Lils: BAH! ONLY TWO REVIEWS! and one from Jaye, which really doesn't count. Thanks to our one reviewer...but could we have a little bit more? it would make me very happy! I mean us!

Chapter Three: What's your Sign?

The blonde woman sat down in the classroom, shrugging off her bag and grabbing her book on Astrology out of it. She winced as she bent down, the extra weight on her stomach pressing her painfully. "Gah, bloody…"

"Hello Claire," a wispy voice said. Claire looked up and smiled at the woman standing next to her chair.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Jentons," she smiled.

"Claire, dear, I've told you a million times—just call me Noel," Mrs. Jentons laughed. "So, how are you doing? And…?" She gestured towards Claire's swollen stomach.

"I'm good…Noel. And the baby…is good," Claire said slowly. Pain flashed across her eyes momentarily, but she blinked it away. She wouldn't think about how broken Thomas had left her. Wouldn't think about how she had to give up the baby because she couldn't support it.

"Don't worry, child," Noel said softly, sitting down. "You'll find someone to heal you—today, if the stars are right."

Claire smiled softly, shaking her head. "Thanks, Noel, but… Somehow I think maybe this once the stars could be wrong…"

No one was going to help the pregnant girl. No man in his right mind would go after a girl that had her condition. She would be alone forever.

The door opened, and a scruffy looking man stumbled in. He met her eyes, and Claire turned away, shivering at the obvious pain in his blue-gray eyes.

"Oh…hello. I don't believe I've seen you here before," Noel said, straightening up. "My name is Noel Jentons. And you are…?"

"Charlie," the man said, "just…just Charlie."

Noel raised a thin eyebrow. "Well…Charlie. Have a seat, if you will, the class will start in just a few minutes."

The man—Charlie—came and sat down beside her, looking at a book in his lap. The same book that Claire had.

"Hi," Claire said quietly. "I'm Claire. You look…really familiar for some reason."

Charlie sighed, "Once again: does everyone watch E channel?"

Claire laughed. "No—no it's not that. You look…I don't know. It's like I've seen you before, but I can't…can't place it."

"DriveSHAFT," Charlie replied, finally looking at her. "You heard of them?"

"Um. I don't think so."

Charlie grinned, seeming relieved. "You have no idea how great that is to hear."

"Why? What's DriveSHAFT?"

"The band I was in," Charlie replied. "Really big in the UK, but we split up."

"Ah. That's…too bad."

Uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah. It is."

Claire checked her watch, impatient for the class to start so she could have something else to concentrate on. The man next to her seemed nice, but he smelled awful, and looked a mess. She knew he was just trying to be conversational, but it was uncomfortable. She wasn't sure what he wanted, but she knew he was edging toward something. And he wouldn't stop talking. Some people talked a lot when they were nervous.

"So…Claire…you, uh, really in to this Astrology?"

"Yes." Claire was looking at her stomach, wondering why the class hadn't started yet.

"Me too. Yeah. Astrology's great. All the, uh, stars."

"Mmm. Is there something you want?"

Claire turned and looked at the grungy little man next to her, who looked shocked, his mouth dry. For a moment she thought he might throw up, but then he grinned.

"Knowledge. I mean, who wouldn't want to learn about those Gemini's?"

Claire couldn't help but smile. There was something infectious about the way this man laughed, and he had seemed to calm down, to find his nerve, and so did she. Although he still smelled bad.

"Charlie, right?"

"That's me."

Claire nodded her head, and extended a hand. He shook it, their second introduction going much smoother than the first.

Then the lights in the room dimmed, and the lesson began. Claire was sucked in, hanging on the instructors every word, but she soon found herself distracted. Charlie was tapping gallingly on his book cover, his eyes wandering. Twice Claire elbowed him to get him to pay attention, but she soon found herself giggling at his antics.

"Quiet, you," she laughed, exasperated.

"What? Are you actually enjoying this?"

Claire folded her hands on her lap. "Yes," she said, defensively, "I am." She gazed at Charlie, who had rolled his eyes. "Hey, it's very useful."

"Useful?"

"Yes! If you know…someone's sign…and the signs in the stars…you can tell instantly about them."

For some reason, Charlie suddenly looked nervous. "What can you tell about me?" he asked quietly, but Claire never got to answer. In the front of the room, the teacher had paused, giving her a look.

"Now, if we can continue, you'll see this array here…"

Claire was interested again, taking notes, although she was constantly aware of Charlie's eyes, watching her. It was still uncomfortable, and she couldn't get the feeling that he wanted something more from her.

The class finally ended, and Claire shoved her book and her notes back into her bag, and stood up slowly. She gasped and winced heavily. Charlie looked concerned. "Are you all right?" he asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"Y-yeah," Claire whispered. "The baby…just, he just kicked…I wasn't expecting it, I'm—oh no…"

"What?"

