Title: Honey and the Moon
Author : Leslet
Summary: My own, somewhat self indulgent take on the "Abby gets pregnant" storyline, written because I so greatly enjoyed reading everybody else's. Not just fluff but angst, drama, friendships and romance. We'll get to see almost all the current regulars, plus visits from some recently departed ones.
Disclaimer: I don't anything. ER and all the characters belong to NBC and all those other ones that play at the end of the credits. No infringement intended. "Honey and the Moon" is taken from the title of the song by Joseph Arthur, again...not mine.
Enjoy!
BUGS. That was the bad thing about summer, bugs. The unafraid, big, fat flies that seemed to taunt you as you tried to swat them away or the wasps, whose hazardous buzzing brought fear to the heart of someone much larger than themselves. Little creatures with no real comprehension of their power to create havoc.
"Food poisoning, Curtain three".
A weary voice lifted Abby from her thoughts, diverting her attention away from the insect balancing itself on her paperwork. Looking up, she spied an exhausted Susan, one outstretched hand offering her a chart, the other occupied by Cosmo, who was entertaining himself by tugging at the end of his mothers hair.
Abby raised her eyebrows.
"I'm off" she exclaimed, unenthusiastic at the thought of someone vomiting on her for the third time that day.
"Please Abby! It's just one patient…"
Susan urged, yelping, as her son tugged particularly hard at her blonde locks.
"Sure it's just one patient, until somebody else gives me another one so they can leave…"
"Barnett's late, as soon as he arrives you can sign out to him, please Abby, I need to get Cosmo home".
As if on cue, Cosmo began to scream, defiantly loud, causing the passing crowd to turn round to look at the exchange.
That's right, play the baby card! Abby thought wryly as she reached out her hand to accept the patient and the hour or so of work that came with it.
"Thanks, I owe you one!"
Susan said as she shuffled away, trying to calm Cosmo as she did.
"Yes, you do"
Abby called after her, pushing herself up from the hard, plastic chair she had been sitting on and immediately feeling the familiar strain on her back, that came free with the constant need to pee and insomnia of the second trimester of pregnancy.
Yes, that's right, she, Abigail Lockhart, M.D., was pregnant.
She made her way through the ER; carefully dodging a gurney making it's way to the elevator, passing the nurses station, where Frank was munching away at something both greasy and disgusting. Did he ever do anything else?
"Abby!" he yelled as she passed "you've got a message from your mother". Turning around, she grabbed the piece of paper from his hand. "You know, I'm not your answering machine, you do have a phone line of your own at home where people can call you!"
"Shut up Frank!" it wasn't original, but she was too tired to form an original comeback and this seemed more mature than "Frank is a girl". The truth was, that most of her time these days was spend either sleeping or working and Maggie knew from experience that she was more likely to catch her daughter doing either at the hospital than at home. Still, she would probably arrive home to hear at least 2 messages on her machine, both basically asking 'how everything was going'. Which, when put through the Maggie filter meant how's the baby? Has he tried to propose yet? And when can I come to visit?
Her mother's enthusiasm, however repetitive, was still highly infectious. And Abby found herself smiling as she walked towards her last patient of the day…
"Dr Scanlon, someone called Abby is on the phone for you"
Jake looked up from the journal sitting on the table in front of him, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach as Helen, a nurse, stood over him. She never called him at work, he was fairly sure she'd told him yesterday that she would call him that evening. What if something was wrong? The uneasy feeling grew to a painful ache as he stood up and took the phone from his co-worker, muttering a thanks, taking a deep breath.
"Abby?"
"Hey there" He sighed as he heard her voice, calm as ever, at the other end of the phone, soothing his suddenly frazzled nerves.
"Is everything OK?" he asked, concern still edged in his voice.
"Everything's good, just wanted to check in…" she paused "How about you? You sound a little jumpy"
Relieved, he sunk back into his seat.
"No, no I'm good, we're not busy, I was just catching up on some reading, how come you're calling me at work?"
