Chapter Twenty-One
It had been several hours since Chloe had been brought to the hospital with Jarod and Philip. She had regained consciousness briefly when they arrived but that was it. Once they had arrived the doctors had whisked Chloe away for testing. Ever since then, the waiting room had slowly become filled with people anxiously awaiting any news on Chloe's condition.
After the ambulance had left the airport, Nancy too worried to drive, had been driven over by Brady, who once they arrived called Mimi telling her what happened. Mimi agreed to meet her husband at the hospital then she called Belle and informed her of Chloe's accident. By that time Belle had already heard about the accident from Shawn and was on her way too, but she had to wait for JT to come watch over the children. She was the last to arrive after Brady and Nancy, Craig with the children, Shawn then Mimi who got John to stay with her children. They all sat somewhat patiently in the waiting room, well as patient as to be expected, for the doctor to give them some news.
Philip sat in chair against the wall with Jessica in his lap and the twins sitting on either side of him. Ariana leaned on her father's shoulders while Dominic sat plaintively beside him. Jarod was the only one not sitting near his father; he was leaning against the wall across from them.
"Daddy, I'm hungry." Ariana said, he looked at his watch and realized that the kids had been there for a couple of hours now and had missed lunch.
"Okay I'll take you guys to get something to eat from the cafeteria." He stood with Jessica still in his arms.
"Philip, Brady and I could take them. That way if the doctor comes she can speak with you." Mimi offered knowing that she would be able to get a full report on what had happened from her husband.
"That sounds great, Mimi." He placed Jessica on her feet. "You guys go a head and go with your Aunt Mimi, if I hear anything I'll come and get you." He looked back at Mimi. "Thanks."
"It's no problem, I'm a little hungry myself. Jarod are you coming?" She asked him.
"No I'm not hungry." He said from his position against the wall. Brady caught Philip's eye and he nodded.
"Alright then," Brady said before he followed his wife and the other Kiriakis children down the hallway.
Philip moved his gaze toward his son leaning against the wall. He was trying very hard to act as if this didn't affect him as much as it did everyone else. But, Philip wasn't fooled, not for a minute. "Jarod, come take a walk with me."
"But, what about the doctor, what if she comes and we aren't here?" Jarod asked.
"We won't be gone long. Besides, we'll only be a short distance away down the hallway. Come on, it'll just be for a few minutes." He jerked his head down the direction of the hallway going to the left. He looked to Nancy and Craig who were still sitting in their seats, "We'll only be gone a few minutes." He said before heading down the hallway his son trailing along beside him.
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Philip and Jarod walked side by side down the hallway neither of them speaking, just walking. Then in an abrupt movement Jarod paused and looked at his father expectantly.
"So did you want to talk to me about something or are you just trying to keep my mind of Mom?"
Philip stopped to look down at his son; clearly they both knew what he was attempting to do. "Both actually. I thought we could talk about the accident. You do know that it's not your fault, right?"
Jarod was surprised by the question. If anything he thought Philip was going to say something about his not eating. "I don't blame myself for Mom, if that's what you mean. Mom just ate something that agreed with her or something. It's just that I don't like hospitals."
"Well, I completely understand that. I just had to make sure that you didn't think it was your fault or anything. You know, felt guilty, I'm glad to see you got your mother's common sense where that's concerned. What has happened to your Mom is no one's fault." He paused for a moment his eyes searching Jarod's face. "I think we should talk, you know about the fact that you are my son."
"Okay … what about it?"
"Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is … that nothing has really changed. You know I thought of you as my son even before I knew the truth. That hasn't changed; the only difference is now, that we don't have to go through the long adoption process." Jarod was shocked at what was just revealed to him. He never suspected that Philip wanted to adopt him if it turned out he wasn't his son; he didn't really know how to respond. Then he had a sudden thought.
"So what do you want me to call you? I mean do you want me to call you Philip still or would you rather something else?" Philip held up his hands to make Jarod stop talking.
"You can call me whatever you feel comfortable with, Dad or Philip, it doesn't matter to me." Jarod was silent for a moment thinking about it.
"Well since you are my father, it would only make sense to me to call you Dad. I mean it would be weird if I didn't." He bit his lower lip in slight hesitation as he stared into his father's blue eyes. "I'd like to call you Dad, if that's alright?"
Philip couldn't hold back his smile. "That's fine, in fact I'd really like that." After that there were several moments of silence between the father and son as Philip saw his son in a new light. Mentally he was checking the features Jarod had that he'd inherited from him, his blonde hair, sun-kissed complexion … and of course the trademark of all Kiriakis children … the dimples. He was snapped out of his checklist when he realized Jarod was calling him.
"Dad … Dad are we finished talking?"
Philip started to answer him but was stopped when he noticed Victor waiting a while back behind Jarod. Victor's eyes were scanning Jarod having heard him call Philip Dad. "Uh … yeah we're finished. But, could you do me a favor and get me something to eat from the snack machine while I talk to your grandfather." He reached for his wallet, but Jarod stopped him.
"Dad, I don't need any money I still have some left over from the trip."
Philip pocketed his wallet still looking at his father. He paused for a moment and looked at Jarod. "FYI Jarod, when we get home your mom and I will have a little talk about the little stunt you pulled on the airplane." Jarod nodded and continued walking. When he was no longer within hearing distance Philip inquired, "What are you doing here?"
"Do I need a reason to be here? Your wife, my daughter-in-law and the mother of my grandchildren had an accident. Couldn't I just be here to offer my support?" Victor replied.