"I forgot that I have my appointment today…my appointment with the baby's doctor…" Claire snatched up her things and started to hurry towards the exit. Charlie went after her.

"Do you need a ride?" he asked. "Is it just the Sydney hospital? Because if it is, I was going over there anyway…"

"Why?"

"My friend, Levet, he got hurt in a fight," Charlie explained, looking pained. "The fight this morning at the hotel…it was me and this man that was yelling at his girlfriend, making her hysterical, and Levet tried to stop it, and the man pushed him, and he kinda…kinda snapped his neck on one of the tables…why am I telling you this? I just met you…"

"Yeah," Claire laughed. "But that's okay…I have my car over here. I'll see you around, Charlie…"

He smiled at her as she turned and started to walk off. She turned around, seeing that he was trying to hail a cab. He was waving his hands in the air, looking like a total idiot. Claire giggled, and he turned towards her, losing his balance and falling on his butt.

"Are you—okay?" Claire gasped between laughs. "I'm—I'm sorry, I shouldn't—laugh…"

"Nah, it's fine," Charlie grinned, pulling himself up. "Don't worry—I get that a lot. I'm a bit klutzy…"

Claire pulled a pen and her small pocketbook out of her bag. She wrote down "Claire Littleton" and then her phone number. She handed it to him. He smiled, but looked a bit confused.

"Wasn't expecting that," he mused, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…you heard Noel. When Mars is in the Southern sky, Aries can get a bit too bold for their own good," Claire replied with a smirky grin.

"Yeah…" Charlie shook his head in disbelief.

"TAXI!" Claire shouted, sticking out a hand. An orange-yellow car pulled over. Claire smiled at Charlie, and then walked back to her car, giggling at his astounded look the whole way.

Charlie watched Claire go, feeling completely and utterly lost. He stood on the curb, unaware that his taxi driver was yelling at him to get in or get lost. Finally he made himself look away from her back and climbed in the backseat. The taxi driver gave a long sigh and started the engine, but he didn't move.

At first Charlie was confused, but then he gasped and said, "Uh…the hospital. Yeah…sorry. It's not like you can read my mind…"

The driver huffed, clearly amused, and pulled away from the tall building the Astrology meeting had been held in, swerving around the parking lot at five under the speed limit, but Charlie didn't mind. He wasn't watching the meter.

A wave of mixed emotions collided with him, making his stomach jolt unpleasantly. He felt violently sick as he looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. He could almost hear Deloach laughing at him, egging him on. He had her number. She was falling for him…and he would have to break her heart.

She was pregnant for Christ's sake! How could he hurt a pregnant woman?

He was so deep in his own troubling thoughts that he didn't notice when the taxi came to a stop. The taxi driver had to lean back and tap him on the leg, causing him to jump.

"Maybe you need to get some sleep, mate," the driver commented.

Charlie didn't say anything. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out just enough bills to cover the meter. No tip. This seemed to put the driver in a bad mood, and he sped off the second Charlie stepped out of the door, not seeming to mind that the door wasn't closed all the way, or that he had nearly ran over the curb. But Charlie was in too much of a daze to care.

He walked right up to the hospital doors and wondered if he shouldn't get a room – he felt so sick he could barely stand, let alone walk. He stepped into the elevator, planning to sneak in a quick fix, but then a familiar voice from down the hall cried, "Hold the elevator!"

Doctor Sheppard jumped into the elevator at the last moment; his hospital robes askew, his forehead very sweaty. When he saw Charlie, he frowned.

"Charlie, right?"

Charlie nodded.

"You don't look too good, are you feeling alright?"

"Fine," Charlie snapped, annoyed. He didn't feel like a check-up at the moment. The doctor smiled, thinking maybe the same thing the taxi driver had.

"Been up all night?"

"I'm fine."

"Going to visit your friend?"

"Yeah." Charlie had slumped against the wall, feeling the cool mirrored surface vibrate.

"He's, uh…I want to say stubborn."

"Yeah. I know."

The elevator beeped. Doctor Sheppard jumped out, waved good-bye, and hurried out of site down the opposite hall. Charlie turned and made his way to Levet's room, slumping against the door once it shut behind him.

Alec was sitting up again, staring dully at the television screen. He perked up when he saw Charlie.

"How did it go? Hey…are you okay?"

"It went fine…better than fine…no I'm not really that okay," Charlie finished softly. He sat down and leaned forward. "I got her phone number. Levet, I can't do this…she was so sweet. She couldn't have done anything to that man to deserve this…and she's pregnant, Levet, I can't do this to her…"

"But you have to," Levet said firmly, burning a hole into Charlie with his eyes.

