Disclaimer- Still not ours, but jtbwriter says, if Tim won't gives us what we want we'll just have to do it ourselves.
Garret sat in the dark apartment, terrified. Not so much of what he and Sarah had done to each other today, but of all the "what if?" scenarios running through his mind.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Macy, but the driver didn't see your wife……"
"Face it, Garret, what were you thinking of, letting her run off by herself when she was that upset."
He saw their faces, the policeman at the door, the accusing eyes of Wren and Jordan and Nigel. Max's beet red face, staring at him…..
A tentative knock at the door startled him out of the tortuous cycle of waking nightmare. He came off the sofa like a shot and reached for the doorknob without looking through the peephole first.
Don't think, don't hesitate, get it over with. Garret pulled the door open, then froze.
Sarah stood in the bitter January evening, shivering.
"Can I come in?" She asked softly, sounding so much like a lost child he wanted to take her in his arms. Instead, suddenly tongue-tied, Garret nodded, gently took her arm, and guided her into the apartment, stopping to put a light on first.
Mutely she let him lead her to the sofa, then he released her arm and sat down opposite his wife.
"You came back." He managed, all the fear rushing into his brain again.
"I couldn't go anywhere else." Sarah found herself forcing the words out, the ache in her heart almost choking her.
"Sarah…." Garret said her name, fumbling with what he should, no what he needed to say.
"Don't …just, don't, Garret." Sarah put up a trembling hand. "We need to..no…I need to have some time."
"All right, Sarah." He felt his heart drop to his feet. "I'll sleep on the sofa."
"No, no, I can…" She began to protest.
Now it was Garret's turn to put up resistance. "No, Sarah. You need to rest more than I do. You…and the baby."
Sarah met his eyes at that….and her heart started to melt just a tiny bit.
"Thank you, Garret. I am a little…tired."
"You go ahead and take the bathroom first, Sarah. I'll get my stuff." Garret creaked his way off the sofa and ambled toward their room.
Garret
Once inside, he leaned against the closed door, tears streaming down his face. She'd come back, but for what? How hard was it going to be to make things right again? How long would it take them to repair the damage they'd done to each other?
Garret wasn't really clear on what they'd said in the conference room. He could remember his anger and the fear clawing at his gut and making thought difficult. He clearly remembered the feel of Sarah's hand slapping his face, although he wasn't certain exactly what he'd said that had pushed his even tempered love to that point. He wasn't really thinking by the time the slap had occurred. The only thing in his mind had been fear. Fear that she would die and he'd have to face the rest of his life without her.
Sarah
As Garret wiped his face and gathered his things, Sarah stood at the bathroom sink, silently weeping. Weeping over the wreckage of their relationship, over her stupidity in not being honest with her best friend, her husband, the man who had walked through the fire with her.
And weeping also over the remembered words spoken in anger with which he had unknowingly ripped open her hard won security. She knew more than most the terrible gaping wounds that words could leave in the mind and soul. Sarah had been certain that she had left that all behind with the end of her first marriage. Believed that Garret could never be a cruel dictator, using words and blows to control and coerce. Until today, when his anger had been written in every line of his frame, the clench of his fist and the cold harsh words that threatened her physical safety.
Her rational mind knew that he would never have followed through on his words, but her body had recoiled in fear and then struck out in panic to preempt any possible physical assault.
With that brief exchange of words and the strike of her hand, the fabric of her safe world had been shredded and she'd felt an icy certainty that her marriage was irreparably damaged.
Eventually, they'd perhaps find a way to regain the intimacy they'd known, but Sarah's trust and belief in her husband was shattered and the fault lay strictly with herself. She'd pushed him to a place he never would have gone to on his own.
Her desire for the child she carried had very likely cost her the trust of it's father. Garret wouldn't leave her, but she was afraid that from now on there would always be a certain speculation before he would believe her or she him, a weighing of knowledge against trust. She was afraid that her hesitation would eventually doom them to a marriage that was less than it could have been.
Garret
Trying to fit himself into the uncomfortable and short couch, Garret suddenly remembered what he'd said just before Sarah had slapped him. How could he have been so stupid. He'd threatened a woman who'd survived an abusive relationship, with bodily harm. No wonder she'd struck out at him, he was just glad she hadn't given him the same right hook she'd given Harrison. Although he would have deserved it.
He had to find someway of repairing the damage his wounded pride and anger had caused, a way to convince Sarah to forgive him. He considered the shambles of his marriage and hoped they could fix the mess he'd made. He should have listened to Sarah, given her a chance to explain. He'd let his past relationships color how he viewed this situation.
Garret gave up on sleep and moved over to his desk, turning on the light he poured a scotch and sat staring into the distance until the sun rose.
Sarah
Later as she tossed and turned, Sarah found herself determined to fix the damage she'd caused. Somehow she had to make Garret understand that she'd not been lying to hurt him. She'd never intended to lie, she just couldn't seem to find the words to tell him of the hazard she faced without having him try to persuade her to terminate the pregnancy. There had to be someway she could win back everything her hesitation had cost her.
She rose from the bed and started toward Garret's study, as she reached his door she froze, unable to take the last few steps to her husband. She was so afraid of seeing that cold look his eyes had held in the conference room. Hearing him moving around in the room, she scurried back to the bedroom and lay awake until the alarm went off.
A/N- Come on you know what to do. Make us smile
