his chest, his arm closed around her. He shifted to try and get comfortable without waking either of them. How long had they been here? It seemed like weeks. Becky was getting stronger every minute while Kate got weaker. The whole situation was beyond horrible and never ending it seemed.
There wasn't much he could do. He figured there were just so many miracles one person was entitled to. He'd gotten far more than his share. Rafe would have tried to reach Ed but he was pretty sure he had an idea what was going on here. It was too much to hope for – it was too much to ask. Ed had bent the rules far enough. To expect anything more was incredibly selfish.
"Rafe?" Alison whispered as she opened her eyes.
"Yeah." He replied with a yawn.
"You haven't slept have you?" She asked him then her eyes full of concern.
"I'm fine." He promised as he inched away slightly. Alison turned to face him and ran a hand through his hair.
"You're not fine Rafe. Oh my God. Look at you. I'm so sorry…" She said with tears in her eyes.
"Shh. What are you sorry about?" He asked.
"I can't believe I've let this happen. You've been here this whole time – taking care of all of us. You're exhausted."
"I'm OK." He said with another yawn.
"Give her to me." Alison demanded softly as she reached over and took Ella from his arms. She placed her gently on the chair next to her, smiling as she watched her daughter settle in, scrunching up her nose and sighing in her sleep. When she did that it reminded her how Ella was so like Rafe. She shrugged off her sweater and tucked it around her little girl. She placed a soft kiss on Ella's head and then turned towards Rafe again.
"Lie down." She ordered.
"Alison. Stop. I'm fine." He protested.
"Rafe Kovich DO NOT argue with me." Her eyes locked with his and she stared him down. She reached over and dragged his legs off the floor pushing him until he was stretched out on the couch. "Lie down."
"Alison…" He sighed as he tried to sit up again.
She silenced him with a kiss. "I'm going to go and check on the baby and Becky and then I'm going to see if Colin will let me sit with Kate. While I do that I want you to sleep. Do you hear me?"
"I'm not…" Rafe yawned as he laid his head down. "I won't be able to…" His eyes began to close. "It's not possible…" He said softly as he drifted off.
"Sure it isn't." Alison smiled softly as she ran a hand through his hair again. "You're so good to us. God, how I love you." She whispered as she bent to kiss his forehead. "I'm sorry. I should take better care of you."
Straightening she took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes. Enough crying. She scolded herself. It's time to do something about all this.
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Danny slipped inside the lab. He had been busy all day but was beyond curious. He knew that they had been in there all night long trying to find a solution to save Kate.
Ian and Chris stood hunched over microscopes. "That's it." Danny heard his father whisper.
"Yeah." Chris replied with a nod, fighting exhaustion. "Now we just have to test it."
"How will you do that?" Danny asked from the doorway.
"Daniel." Ian's head snapped up at the sound of his son's voice. "I didn't hear you come in."
"I realize that." Danny nodded. "Have you two really figured it out? Are you going to be able to save her?"
Chris said "No." just as Ian said "Yes."
God these two. Always at each other's throats. They were almost as bad as Caleb and Rafe. Danny thought as he bit back a smile. "Which one is it?"
"Yes. We've figured something out but as for saving Katrina – we need to do a few tests before I'm comfortable trying it out on her." Chris replied. "I don't want to make matters worse."
Danny didn't realize what the problem was. "OK. Then test it. What do you need to do that?"
"Just to get one of our neighborhood vampires to give up his or her blood." Chris said with a shrug. He threw down his pen and moved to stare out the window. "Piece of cake."
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Grant stood by the window of the nursery again. He just couldn't seem to tear himself away. He wished there was something he could do he felt so helpless. Maybe he should just go back home to Chloe.
He heard someone come up behind him. "He's beautiful isn't he?" Alison whispered.
"Hey Mom." Grant said as he turned around. "Yeah. He is."
"Is Chloe here with you?" Alison asked, moving to stand beside him.
"No." He said with a shake of his head. He smiled at the sound of her name. "She's home. I told her she didn't have to come. The hospital – it's not her favorite place."
Alison tried to hide a smile of her own as she nodded. "Guess she'll have to get over that in a few months won't she?"
Grant blinked as he looked at her. "What do you mean?"
She did smile then. "You two can't fool me. I've had four children; I know exactly what morning sickness looks like." Her voice filled with concern as she asked. "Is she feeling OK?"
He couldn't believe she'd figured it out – especially with everything else that's going on – but he should have known better. His mother always seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to her kids.
He grinned widely as he replied. "She's tired, mostly but she's fine. They're both fine." He tried to apologize. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you Mom. Chloe wanted us to wait until Kate gets better…" He trailed off, not wanted to upset her.
"I understand. We'll wait." Alison said, still smiling. She wasn't going to ruin this moment. She reached for him and pulled him close as she whispered. "Hopefully, soon, we'll have a lot of things to celebrate. Grant, you're going to be a wonderful father. I'm so, so happy for you."
"I keep coming here and staring at him." He said as he hugged her back. "I can't believe I'll have one of my own soon."
"Me either. You all weren't supposed to grow up so fast." She said, sniffling a bit. Wiping at her eyes she pulled away.
Suddenly nervous, Grant cleared his throat and stared at his nephew through the glass. "What are we going to do about all this?"
Alison followed his gaze and sighed. "I'm not sure. But I'm about to find out."
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"Kyle? Can you do me a favor?" Becky asked in a whisper.
He'd promise her the world if he thought he could actually give it to her. "Sure." He replied with a nod.
"Can you…" She winced as she tried to get comfortable. "Can you get the nurse for me?"
"Are you OK?" He asked, his voice tinged with panic.
"Mmmm hmmm." She replied though not very convincingly. "I was just wondering if she could maybe give me something."
Kyle walked to the door and caught one of the nurses who was passing by. He stood by stunned as she looked Becky over, listening to their discussion about her medication. "Are you in that much pain?" Kyle asked his voice shocked. "Becky. God. Why didn't you say anything?"
She sighed as she reached for his hand again. "Because. It makes me really sleepy and I wanted to be awake here with you."
"You need to rest." Kyle scolded her. "I'll come back later. It's OK."
"That's just the point." She replied as she gratefully took the two pills the nurse handed her. "I don't want you to go."
The nurse scribbled something on Becky's chart and then slipped outside into the hallway. Kyle kept hold of Becky's hand and sat beside her again.
"I'm sorry." Kyle whispered as he held her hand tighter. "It's my fault you're even here."
"Kyle." Becky replied, her voice getting groggy. "Please stop apologizing. I know it was horrible, but can you imagine how much worse it might have been had you never come here to warn me?"
He still thought a lot of this was his fault. He was determined to make it up to her if it was the last thing he did. Kyle was just about to try to apologize again when he heard her talking.
"It's OK Kyle." She said as her eyes strained to stay open. "That's the way it works. We had to go through something bad to make it all worth while. All this happening? It's a good thing." She smiled as she drifted off to sleep. "We got it over with early."