"But I can't!" Charlie whisper-yelled. "I can't do this! I don't even know why I got messed up in all of this! Stupid bleeding drugs are ruining my life—no, not mine: innocent girls who don't deserve things like that to happen to them!"

Levet gave him a look that plainly said, "I'm trying not to say I told you so".

"What're you watchin' anyway?" Charlie asked, hearing strangely familiar voices coming from the screen.

"News," Levet said mournfully. "Nothing else on."

"This morning, a young man was taken to a hospital after having his spine almost broken in a fight in a hotel," the white-blonde reporter said in an Aussie accent. "Now, we have some first hand interviews with the witnesses…"

Charlie's mouth dried. "Oh, Mary Mother of God…they can't be serious…"

The blonde woman from the hotel was there, dabbing at her eyes. "That awful man just came up and punched my boyfriend!" she sniffled. "And then when the kid tried to stop him…he shoved him. I hope that stupid British guy gets thrown in jail!"

"WHAT!" Charlie yelped. "She's blaming ME? Her prat of a boyfriend was the one that shoved you, not me! That—hey, are you—Levet?"

Levet's eyes were closed, and he was pale. The beeping of the machines behind him started beeping frantically, as if they were screaming for help.

"Levet?" Charlie said slowly. He took in all of what was happening. "NURSE!" he yelled.

So now Charlie was back in the waiting room, back with his hands cradling his head.

"Charlie?"

He looked up slowly, but then sat up quickly when he noticed whom it was. "C-Claire!"

"Yeah…what…what's wrong?"

"My friend, Levet…he kinda isn't…doing as well as he was this morning," Charlie said softly. "He's in surgery now. They're not sure if…if…"

His voice cracked embarrassingly. Claire looked at him sadly, and sat down by him.

"You don't have to keep going if you…if you don't want to," she said.

"No…that's…that's okay."

Charlie suddenly felt like he was about to burst. His mouth fell open, ready to spill everything to this woman alongside him. He wanted to say it all, to tell her his story, but for some reason, his voice died in his throat. He felt humiliated, like he had no right to even be sitting in the same room as her, and then he was frustrated. Why wouldn't Levet understand he couldn't do it? If Alec could only see her…be in his shoes, maybe then he would be able to comprehend his situation.

Rotgut, Charlie's mind hissed, and he couldn't help but agree. Then Claire was talking, and he decided he should listen.

" – sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Oh, oh yeah. I'm fine…o-okay, that is." Charlie knew he sounded like an idiot, and couldn't stand to look at her anymore. He stood up, hands on his hips, and pretended to look for something. He was relieved when he saw Doctor Sheppard rushing past.

"Excuse me, doctor?"

Sheppard stopped, annoyed at first, but then smiled at Charlie and Claire.

"What can I do for you, Charlie?" he asked, placing the clipboard he had been carrying under his arm, and the pen in the side of his mouth.

"Uh…" Guess I should have decided what to say first. "W-when will I be able to see him?"

"Alec?" Sheppard checked his clipboard. "He's still in the middle of surgery, Charlie."

"What's going on?"

Charlie had asked this question seven times already, and knew the answer pretty much by heart.

"Well, when he fell, one of his upper vertebra was snapped out of place, and just scarcely ruptured a nerve ending. That will really never heal, but he'll be okay after correctional…the real problem is that one of the main veins in the side of his neck was pinched. We didn't notice the problem at first because of all of the delicate nerve cords – we really didn't want to get in there just yet – until the blood clotted, cutting off blood supply to the brain.
"It probably won't result in any brain damage, though, because the problem was recognized so quickly. Right now we have an excellent team, so there's really no need to worry, or ask the same question every time a nurse or a doctor goes by."

He raised an eyebrow. Charlie bit his lip, nodding. Behind him, Claire, who had been listening, stood up, placing a hand gentle hand on his shoulder. He jumped even though her touch was warm.

"You…wanna go to lunch?"

"I – "

"Sounds like a good idea," said Sheppard with the smallest hint of a grin and a wink at Claire. "You really should get some fresh air."

"But what if Le – "

"Alec will be fine, and his operation will last a few more hours, and still after that there is the recovery phase…" he gave Charlie a look. "Trust me. You have all the time in the world."

Charlie allowed himself to be led out by Doctor Sheppard and Claire, although he felt too sick to even think of food. He kept his eyes averted as they made their way to Claire's car, and said nothing when he got in and sat down, taking extra care to make sure his seat-belt was adjusted just right, even though he hadn't worn a seat-belt in at least twelve years.

"You know anywhere you want to go?" Claire asked him as she pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

"No," Charlie admitted, "I haven't been here for more than two days."

"That's fine. I know this really great Mexican place…you like Mexican food, right?"

