Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing…
A/N: T-minus 33 hours until classes start and I'm beginning to feel like Dory from Finding Nemo: "Just keep typing, just keep typing…" Happy Reading!
Chapter 12:
Mac groaned, or at least thought she groaned but no sound actually came out. She was floating, no not floating, but was in a haze. Struggling, she tried to think last thing she remembered. Through the fog she went back to the panic she felt in Harm's apartment as she listened to Mic's angry voice outside the door. When she cracked the door open, he pushed through with enough force to send her stumbling into the couch.
She remembered regaining her balance, but then it kind of faded in and out. They argued loudly. He accused her of having an affair, but she denied it. He demanded to see the kids, but she refused. That's when he swung his fist at her, but she ducked out of the way and managed to hit him with a right hook square in the face. This was their first all out fight and the first time she had ever hit him back. For a moment he was surprised, but before Mac could hit him again Mic swung again and connected with her chin.
Racking her brain, she tried to figure out what happened after that. Mic was a former boxer and had the physical strength to overpower her, but she was a Marine and one punch should not know her out. Then she remembered stepping back and hitting Karoo. The stuffed toy was just enough to throw her off balance, causing her to fall and hit her head on the sharp corner of the coffee table. Oddly enough, she took great pride in the fact that it was not Mic who knocked her out, but a table.
As she contemplated how ridiculous that was, Mac realized how ridiculous her current situation was. She was wrapped up in a haze having a virtual conversation with herself. Then it hit her, Nat and Talia. She left them in Mattie's apartment. Did Mic find them? Desperately she tried to break away from the haze, but it held her fast. With each second, her panic grew and she felt as if she were falling deeper and deeper into the haze.
Harm sat by Mac's bedside willing her to wake up. He'd been doing it for the past almost five hours and Mac had yet to stir. She was rushed to the emergency room, and the doctors immediately ran a battery of tests including a CT and a MRI, which showed swelling around Mac's brain from the blow to the head. The doctors were confident that the swelling would go down on its own, as long as she woke up in the next eight hours. If she did not, then they would have to do it surgically or else risk her slipping into a coma.
Five hours. That was all that stood between Mac and surgery. Fifteen minutes. If court had recessed that much earlier he may have been able to prevent all this. It was almost ironic how Mac, with her amazing sense of timing, was now lying in the ICU all because of timing. As he sat there watching her breath, Harm thought back to when he found her.
He climbed the stairs two at a time, too impatient to wait for the elevator. When he reached his floor he headed straight for his apartment, knowing that Nat and Talia would be fine for the moment at Mattie's. The door was cracked open and he quickly went inside to find the apartment silent and seemingly empty. He scanned the place finding no movement in the bedroom, but spotted a well manicured hand sticking out from behind the couch.
"Mac, come on, wake up," he raced over to her unmoving form quickly assessing her injuries. At first he saw nothing, but then he noticed the small pool of blood next to her head. He checked her vitals and was relieved to find them strong. Knowing that an ambulance was on its way, Harm stood up to check on the kids, "Help is coming, hang in there."
Using his key, Harm entered Mattie's apartment to find Nat desperately trying to stop his little sister from crying. Seeing his uncle, Nat immediately raced into his arms and was enveloped into a hug, "Hey buddy."
"Where's Mummy?" he asked immediately instead of a greeting.
"Um, she's feeling a little sick, so she sent me to check on you and Talia," Harm lied picking up the crying Talia.
"I want to see her."
"You can't right now, okay," Harm told him and heard the sirens of an ambulance over the baby's cries. Through the window he watched the ambulance pull into the parking lot, "Okay, Nat–"
When he turned away from the window, he was surprised to find the little boy gone. Harm instantly knew that Nat had gone looking for his mother and raced off to his apartment, hoping to find Nat before he found his mother. Stepping into his apartment, he knew he was not fast enough.
"Mummy?" Nat whispered crawling next to Mac, "Mummy, wake up! Mummy it's me, wake up!" he noticed Harm walk in and asked in a terrified voice, "Unca Harm why won't Mummy wake up?"
"She's just sleeping," he beckoned for Nat to come to him, "Come here buddy."
"No!" he shouted and turned his attention back to his mother, "Mummy, please wake up. Talia's crying. Wake up!"
"Come here," Harm bent over to pick him up.
"No! I want to stay with Mummy!" Nat cried as Harm pried him away.
"It's okay, Nat. It's going to be okay," Harm said calmly trying to soothe the screaming children while trying to keep it together himself.
Harm was awoken from his reverie by the sound of the monitors next to Mac's bed beeping. Two nurses rushed in with a doctor and immediately began discussing her sudden erratic vitals. Stepping back to let the doctors work, Harm leaned against the wall and began to pray, "Come on Mac, stay with us. Your kids need you. I need you."
The thought of her kids alone without her terrified Mac, and she could feel her terror consuming her. She left her kids in Mattie's apartment and now she had no idea where they were. It was her fault. She never should have left them and gone back to Harm's apartment. Harm. She remembered calling him before Mic showed up, and she knew that Harm was with her kids. He promised to protect her and them. They had to be okay, because Harm was with them.
As if it was the antidote to a poison, the thought of Harm immediately pulled her from the panic that was enveloping and she found herself returning to that comfortable haze. But this time, Mac refused to stop in the haze and pushed through it. Come on Marine, she thought to herself and she slowly felt her senses return. The first thing she felt was a stabbing pain in her head, but she kept going. Slowly but surely she managed to blink her eyes open.
"Mac," Harm immediately rushed to her side pushing past the nurses. Seconds before he had been relieved to see her vitals stabilize, but now that she opened her eyes he was overjoyed.
"Nat?" she whispered, "Talia?"
"They're both fine," he gave her hand a squeeze, "They're with Harriet and Bud."