"I just wanted to talk" she churned out candidly before adding "plus I saw my phone bill this morning, it's not pretty, turns out calling California is expensive, so I'm calling from County"
"They support their staff making personal long distance phone calls?"
"Only in an emergency"
"I see and what emergency is this?" he joked.
"A financial emergency"
"I see"
He laughed. They both paused, taking a breath. "How's the baby?" he asked becoming serious.
"She's great" He could hear the smile in her voice.
"She?"
"Just an expression, your still flying in next week for my appointment right?" she asked, knowing the answer.
"Of course, I'm excited to see my son"
"It's going to be a girl"
"We'll see"
Helen poked her head past the door. "Jake, Mr Gilbert in one is looking for you"
"Ok I'll be there" he turned back to the phone "alright, I gotta go, lives to save, you know the drill…"
"Ok, have fun! I'll call you tomorrow"
"From County again?"
"Unless Susan catches m…" she stopped short.
"What" he asked
"Oh"
"Is everything OK?"
"Wow" he heard the breathlessness in her dusky voice.
"Abbbby…" a hint of a whine in his tone. "What's going on?"
"I think I just felt her move"
And, separated by space and a time difference but never so close in spirit, two people felt their lives shift a little as this new person in their lives made themselves known.
What a Difference a Day Makes
December 26th, 10:48am
Snow was falling heavily in the Ambulance Bay as Abby exited through the automatic doors, feeling the instant chill. She wrapped her thick coat tightly around her as she shuffled through the blanket of white at her feet. She was exhausted, physically and emotionally. She never liked working Christmas Day; the tragedies always seemed more acute. The parents that had lost their daughter after their Christmas tree had caught fire, the 15 year old that had chosen the worst day of the year to be told he had cancer, yep, this time of year sucked.
It didn't have to, she reminded herself. Nope, she didn't need to be here, alone, as she was. Maggie had invited her to stay for a few days, hoping to reunite the family for the holiday, for the first time in a decade or more. She had been tempted, but the thought of travelling 400 miles to find her family off their medication and hopelessly manic, had prevented her from agreeing. If that was going to happen, she didn't want to be there.
She slowly trudged up the slippery steps to the almost abandoned el station. It wasn't likely to be busy, even if the sales were starting today, anybody sensible would stay inside in this weather. She reached the platform, using her hands to fight her way through the almost frozen barriers, managing to drop her bag in the process. As she crouched down to collect the spilled contents, someone bent down beside her, hands reaching to help her. She recognised those hands. She looked up warily, not quite believing the irony.
"This brings back memories" Jake Scanlon smiled at her, passing her the dropped belongings.
"Hi" she replied stupidly, still in shock, "Aren't you in California?" As the words passed through her lips, her mind told her just how stupid they sounded.
He laughed.
"Apparently not"
They stood up simultaneously, surveying each other. He had changed she noted, his defined tan was an obvious side effect of the California weather but his eyes shone, holding new knowledge, twinkling with confidence. And the way he held himself had changed, he was prouder, more secure, San Francisco agreed with him.
"How are you?" she enquired, not sensing the tension she would expect to be there after their not-exactly-amicable goodbye.
"Good" he replied vaguely "what about you?"
"Oh, fine, you know…" she paused , not really knowing what to say, "How come you're in Chicago?"
"Just visiting family, you gotta be together at Christmas right!" He looked around nervously, sensing that maybe it was a sore topic. "You just got off a shift?" he asked, tactically changing the subject.
"Yep, I've been on since Christmas eve" she admitted. He whistled, seemly surprised she was still standing up. "The available staff is a little low this year" she explained "we weren't too busy…"
"Good" His reply was muffled by the screech of an oncoming train. The looked at each other, a wide grin on his face, an amused chuckle emerging from her nervous lips.
The train slowed at the platform.
"Where are you going?" she asked
"Actually I'm visiting some friends who live near the hospital so…" he motioned towards the stairs.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye" she said awkwardly. He sighed.