In truth, Mexican gave Charlie a miserable time, but for some reason he agreed, feeling like he couldn't say no to her. For some reason he didn't want her to stop smiling.

"Great!" she said, and stepped on the gas.

The drive was short, and so was conversation. They would talk about some things for a few minutes, and then the conversation would slowly die away again before picking back up. They talked about dogs, about Sydney in general, and Claire asked some questions about Astrology that Charlie couldn't answer.

They soon arrived in a small lot facing a tiny little tan-colored building with large, colorful windows. Claire hopped from the car enthusiastically, and made it to the door before stopping, holding her stomach.

"What?" Charlie couldn't help but feel like he should be worried about her.

"It's the baby…he's kicking." She laughed weakly. Charlie opened the door for her, stepping into a blast of warm, jalapeno-smelling air and fiesta music. They made their way to a booth in the back, and Charlie picked up his menu, finding nothing appetizing. He felt as though he would never be able to eat again.

On a whim, he put his menu down and stared at the young woman across from him. How could he do this? He couldn't do it…he couldn't. After lunch he would go back to the hospital and tell Levet he was leaving.

"Anything look good – what?"

"Nothing…" Charlie put a hand under his nose, sniffing awkwardly. Claire laughed, and waved for the waiter.

Soon they had their food. Claire's plate was full of colorful rice and two burritos. She dug into it eagerly, and leaned back, making a face like she was in heaven. Charlie laughed and stuck his fork into the beans in the corner of his plate.

He decided not to think about this job for the moment and just enjoy her company.

"So," Claire asked after a moment of stuffing their faces with gassy foods. "What's your sign?"

"Ehhhhh…"

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Not really into Astrology, are you?"

Charlie blushed. "Not really… I thought it looked interesting and so I tried it out."

"Well…what's your birthday?"

"December 8th," Charlie said promptly.

"So, you're a…Sagittarius." Claire thought for a moment, and then pulled the little book out of her bag. "Your horoscope for today… 'Don't do something that you will regret. It will haunt you for the rest of your life…if you don't do the regretful act, then you will meet the one that you will fall in love with.' Well, that's interesting."

Charlie looked bewildered, staring at the book with his mouth open.

"You okay?" Claire asked him. It took Charlie a moment to recuperate, avoiding her question by picking up his fork and scooping a mouth-full of rice onto his tongue, chewing thoughtfully, staring at his plate.

"Charlie?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"It matched, didn't it?"

"What?"

"I can tell. Your horoscope matched, didn't it? It's amazing how often that happens…" she leaned back, studying him. "So what was the, ah, 'regretful act'?"

Charlie was numbly aware that his mouth was hanging open, the words dead in his throat. But luckily he was rescued from his torment by the arrival of the check. He scooped it up quickly and paid and tipped the waitress. Claire was still looking at him, and he forced himself to meet her eyes.

"I had a great time today," he said. "It was nice to meet you, Claire."

"Yeah – I had a great time, that is – and…it was nice meeting you too, Charlie." There was a softness in her voice that made Charlie's stomach lurch.

"A-any chance I can, uh, I mean, we can have lunch again some time?"

"Sure. Definitely." Claire was nodding her head. "You have my number – "

"So I do!"

Charlie stood up and held the door open for her as they stepped into the parking lot.

"You want a ride back?" Claire asked.

"Nah, I don't want to put you out of your way. I'll take a cab," he replied.

"Oh, well…if you think you can catch one."

"Don't worry. I'll manage."

With that, they waved and parted, Claire making her slow way to her car, hand rested on her stomach, Charlie heading for the street. He felt his knees could give out at any minute, and could barely hold in his lunch on the way to the hospital. He knew he would have to tell Levet that he just couldn't do it…

You're pitiful, he thought scornfully. You tell yourself you won't fall for her, you'll get the job done—and what do you do? Fall for her quicker than you've ever fallen for anyone. Git.

"Taxi!" he said loudly. The cars kept passing. "Taxi! Come on, you ruddy cab, just pull the bloody 'ell over!"

No taxis would stop, and this time, Claire wasn't there to get one to pull over. Charlie sighed, and started the long walk back to the hospital.

END OF CHAPTER

Jaye: Woo, that was hard to write…this chappie was sad… In my opinion, at least. So yeah. Okay, I noticed that we have only SIX reviews—and two of them are from me. What's with that, people? C'mon, poke the button you know you want to…

Lils: Jaye is right ((glares scornfully)) you should all be ashamed of yourselves! I mean it's not THAT hard, is it? To push a button and type a review…YOU'RE ALL LAZY!

Just kidding!

But seriously, we could use some reviews! Please! Please with…uh…what is it you people like? Anyway, the story is about to get a lot more interesting, but if you want an update, you have to review!