A/N – hey everyone. Thanks so much, I am feeling a bit better. Sleep is really the cure; hopefully by tomorrow I'll be much better. Anyways, there is still LOTS more to come where this story is concerned, and I'm starting to think of ideas for the next part… though I think I'm going to make it a little different than the last two…anyways, here's the next chapter!
Chapter 21:
Sue awoke slowly, unaware of where she was. Her thoughts flit back to the basement. She sat up suddenly, wondering what had happened. Jack instantly was at her side.
"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly. She turned to him – his eyes were tired and bloodshot. She nodded and hugged him with everything she could, all her emotions flooding to the surface.
"Is everyone okay?" she asked quietly. She allowed Jack to help her lay back down, as he took his seat beside her, his hand in hers.
"You and our baby are fine. You were dehydrated and stressed out. Dr. Mireck was worried you might go into early labour, but luckily you didn't. The other baby girl is in the NICU, the doctor said she might be there for a few weeks, but she should be okay." Sue sighed in relief, and turned to Jack with a smile,
"You checked on her?" She said, falling in love with him all over again. Jack hadn't even known where the baby had come from, but to make sure she was okay just made Sue more excited to the kind of father he was going to be.
"Of course I did. I figured you had found her when those men had taken you. She was identified as one of the baby's from one of the pregnant women who were kidnapped. Her father was killed at the Jefferson, her mother's body was found buried in the backyard. There was another mom and baby, as I'm sure you know who weren't as lucky." Sue nodded, a tear rolling down her face. The image of them laying in the corner of the basement haunted her thoughts. Suddenly she remember,
"What about Myles, is he okay? What happened?" Jack took a deep breath.
"He's alive. We found the house shortly after you left in the ambulance. Myles was fighting pretty hard. He knocked one of the guys out cold, the other had beaten him up pretty bad when we got there, but we were able to catch him. Neither of them are saying much but we think that they were both the killers. They're behind bars now. Myles is here in the hospital, concussion, a few broken ribs but he should be okay." Sue squeezed Jack's hand.
"I owe him everything Jack. He saved us." Jack looked at her, his eyes melting at the sight of her.
"What happened exactly Sue?" He started, "We still don't know - Myles is still unconscious." Sue nodded.
"I went to the washroom, Myles took me as usual. When I came out, there was a man who had taken Myles gun and was holding it to his head. They told us to follow them out of the hotel. Apparently they thought that he was my husband. Myles played along, and put his key ring on his finger. They took his gun, but knew that they had to get out of there fast, so they put us in the van and drove off. Myles cell rang, but we couldn't answer because they could hear us, so he silenced the earpiece, and I hid it in my bra. They searched us when we got out but didn't find it. They put us in the basement, we found the dead woman and her baby, and Myles found the little girl. Myles called you guys, but then his phone died. We knew you'd trace it anyways, so we figured it was only a matter of time." Jack nodded.
"As soon as Tara got the call, we tracked you down and started to put everything together to come get you." Sue smiled weakly at her husband. Knowing Jack, he would've done anything to find her.
"One of the men came down, and noticed that I was holding the baby. He told me that I was to take care of her. They wanted her alive. They gave me a bottle, and I fed her. Myles decided that it was more important to get the baby and I out, so he told me to hide under the stairs. He would call them down and I would run. I kept running and walking until I couldn't anymore. I kept thinking that one of them was chasing me, and I knew that I had to save that baby girl."
"Well, I'm just glad your safe." Jack said quietly.
"What are we going to do about the baby Jack?" Sue asked him, her eyes searching into his. "She lost her mother and her father. She's all alone. She needs someone. I want to go see her" Sue started to get up, but Jack quickly made her lie back down.
"No honey, you're staying in bed. Dr. Amelia said bed rest for the next week. You're only 7 and a half months along, the last thing we need is for you to go into labour early."
"Jack – I can't just leave her! She's fighting for her life, she's got no one." Jack turned to his wife, understanding her compassion. It was one of the things he loved so much about her.
"I'll go check on her okay?" Sue smiled softly.
"Thanks Jack. I don't know what to do, I can't help but feel a little responsible for her." Jack looked at her, knowing how she felt.
"I'll be back in a bit and let you know how she's doing okay? Just get your rest." Sue nodded and closed her eyes. Jack leaned over and kissed her on the forehead before making his way up to the NICU.
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"We normally don't let non family members in sir, but I guess in your case," Jack smiled at the doctor. He put on the gown and followed her to a little incubator.
"She's doing better," Dr. Graham told him, "Your wife took good care of her – if she hadn't have fed her and kept her warm, she probably wouldn't have made it. I'm guessing she was born a little premature. Her lungs haven't fully developed, but like I told you earlier, she should be released in about 4 weeks. If nothing else goes wrong. Were you able to locate her parents?" Jack looked at the doctor with sad eyes.
"They were both killed." The doctor looked kindly at the little one, pity in her eyes.
"I'll call up child services. The poor thing." She shook her head. "She's barely a week old and already alone. I'll let you two be. Now, since you are FBI and your wife took care of her, and now that I know her parents are not here, I'll put you and your wife on the visitor's list. She needs all the love she can get to help her survive."
