Chapter 5:

"Lex, how could you be so insensitive, I can't believe you." Amber said, shaking her head. She had been berating him for the better part of an hour and seemed to show little sign of slowing down soon. "How could you say that to her? What ever possessed you?"

"Hey, what was I supposed to say, there she was, just standing there, staring at me."

"Oh, I don't know. How about Hello May, How are you, or how about answering my question, which was what are you doing here." Amber continued loudly.

"Well, how was I to know she was going to faint, May's one of the toughest people I know, she can take anything."

"That was before Lex," Trudy said softly, "She's different now, more fragile."

"What does that mean…Is she sick, is the baby ok?" Lex said, looking at Trudy confusedly.

"No Lex, she's not sick, just depressed…very depressed."

"Is that all? She'll get over it." Lex answered callously.

"No Lex, she won't just get over it." Trudy said firmly and gave him a hard look.

"She's getting worse Lex." Amber shook her head as she spoke, "She doesn't come down to eat with us anymore. She's always up in her room crying. We don't know what to do for her. We're trying to get her involved. But when Trudy and I asked her to help us with something just now, she threatened to leave the mall. She was on her way out when she ran into you."

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that she ran into me then. She'd never make it on her own out there like that," said Lex.

"We could have stopped her," Amber said to Lex, trying to take Lex's ego down a rung or two.

As Lex eyed Amber, Ellie and Salene came out of May's room and joined them.

"Well, it looks like she's alright. She just needs to get something in her stomach and rest for awhile." Ellie said to them.

"I wish Patch was here," Said Trudy sadly.

"We all do Trudy, but we're trying to find him, I've sent out messages to all the surrounding Tribes. We'll get word soon, I'm sure." Amber said, trying to sound like she believed it.

"Well, it's not easy to run a hospital with no doctor," said Ellie wearily.

"But what about May?" Lex said loudly, "Why did she faint?"

"Probably the shock of seeing you," Salene said, giving Lex a harsh look.

"Are you saying I'm not welcome here Salene."

"Welcome…welcome…" Salene looked at him as if he were a bug, her voice slightly raised, "as far as I'm concerned Lex, you've never been welcome here, you're just like a stray dog we can't seem to get rid of."

Lex stood up and took a step toward Salene, a dangerous look on his face.

"Enough you two!" Amber said in her most intimidating manner.

Trudy added in her motherly tone, "This is no time for fighting amongst ourselves. May is in trouble and we need to be thinking about her."

"I'm going to go warm up some soup and see if I can get her to eat." Ellie said helpfully, heading off toward the kitchen.

"I'll go and get some sleeping pills from the medicine chest." Salene said, turning her back on Lex.

"I'd better go check on the kids and make sure they're alright," said Trudy, starting off down the stairs.

Amber started to walk away from Lex, then remembering his sudden appearance in the mall, she turned around, looked him directly in the eye and said seriously, "Lex, what are you doing here?"

Lex stared back at her defiantly for a moment then said "Casino business, I need some computer software from Jack."

The mall was silent and dark; all of the others were asleep. Lex stood outside May's room in the darkness, staring hard at the door. He had been here for what seemed like hours, trying to decide how he felt about May, the baby, the future. What he had decided was that he just didn't know.

He had never thought about May like that, had never seen her as someone that he could have a relationship with. Sure, they had slept together a couple of times. But there had never been anything serious between them; neither of them had wanted that.

And now they were going to have a baby…what did that mean to him? He had always wanted a child. Not that he thought he would be a good father; he would probably be lousy at it, just like his father had been. But he had never been able to stop thinking about what he had lost when Zandra had died. She had been pregnant too, but that had been different, they had loved each other, hadn't they…

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. There was too much to think about, too much to try and fix, but it all came down to one thing…the baby.

Lex walked towards the door and turned the handle. And there he was in May's room, standing over the bed. Looking down at her, he could tell she was obviously several months along. Since he had left the night of her announcement, he had never seen the truth of her words, never had the proof that she was carrying his child staring him in the face. Without conscious thought his hand moved to cover May's extended belly. He felt a small kick on his hand and a knot formed inside his chest. His child…he had just felt his child kick for the first time. He stared in wonder at the place where his hand rested. A baby…a son…to replace the one that he lost…the one that he almost had with Zandra.

His gaze moved over May's sleeping form to her face. Her makeup was run with tears and her skin was deathly pale. It was like Trudy had said, she looked fragile. Lex felt a strange need to protect her, to help her, to help the baby…his baby. With that thought he lay down beside May and pulled her sleeping form into his arms…