"I guess so…"
"Call me if you're ever in town again…" She offered him one last look and entered though the train doors as they began to close. Pensively gazing at his retreating figure as he faded into the horizon.
Several hours later, Abby found herself unable to sleep. She hated working nights, sleeping in the afternoon had never been one of her many talents. She had read three chapters of a novel, made herself lunch and was now sitting in her flannel pyjamas in front of the television, under a thick blanket, willing for a her tired body to give up its stubborn need to be awake in the daylight hours.
Her daze was interrupted by a knock on the door. Surprised, she pushed herself up from the couch, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders and opened the door.
She blinked.
"Er, hi" Standing there, a light sprinkling of snow on his shoulders, was Jake. "I didn't wake you up did I?"
Clearing her scratchy throat, she replied "Erm, no, that's OK, come in"
He entered her apartment, looking around, she wished she had bothered to clean it or at least throw away the Chinese food from a week ago.
"Sorry the place is a mess" She apologised, blushing with embarrassment. She looked at him questioningly. " I thought you were visiting someone?"
He looked as his feet, almost shy.
"I was, but there's really a limit of how much time I can spend at his place before my cat allergies kick in" He explained, continuing, he held out his hand, something grasped in his palm "And, you, er.. left this on the platform"
He opened his fingers to reveal her cell phone.
Grateful, she accepted it, her hand lightly brushing his as she grabbed the object.
"Wow, thank you!" she said appreciatively "I definitely would have missed that!"
"That's OK, it was a good excuse to get away"
"Still, you didn't have to.." She broke off. "You want a coffee?"
"No, that's OK, I should go…" he shuffled awkwardly.
"Please, it's the least I could do"
He nodded in agreement, as she motioned for him to make himself comfortable on the couch.
"Tell me about California" she said, walking into the kitchen area…
15 minutes later, they were settled on the couch, the previously awkward atmosphere had evaporated into casual conversation. Abby watched her former lover as he talked gleefully about his experiences since they had parted and couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. God, his eyes were so blue.
She was pulled out of her reverie by a sudden silence. From across the couch he looked at her placidly.
"What?" he questioned, noticing the glances she was sending his way.
She grinned.
"Nothing" she pulled herself up from her slouched position and picked up their now empty coffee mugs and placed them next to the sink. She heard him rise and walk into the kitchen behind her. She turned reluctantly, turning from a place where she found herself trying to pretend that they were still in the realms of their former relationship, where coffee was followed by intimacy. Unhurried, blissful lovemaking and midnight conversations.
If you leave, don't leave now.
Please don't take my heart away.
Promise me just one more night.
Then we'll go our separate ways.
She found him casually shrugging on his thick winter coat, staring at her with a misty expression in the usually clear pools of sapphire that were his eyes. She approached him slowly, delaying his inevitable exit from her apartment and her life.
Sooner than she would have liked, they were inches apart. He was muttering something about 'having a nice time', staring straight into her eyes and with their proximity, the closeness of their bodies, she saw that that misty haze was filled with the longing to stay, the longing to be with her. She knew that the same sentiment must have been reflected her own face, that she normally kept so guarded, she certainly felt it in the rushed beating of her heart and in the pulsing she heard in her ears.
I need you now like I needed you
then.
You always said we'd meet again, someday.
Before either of them knew it their lips were infused together in a glorious kiss that spoke than more than words and felt like heaven. It was so wrong, they were no longer together, no longer physically or personally connected, two separate entities that had drifted apart. But neither could deny the need to be together in some form had dominated their minds since they had reunited so ironically on the el platform. And now their detached lives, their separated souls were once again entwined as they danced their way into her bedroom, hands roaming, lips connected. All thoughts of consequences, all semblance of doubt floated lightly away as two souls entangled irreversibly together.
We've always had time on our
sides,
Now it's fading fast,
every second, every moment,
We've gotta make it last.
What do you think, be honest...but not too honest! Thanks!