"Thank you." Jack said quietly. The doctor left, and Jack looked over at the precious little girl. He reached his hand inside and took her frail one in his.
"Hi baby. I'm Jack. I just wanted to tell you to keep fighting. I know this might be scary but there are people who love you. I love you and my wife Sue loves you. And we're going to find you a great family okay? So just hang on. Don't give up baby." He continued to whisper to the little life beside him, amazed at the miracle she was. "I'm going to be a daddy soon. I'm really excited. I hope my baby is as perfect as you are."
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The next few days passed as a blur. Sue was admitted to the hospital and needed to stay an extra week. The doctor thought it as a precaution because she was starting to dilate slightly, have more back discomfort and weak contractions. Dr. Mireck assured the young couple that they were probably only Braxton Hicks, but she wanted to keep her there on observation and bed rest just in case. Sue got up only to use the washroom and visit the baby. She had finally convinced Jack to let her go see the girl.
Jack spent most of his hours in the hospital, except a few breaks where he either went to the bullpen to see what was happening, or went home for a shower. He made several visits a day to the baby girl, some on Sue's request, others on his own. It was early evening, and he had just said goodnight to the baby. He walked out of the NICU when a woman approached him.
"Mr. Hudson?" she asked,
"Yes?" Jack answered.
"Hello. My name is Brenda Jostler. I'm from child services. Dr. Graham told me that your wife was the one that had saved the baby girl." Jack nodded, "I was also informed about the situation in which the child was found, with both of her parents killed by the Jefferson Hotel killers."
"My wife was taken as well. She's almost 8 months pregnant, but she managed to escape with the baby. There were others who weren't as lucky."
"I'm glad to hear she's okay. We'll be placing this baby up for adoption shortly, once it's almost time for her to be released. If she is released before someone wants her, then she'll be taken to the local orphanage. Dr. Graham informed me that you and your wife are currently visiting her and acting as her guardians for now, so she told me to run everything through you. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all. I appreciate you telling me this. My wife and I have been quite concerned about her, and didn't want to leave her alone." The woman smiled.
"Of course. We'll that's all for now. Hopefully a family will come forward soon and take her, but you never know how long it will be." Jack's heart dropped. The thought of this poor baby being raised in an orphanage broke his heart. "Thanks for your help Mr. Hudson, have a nice day." As Mrs. Jostler walked away, Jack turned to look back through the window of the NICU, looking at the baby girl who had captured his heart. He walked back slowly to Sue's room, running into someone unexpected on the way.
"Myles? What are you doing out of bed?" Jack said in surprise. Myles had a nice cut and bruise on his forehead, among many others. He grinned sheepishly, Bobby and Tara coming up close behind.
"What, you think I was going to sit in bed all day? I'm not an invalid." Jack laughed. Leave it to Myles to have his old sarcasm back. Bobby and Tara came up beside them, hand in hand,
"Hey mate – how's the Sheila? We just popped by to see Myles and Sue."
"Sue's doing okay, still on bed rest. I was just in the NICU…" Bobby grinned. He saw how attached Jack was getting to the little girl, and knew that in a few short weeks he would be coddling his own baby.
"Good, we'll stop by and see Sue after we get Myles back to bed. The nurse was frantic, wondering where he had gone and we offered to go look for him." Tara answered with a smirk.
"Do you think one of you could bring me my own clothes? I wouldn't mind going home and these outfits don't suit me. And I'm tired of my rear-end sticking out the back." Bobby just rolled his eyes. Myles had only been awake 2 days but he was already back to his old self. Jack turned to his best friend and said,
"Why don't you two go see Sue, while I take Myles back to his room? I need to talk to him anyways and Sue would love to see you both." They agreed, bid their goodbyes to Myles and headed back down the hall. Once Myles had settled back in his bed, Jack took the chair next to him.
"How are you really feeling?" Jack asked quietly,
"Well…My head is pounding but other than that not too bad," he grinned at Jack. "Are you angry I was cheating with your wife?" Jack couldn't help but smile.
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to thank you for doing what you did. I owe you big time. If you hadn't have been there…" Myles looked at Jack, in a way he never had before. Respect and admiration.
"Jack, don't mention it. I would do it again. Ever since Sue was taken last September I realized how wrong I was about her. I did what I could to save her. I'm just glad it worked. You know, sometimes I envy you. I wish I had a beautiful wife waiting for me at home, a kid on the way. Don't take that for granted." Jack smiled.
"If there's anything I can ever do,"
"Well, you could give me your parking space since Lucy took mine…" Myles started with a grin. Jack laughed. Then, more seriously Myles asked,
"How's that little baby we found?" Jack filled him in.
"She's in the NICU, she's going to make it but with both of her parents gone, Child Services is going to put her up for adoption."
"How do you feel about that?" Myles asked, seeing right through Jack.
"I don't know, the thought of her being alone even longer bugs me. I've been spending a lot of time with her and I feel like there's something more I should do." Jack noticed the glimmer in Myles's eye.
"Maybe there is." Jack sat in silence, contemplating what Myles meant. A few moments later, the doctor came in. Jack excused himself and said goodbye to Myles, still thinking about what he had said. He walked down the halls towards Sue's room, wondering what was the right thing to do.