"Good," she said her voice already sounding stronger.
"You gave us quite the scare, Mrs. Brumby," the doctor said, using the name he got from her insurance cards.
"Mac, please," she corrected quickly and tried to sit up.
"Hold on, let me check some things first," the doctor did a brief examination and then raised the bed to a sitting position, "Looks good."
"I want to see my kids," she turned to Harm, "Bring them to me."
"I'll call Harriet and tell her to bring them to the Hospital," he answered
"They're not here?"
"It's been over five hours. They needed to eat and rest," he explained, hoping that both of them were actually doing that. Harriet was able to calm them down considerably, but they were still pretty agitated when they left the hospital.
"Oh," she checked her internal clock and realized that he was right. Is now 5:18 and Mic had shown up at 11:30, "Call her."
"I will."
"I hate to be the bad guy," the doctor broke in, "But I can't allow you to bring children into the ICU."
"Either you bend the rules or I will leave here AMA," Mac said firmly, "Either way, I am seeing my children tonight."
"How soon can she be moved from ICU?" Harm asked, trying to find a compromise that would prevent Mac from attacking the doctor.
"If her CT comes back clear I can get her in a regular room in an hour," the doctor answered, "I don't want to keep you from your children, but I have to follow hospital policy."
"Fine," Mac sighed.
"Good," he smiled, "I'm going to go set this up and we'll move you down to radiology in a minute."
"I'm going to go call Harriet," Harm squeezed her hand one more time.
"Thank you," she gave him a grateful smile and could tell he understood all that she was thanking him for.
"You're welcome," he tossed her the flyboy grin she missed so much when she was in Australia.
"Harm," she stopped him in the doorway, "Where's Mic?"
"I don't know," he answered honestly and she gave a slight nod in response. What Harm did know was that Brumby was a dead man.
A/N: So that's night quite as bad of a cliffie, so can I come out now?
Nix707 – I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you either and I love that you think I'm honored that you think I'm brilliant, because after catching up on Full Throttle I think the same of you. Anyway, the way I say it Mac's making progress in terms of asking for help. Last time she wouldn't even call Harm and this time she left him a voicemail. I like to see that as growth that may one day lead to trust and admitting her gasp feelings. I know…scary thought. Hmm…I don't know which I want you to update. How about both, please? (Will it work if I'm polite too?)
Shalimar2 – Muahaha! But it's so easy to be evil!
JamieAKAaclassyone – Oh, Harm's connection with the kids will definitely be important because they're the center of Mac's world. And don't think that him being unable to stop Nat and Talia from crying is some foreshadowing about his future relationship with Mac…because I would not stand for that!
Janlaw – As I've been writing this I've been trying to rationalize why Mac hasn't contacted the police and I've managed to come up with a semi-cohesive reason. Based on my knowledge of international custody cases, if Mac got a restraining order and Mic contested it would go to court. Mac's trying to keep the divorce out of court because it would have to be tried in Australia's courts and could mean separation from her children, which she will not stand for. Does that make any sense? I'm trying to work some of this rationale into the story itself but I'm having a hard time, so instead I just leave long rambling review replies.
Major Passion – Thanks! Saving face is definitely a concern for Mac, which is why she's been so hesitant to tell anyone outside of Harm. In my world, she feels guilty for falling into the same position as her mother. And remember, Mic didn't knock her out, the table did.
VeroChan – I know what you mean, there's a difference between a chauvinistic hero and the happy Harm heroness. (How do you like that alliteration?) Anyway, thanks for reading!
Macandharmlover – Yeah, Mac's definitely a little crazy, but her logic was that Nat may recognize his father's voice and walk into the hallway, which in her mind would be worse than anything Mic could do to her.
Cbw – Harm didn't get there in time and Mac didn't take Brumby out, but she did get in a good punch before the table (not Mic) had it's revenge. So maybe that kind of works?
TV Angel 711 – Mac wasn't too hurt, she's tough. Oh, and saying Brumby is no Harm is an understatement; he's not even in the same category. In this fic he's definitely now worthy of being the dirt on the bottom of Harm's show.
xLovexNxPainx – I couldn't resist having Nat inherit her gifts. Talia's got a bit of it too, how else does a 10 month old manage to wake up at precisely the same time every night?
Duchovny0901 – Thank, I love keeping readers on their toes…hehehe!
Sakura – I'm glad you like their names and nicknames. My mom used to do the "Mr." thing to my brother when he was little and whenever I babysit I do the same thing, so I couldn't resist putting it in here. I haven't had Mac refer to Talia as Tali-babe recently, but I'm going to have to bring that one back next chapter. Now to the real world, I'm happily starting my sophomore year at Vanderbilt University.
Anita – Whenever there's trouble, he's here on the double…it's Hero Harm!
Dansingwolf – I hope you had an excellent vacation and I'm glad you liked all the history with Mac/Brumby. Harm's attention has been focused completely on Mac and her feelings and he's basically been ignoring his own building rage against Brumby, but now that she's safe in the hospital Harm can get him.
MiDushiNoSushi – I only made you wait 24-hours, so you shouldn't be too upset…hehehe! And I could have left this one when her vitals became erratic, but I decided that would create a ridiculously short chapter and just be cruel.
Jaggurl – I can't help it…I just love them so much!
Southernt – Is it safe to come out? cautiously peeks around the corner The good thing is that Mac has finally hit the bottom in terms of the physical anguish Brumby can cause because Harm will not let anything else happen to her. Unfortunately, there's the emotional stuff to get through, but Harm can help with that too.
Pain – NO! Not the munchkins, anything but that! Hehehe! I'll be better from now on I promise. crossing her fingers behind her back in hopes that munchkins won't notice
Lehcar412 – Thanks, I'm glad you like it!