Chapter 6: More than Friends?
"Ow," Stella's eyes open because of a sharp pain in her stomach. "Hey, Mac," Mac was sitting next to her at the hospital for the second time in eight months.
"Feeling okay?"
"Not really. What happened? I saw the guy and then I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, next thing I know, I'm here again."
"The suspect shot you. I knew I should have stayed with you."
"Did you catch the guy?" Stella asks quietly, already sure she knows the answer.
"No. I was too worried about you. Um… I have more bad news."
"Hm?" she answers telling him to go on.
"You lost the baby."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mac. I know how much you want a family," Stella says, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"What, you didn't want to have a family?" Mac asks.
"Yes, I guess I would like to have a family yet, but we're not even married yet, Mac."
"Well, maybe it is for the best right now," Stella yawns, still very tired from the anesthesia. "You know, we only have one month left before the wedding?"
"Yes," Stella says lying her head back down on the pillow. She soon falls into a deep sleep and Mac starts to doze off just as Hawkes enters the room.
"Hey, Mac," Hawkes says waking him up, "I brought you a change of clothes."
Mac looks down at his outfit and notices for the first time it has some extra coloring on it. "Thanks," Mac mutters sleepily and enters the bathroom to change. When Mac is through changing, he finds Hawkes sitting on the bedside next to Stella, talking to her even though she is asleep.
Hawkes turns to Mac, "She looks so beautiful when she sleeps. You're lucky to have her." Mac just watches as Stella sleeps, hoping she can leave the hospital soon.
"Was she just shot in the stomach?" Hawkes asks.
"Yeah, she just has a few small cuts and bruises, but other than that and the baby she was unharmed," Mac replies, the news finally setting in, and he thinks that it probably has not set in on her yet.
"What baby!" Hawkes gives Mac a questioning look.
"Whoops. We were going to tell you guys soon. She probably couldn't have hid it much longer."
"How long?"
"About three months. Are Danny, Lindsay, and Flack coming later?" Mac asks still focused on the woman in the bed.
"They said they would come by after their shift. But you know how they are. They won't rest until they get the guy who did this to her," Hawkes gestures to Stella as Mac chuckles quietly to himself about how true that statement is. "Speaking of which, I should get back to the lab. I hope you don't mind that I left," Hawkes pauses again while Mac nods his head knowing Stella would appreciate him being there. "Does she know about the baby?"
"Yeah, I talked to her earlier before you came for a while. You can tell the rest of the team, and please try to keep amongst our team only, the news if you want," Mac tells Hawkes.
"No, I'll let you tell them. I going to go now and leave you two alone," Hawkes says, then leans down to give Stella a kiss on the forehead.
"Take good care of her boss," Hawkes shakes Mac's hand as he exits and the doctor enters.
"Has she been up yet?"
"Yes, we talked for a while then she went back to sleep."
"Okay, by the looks of things she should be able to leave tomorrow. Does she have someone to stay with?" the doctor asks, then notices her ring, "Her fiancé, perhaps?"
"Yeah, she lives with me."