Karen hated doctors. All those medical people telling you things like "You need to drink less" or "Only take pills you actually need to take." I mean, blah blah blah blah blah! Jeez! But, today she had to be civil to those…do-gooders. Today she had to have her first scan. Grace had booked her in, telling her it was for her and the baby's own good. Bless her; she really cared about her well being. Karen was gradually beginning to trust Grace more and more. She really saw her as a friend and although it would take a while to break old habits of closing up, she really felt like she could talk to Grace about anything. The same was becoming of Will. There was a time when Will would have laughed at her if she had asked him for help but now he was there for her. She hoped he would be there for her today, Grace couldn't make it to the scan (some design emergency or something) so Karen was hoping Will would take her place and come with her. She didn't want to go on her own, she needed someone to hold her hand. Not that she'd admit she was scared, but she was. She was terrified. Terrified that something would be wrong, that all this hassle would have happened for nothing. She desperately needed a friendly face to reassure her.
She knocked on Will and Grace's apartment door, hoping he would be in.
"It's open!" a voice called from inside.
She pushed the door open and stepped in. "Oh, hey, Karen. Grace isn't here at the moment…some design thing…"
"Oh, I know about that. It's you I needed to talk to, honey."
He looked surprised, but pleased. "Me? What do you need me for?"
"Well, I'm supposed to have my first scan today and I've got a problem getting there…" She couldn't tell the complete truth, she wasn't at that stage yet. "…So, can you take me?"
Will smiled. He knew exactly why Karen wanted him to take her; Grace couldn't go and she needed someone to go with her, to be by her side, where Stan should be. He understood Karen a lot more than she thought he did. He would act oblivious to her plan, of course. He didn't want to embarrass her. "Sure. What time's your appointment?"
She glanced at her Rolex, "Half an hour."
"Right, we'd better get going then." He picked up his jacket and keys and they headed out of the door. Karen felt satisfied with herself, she thought she'd fooled Will and now she'd have someone with her. Will felt satisfied too. He was actually pleased she'd asked him. He didn't mind being second place to Grace, he knew the two of them were good friends and he didn't want to get in the way of that. The only thing that worried him was the fact that Karen hadn't asked Jack. Were things really ok between them? Maybe things were still iffy after last week's episodes. He didn't know, but he wanted to find out. Maybe he could ask Karen while she was at the doctors.
"Karen Walker?"
Both Karen and Will looked up at the nurse's voice.
"That's me then." Karen said as she stood up, her high voice wavering slightly. Will noticed this and stood up too. "I'll come in with you." He said, placing a hand on her arm.
"Oh, you don't have to, honey. I'm fine by myself." She replied, secretly hoping he insisted on coming in.
"No, no, I want to. I've always wanted to see what goes on here anyway, see if it's anything like ER."
The nurse smiled, "Well, don't expect George Clooney."
Karen laughed, pleased that Will was making this so easy for her. He had a way of making uncomfortable situations not so and she was so thankful for that, especially now.
They both followed the nurse into the small room.
"She was right." Will murmured into Karen's ear, referring to what the nurse had said. "I think he's more George Burns than George Clooney!"
Karen stifled a giggle, trying not to burst out laughing in front of the doctor who was waiting for her.
"Hello, Mrs Walker. I'm Dr. Goldberg. Now then, I believe you're here for your first scan, is that right?"
She nodded, suddenly feeling serious again, despite the doctor's light-hearted attitude.
"Good, if you'd like to pop up onto the bed for me, we can begin."
She pushed herself up onto the bed, as he instructed and lay back breathing deeply.
"Your husband can sit on the chair if he wants."
Will and Karen both looked up. Will smiled, "Oh, no. I'm not her husband."
"Oh." The doctor said. "You are the father though, right?"
Will shook his head. "Nope, wrong again."
Karen spoke up. "He's a close friend and I want him here so he can stay."
Dr. Goldberg looked a little shocked but realising Karen was not to be messed with, he nodded his head, giving Will the signal to sit down.
"Right, if you'd like to lift up your shirt, I'll just put this gel on your stomach. It'll feel cold so don't panic when I put it on."
Karen quickly unbuttoned her shirt at the bottom, wishing he would hurry up so this would be over with.
After he had applied the gel to Karen's milky-white skin, Dr. Goldberg took out his probe and started to move it across Karen's stomach. Will and Karen both strained to look at the screen, not really seeing anything except black and white mess. But then Dr. Goldberg stopped moving the probe and held it in place.
"There you go, Mrs Walker. There's your baby."
Instinctively, Karen grabbed Will's hand, amazed by the sight before her. That small mass on the screen before her was her baby. Her baby. She was speechless. Will too could not speak. He was completely taken away by it and squeezed Karen's hand to show her that he was there for her, just as amazed as she was.
"Would you like a copy?" Dr. Goldberg asked, his eyes twinkling as he looked at the two spellbound people before him. No matter how many times he saw this scene before him, it always brought a smile to his face.
Karen nodded, still transfixed by the image on the screen.
"Well, Mrs Walker, everything seems fine." Dr. Goldberg said, wiping Karen's stomach and allowing her to re-button her shirt. "You're about 12 weeks pregnant and…"
Karen's head shot up and she stopped fixing her shirt. "What did you say?"
The doctor looked confused, as did Will. "I said you're about 12 weeks pregnant and…"
"Oh god."
"What?" Will asked. "What is it?" He looked concerned and held her hands with his as Karen turned white.
"It can't be…I mean…oh god…"
"Karen, talk to me, what's going on?"
Dr. Goldberg looked concerned too. "Mrs Walker? What's happened?"
She looked at them both, not daring to tell them what was wrong. What would they think of her?
So, what do you think it is? It's pretty obvious really but I just thought I'd leave you hanging for a while! I'm evil like that! Mwah ha ha ha! R&R!