"Yes, any other person. But not you. Especially not when you think my wife is a liar, had an affair from which she getting ended up pregnant and giving up our son without my knowledge. And yes, I did say Jarod is our son because he is my biological child."
"Well it's not like she's never lied to you before, son. Wait a second, did you say Jarod is yours?" He was astounded with disbelief; he had no idea that there was even a chance that Jarod would be Philip's son. Although, that would be the logical assumption.
"Yes, I won't get into specifics of how I found out because it is very sorted. But, I will say that what happened only makes me more determined to insure that Chloe is never hurt by anyone again and that includes you." His blue eyes were crystal like with anger as a storm raged through them turning the blue into icy silver. "Chloe is my wife and you're to treat her with respect. How could you accuse her of lying to me and threaten to take my children away from her? Why would you do that and on top of that, why would you tell her such a far-fetched lie that I am going to divorce her?" Philip asked all these questions in a quiet, calm voice full of distain.
"I was simply protecting your children for you. Philip, you left here not telling anyone, not even your own wife, where you were going. It seems to me, I made perfectly logical assumption. If anything you should be thanking me for having your children's best interest at heart."
He arched his brow incredulously. "You're kidding, right? Because if you think I'd leave my children with you for their best interests you have to be joking. I would have thought that you had given up on that years ago. Since you clearly haven't I'm going to explain this to you one last time, once and for all. I am married to Chloe, she is my wife, the woman I love, mother of my children, Jarod, the twins, and Jessica; that alone should tell you to give her respect. But, obviously it doesn't," he added on aside before continuing. "If you ever, and I mean ever, Victor take it upon yourself to attempt to ruin my marriage or threaten it in any way, you will never see my children again. They will not be pawns in your little games. They will not grow up in a war zone like I did. Not MY children."
"You did not grow-up in a war zone Philip." Victor objected.
"You don't know how I grew up, Victor, because you were never there and even when you were you never paid attention to me. When you did it was either because you wanted to put me against my mother or I was in trouble. My children will never grow-up like I did. They will never be used like that. And if I have to I will cut you out of their lives completely. I don't want to do this because you are my father and have always been there for me. But, now I'm a father I have to protect my children the only way I know how. So I'm giving you a choice here, Dad, stop trying disrupt my marriage, stop meddling in my life or I won't allow you anywhere near my children ever again." With that he walked away pass his father down the hallway.
Victor watched as his son walked back down to his son. Instead of being angry or upset by Philip's ultimatum, he was impressed. Philip definitely had that Greek, fiery Kiriakis blood running through him. He was both amazed and taken back by the conviction Philip had spoken to him with. Although, he never thought to be on the receiving end of such a speech it did show him a new side to Philip and he was proud of that. Despite the way he had grown up, Philip turned out to be a better man, everything Victor had wanted him to be and more.
He supposed that was greatly due to Chloe's influence on his son, although he would never admit it. She had given his son the one thing he, himself never could … a family to love and depend on. Perhaps, it was time to bury the hatchet between them and finally become a family. It was about time, he did something for Philip, yes it was about time. Because the last thing he wanted to do was make an enemy of his son … Philip was clearly not a man to be crossed. He knew just what he would do to bridge the gap; he'd introduce himself to his new grandson. "Yes, that is exactly what I'll do." He said to himself as he started a trek toward the waiting area.
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Chloe was sitting in the hospital bed looking at the window. She had been waiting for the doctor to come and tell her what was wrong. Frankly, the waiting was starting to get to her it was nerve-racking. And added to the fact that she hadn't seen hide nor hair of any of her family by now she didn't know what to expect. Then suddenly the door opened and in came the doctor.
Chloe turned her head toward the doctor and asked, "What's wrong with me?"
"We ran several tests and we couldn't find a definite cause for your abdominal pains. They maybe your body reacting to the changes––," Chloe interrupted her.
"What about the bleeding? You have to have some idea about that."
"It looks like one of your vaginal blood vessels burst due to the undue pressure of your body adjusting to your pregnancy. Everything is fine, Mrs. Kiriakis, we did an––,"
"It's Doctor Kiriakis and I'm not pregnant, I can't be." Chloe shook her head in disbelief.
"Dr. Kiriakis, you are pregnant. According to our preliminary tests," she consulted the chart she held in her hand. "Six weeks pregnant in fact. You did know about your pregnancy didn't you? Because it seems like a surprise."
Chloe shook her head, in shock not knowing what to say. When she finally looked up she saw the confusion on the young doctor's face. "About two years ago I was pregnant … my daughter was born stillborn. They said that it was placental abruption. I-I was told that I might never be able to carry a baby to full term if I ended up pregnant again."
The doctor frowned. "Dr. Kiriakis, I can understand your concern, having stillborn child is very hard to deal with not only emotionally but physically too. However, I'm sure that you can have a healthy child again. What happened to you was probably an isolated incident and will not affect your ability to carry a child to full-term." A beeping sound rang through the room. The doctor reached into her pocket on the lab coat and pulled out the pager. "I'm being paged by the ER, I need to go. I'll be back later to discuss this more with you. Okay,"
Chloe nodded silently still reeling from the shock of finding out about her pregnancy. As the door to her room closed her hand moved to cover her stomach. She thought she would never be able to have another child after Katherine died. But, somehow she'd been blessed again, looking down at her stomach she whispered. "I don't know what I did to be given another child to love. But, I won't let anything happen to you, no one will ever take you away from me. Never." She promised her unborn child willing the child her love and affection automatically.