A/N: I could hear some of your screams from here after Chapter 5! Sorry!

I really appreciate the reviews and comments, even the negative ones:) All I can say is...please stay with me (if any of you are actually still reading.) I thought long and hard about taking things in this direction and I hope you'll trust me on this.

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She sat curled on the floor of the bathroom with her back to the little stick on the edge of the sink.

Five minutes. The directions said to wait five minutes before checking the results. She nervously glanced at her watch. What was only two minutes seemed an eternity.

She found herself bargaining with God the way she used to as a child. If you help me get an A on my test, if you give me a puppy for Christmas, I'll be good forever and ever.

If you let it not be true, if you make the stick not turn pink...

It was useless. What was done was done, one way or another.

She was a doctor. She had never been terribly regular, and she knew there were plenty of reasons why she might be late, not the least of which was the emotional strain she had been under. She and Nigel had taken precautions, after all, despite the drink and the frenzy of the moment. Still, nothing was perfect. What if? What if?

Woody would arrive any minute. What would it be? How would she tell him? If the test was negative, he need never know. A negative test would be a sign that they were meant to be. They could move on with their lives.

She clamped her eyes shut tight. She couldn't even think about a positive test. It wouldn't be positive. No. They had been through too much for this.

The second hand on her watch swept up past the twelve. Her heart fluttered, and she took a deep breath. Five minutes.

One pink line, negative. Two pink lines, positive.

She reached up for the test stick on the sink. Her heart thudded wildly. Please, God, please. She pried her eyes open.

One pink line.

She let out a ripple of laughter and blinked back relieved tears. One pink line. Negative.

Thank you thank you thank you.

It was negative, and it felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It was all over.

She was aware of a ringing sound coming from somewhere in the apartment. Phone? Doorbell? She shook herself from her relieved daze.

Oven! She jumped to her feet and ran into the kitchen, laughing all the way, to rescue her lasagna from incineration.

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"Well, how was it? How did it go?" she asked as he ignored her and hobbled into her apartment.

"Something smells good."

"Your favorite. Vegetarian lasagna," she said distractedly. "Well? Tell me!"

He answered by scooping her up with his free arm and kissing her long and hard. "I've got a clean bill of health. They expect a full recovery and...the doctor released me for all activity." He ran a string of kisses up her neck to her ear and whispered there, "I can't wait to hold you in my arms and make love to you tonight."

"Well, there are no rules that say we have to eat dinner first," she said seductively.

He raised his eyebrows at her and grinned. "I have a feeling I'm going to need all my strength tonight. Maybe we'd better eat."

She laughed and headed for the kitchen with the flowers. "Dinner'll be on the table in a minute."

"I'll wash up. Be right out."

She felt three inches off the ground as she put her flowers in water. Everything was perfect. If there was a nagging guilt about keeping something from Woody, she knew it would pass. What he didn't know would never hurt him.

She picked up her pan of lasagna and fairly bounced out from the kitchen. "Hey, Woody? You want red or white with this?" she called into him. "It's got a red sauce, but it's vegetarian. I don't know if that makes a difference. Honestly, I never understood those rules. Shouldn't you just drink what tastes good?"

She was babbling with excitement when she turned toward the bathroom. He was coming out slowly and looked up at her with hurt and confusion. She frowned. Something was wrong. "What...what is it?" And then her eyes fell to his outstretched hand. "Oh, God, Woody..."

The stick. She'd thrown it away, hadn't she?

"Well, I was going to ask you if this is what I think it is, but I think you just answered my question," he said very slowly and calmly, as if he were trying very hard to remain in control.

"I'm not pregnant," she said blinking back tears.

"But you thought you were." She nodded, and they faced each other there in a stunned silence. He didn't move but stood in the bathroom door with the stick clenched in his hand. "When?"

She looked down. She could lie to him, tell him she'd had a brief fling after the debacle with the ring. His pride might be hurt, but he would forgive her. He had dated, too, after all, and couldn't really hold it against her.

No. There had been enough lies already. Between her and Garret, between her and Woody. She knew almost to a certainty that if she told Woody the whole truth, she would lose him forever. But if they stood even an infinitesimal chance of surviving, she had to tell him everything. He deserved that.

She breathed deep and spoke in a tremulous voice. "After you were shot. The night you threw me out of your hospital room."

His head dropped. There was a long pause before he spoke again. She thought on some level he knew exactly what had happened. Finally, he looked back up at her. "Who, Jordan?"

"Nigel." He flung the stick down and staggered forward. "Woody! Please, Woody..."

He careened unsteadily, his face hard and cold, as he moved past her toward the door. "Don't, Jordan."

"Woody, please!" She ran past him and blocked his exit. "Please listen to me! It was a mistake! It didn't mean anything!"

"Nigel? Jesus, Jordan. Nigel? I work with him. I stood there the other day telling him how there were no more secrets between us. God, I'm a chump."

"Please, Woody. We were both torn up. You don't understand. I was devastated when you threw me out. I thought I'd lost you forever, and I drank myself into a blind stupor. Nigel was there. He was hurting, too, and it just happened. Please believe me. It's over. It never meant a thing. Please!"

"Move, Jordan."

"Woody, no. Don't do this." She reached out for his hand. "We'll talk about this. Please don't go. Stay. Just listen to me, please!"

"I don't want to listen to anything you have to say, Jordan! It's done. I'm through. I almost died. You stood there whispering all those things to me like you can't live without me, and then a few hours later, you're jumping in bed with Nigel? Jesus, how's that supposed to make me feel? Like I can trust you? Like I can believe anything that comes out of your mouth?"

"Please, I'm just trying to be honest, Woody. I love you."

He sneered. "Honesty and love are two words you don't know the first thing about, Jordan." He slipped past her as she stood frozen in the doorway and stumbled down the hallway.

She called out to him pleadingly once more before he stepped into the elevator without looking back at her. Then, she shut the door and collapsed on the floor, her body racked with sobs.