Debbie had fallen asleep in the corner of the waiting room curled up in a chair. Sydney sipped on his coffee. Broots paced the floor. The carpet would have worn out if Sydney had not stopped him.

"Lyle had known all along of Parker's whereabouts."

"H-how?" Broots asked nervously,

"He followed us one day. If anyone would have known about Parker, he knew it would had been us. He knew of her pregnancy. And he knew Jarod would have appeared eventually."

"Did he have to shoot him? Does he have no heart at all?" Broots raised his voice.

"We are talking about Lyle." Sydney answered coldly.

"Why did he help Jarod instead of just leaving him to bleed? It doesn't make sense. You're the shrink, Sydney. Tell me."

"With Mr. Lyle, it's hard to know. Maybe seeing Miss Parker in her state of motherhood changed his mind. I really don't know." Sydney looked down at the floor.

"If it wasn't for Jarod, I wouldn't have won custody of Debbie. I could kill that Lyle. Couldn't you, Sydney?"

The doctor remained quiet.

Broots broke the silence. "I've learned that pauses or silence when asked a question are actually admissions to the question."

Sydney stared at the computer whiz but said nothing.

JMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMPJMP

Love should have brought Jarod and Miss Parker joy and happiness. Instead, terror and sadness accompanied their lives. It pained her to have watched other couples with opened relationships, never having to look behind their backs for that unexpected gust of wind to suddenly change their course of life.

Several hours had past. Parker leaned back in her chair. Her eyes were on his every movement. Jarod's chest slowly rose then fell with each painful breath he took. At one point, he frowned. She wondered if there were memories of the confrontation between them, he and Lyle, that moment, that split second, before her brother so unmercifully pulled that trigger. Once was not enough for that bastard, but twice. She had heard gunshots before, but this time, the sound of shots were plugged into her love like a human target. As the bullets penetrated his insides, she too, felt the pain, when her heart exploded into shattered pieces.

She made her way to the window. The sky was dark. It was also somber. She literally had signed his death warrant for having loved the "Pretender". She blamed her heart who disobediently ignored her cries of request of not wanting to love him. Instead, there was no greater love than what they felt for each other.

The Parker rule. Having fallen in love with the enemy was definitely not on the top of her list. Rules were meant to be broken, and loving him was indeed the Parker curse. Yet, she doesn't know of any other way. She doesn't know how not to love him. Logic and reason had gone out the window where their love was concerned. She had never known anyone who looked at her the way he did and she loved him with all of her heart.

Parker was not afraid of getting hurt. If she had been given a chance, she would have cut out Lyle's heart, the way he had cut hers piece by piece the very minute he pulled that trigger at Jarod. The one thing that stopped her from having done anything physically to him, was her precious baby. Jarod's child, whom she was afraid would never know his father. She grew up with one parent. Would history cruelly repeat itself? Would her son be without a father and be raised with just one parent, like herself?

Their hopes and dreams stood in front of them these last few months. It was meant for them to have reached out and to be held on forever. But, it slipped away before they could have completely hung on to it. "The Centre" was to be blamed for their now broken promises to each other. Their dreams were lost, but, mostly, the thought of losing Jarod was the most frightening of all.

Miss Parker heard a soft gasp. She returned back to her sitting position and buried her face in her hands. There were so many tragedies in her life. The sudden deaths of her mother and Thomas had never left her. Now the one person who had helped her opened her heart, to have given her love in returned for hers, laid helplessly fighting for his own life.

She felt his touch. His gorgeous chestnut colored eyes were blood-shot. Parker drew her face close to his and smiled, tears rolled down her cheeks. His lips quivered. He tried to speak, but there were no sound coming out from that beautiful voice of his. Parker reached over, grabbed a wash cloth off the stand and dipped it into the cold pitcher of water.

"Better," she asked as she dabbed his mouth. He moistened his lips and nodded.

"It gets worse before it gets better. And it will get better, I promise." She fought back her tears.

"The baby?" He asked in barely a whisper. His eyes locked on hers.

"He's just fine. We're fine. Don't worry. We just need you to get better. Okay, sweetheart? And I'm not giving birth without you."

"I don't think you have a choice, honey. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about." She felt a lump in her throat. "Then, you'll be with me the next time we have another baby, okay?"

"Sorry," he repeated. "I'm sorry for leaving you."

"You're not going anywhere," she wiped his tears at the same time she wiped hers. "I love you, Jarod."

"I know. I've always known. Even when you told me you didn't love me. I knew. I just wished you didn't. Then it would be so easy for me to leave. It hurts. The pain. It hurts so much." He took deep breaths in between his sentences.

"Maybe, I'm selfish, but, you're not leaving me. I don't want to see you like this, but, don't give up on me. I'll kill you first," she hissed at him.

He smiled. "Hang on to me, honey. I really don't want to go. I really don't. Wrap your arms around my shoulders. Because, this is how I'd like to be held when I cry. "

TBC - Chapter 13