Abe takes a brief look around the bedroom and sees the bed is unmade, both adult and baby clothes scattered across the room and used wet diapers that have been tossed towards the wastebasket that failed to reach their mark. But that barely even registers in his brain as he hears another sob coming from the bathroom. He charges in there and finds Maggie wedged between the toilet and the sink desperately weeping.
"Maggie, are you alright?" he asks as he drops to his knees in front of her, reaching for her and all she can do is shake her head 'no' as she sobs even harder. "Where are the twins?"
"Oh god," she wails. "I killed them."
Abe sits there stunned for a moment as what she said sinks in and she starts to cry hysterically. Suddenly, he's out the door and searching the house for the babies. He tears through the master bedroom on his way to the nursery. He's so panicked that he can't concentrate enough to use his abilities.
He searches the nursery, the other bathroom and the play room, coming up empty in all of them. He charges downstairs and goes through the water closet, the kitchen, the office and the dinning room and still not finding the twins. He finally makes it into the family room and stops dead.
He sees them in their swings, motionless and with their eyes closed. He staggers across the room not even noticing the swings slight twitching as the dying batteries try to do their job and make the devices go. He doesn't remember removing his gloves, but it's bare shaking hands that he places on their little heads. The instant he touches them he knows the answer and he collapses to the floor.
He's not sure how much time has passed before he manages to gather himself together and make it over to the phone. He makes a call and then drags himself downstairs where he waits by the hidden door in the basement. When the others arrive, he tells them where to find the twins before dragging himself up two flights of stairs on shaking legs.
By the time he finally gets there, she's gotten off of the floor and going through the medicine cabinet. She dumps bottles and jars of various toiletry items onto the sink counter, heedless to the mess she's making. He gently lays a hand on her shoulder and then quickly grabs her wrists and pulls her away from the sink with her kicking and screaming all the way.
"NO! I KILLED THEM!" she screams hysterically as he sends out a mental shout for help. "I DON'T WANT TO LIVE! I DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE! I WANT TO DIE!"
"MAGGIE! MAGGIE!" he yells in her ear, trying to get her attention. "IT'S ALRIGHT! IT'S OK!"
"NO IT'S NOT! THEY'RE NOT CRYING!" she sobs back as the sound of feet thundering towards them reaches him. "THEY'RE DEAD! THEY HAVE TO BE DEAD! THEY'RE NOT CRYING!"
"THEY'RE JUST ASLEEP!" he shouts back as Dr. Hodson bursts into the room. "THEY WORE THEMSELVES OUT! THEY'RE STILL ALIVE!"
"NO!" she shrieks as she redoubles her efforts to free herself. "I KILLED THEM! THEY'RE NOT CRYING! THEY'RE DEAD!"
Abe desperately holds onto his wife as she continues to scream and cry and struggle to get away. Hodson quickly opens her black bag and pulls out a vial and a syringe. Abe can feel his muscles start to protest against the demands he's putting on them, but he ignores the aches as he grapples with the overly distraught woman in his arms.
"Abe, hold her still," Hodson instructs as she tries to get close to them.
He drags Maggie to the floor where he pins her down despite her struggles and screaming. Hodson quickly finds the best spot, sterilizes it and then administers the injection. Within a minute, Maggie's screams become whimpers and a few minutes later she's unconscious.
Abe gets off of her and pulls her limp form into his arms. He sits on the bathroom floor amid the dirty towels and scattered bottles gently stroking her unwashed hair. Hodson finishes putting everything away and then looks down on the two of them.
"We should get her back to the bureau," she states. "It's not safe to leave her up here."
"The twins?" he asks, not quite sure what he wants to know.
"I haven't had a chance to examine them yet," she answers. "I'll let you know. Let's just get everyone back and then we'll sort everything out."
"Yes, doctor," he replies with a nod. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she sighs sadly before she leaves.
He gathers her dead weight up more securely in his arms before he carefully stands and follows Hodson. He's barely aware of anything else as he slowly makes his way down to the bureau. All he can do is stare at the sedated woman he loves and notice that she hasn't bathed or changed her clothes for a couple of days.
Abe steps through the final door into the bureau and finds Manning there quietly talking to Hodson. They're blocking the hallway, so there's no way to slip past them. Abe stops and waits for them to finish which they do a minute later. Manning looks at Abe, then Maggie and then back up at Abe as Abe braces himself for a tirade.
"Take care of them," the director says before he turns and leaves.
Abe can only stand there completely confused by what just happened.
"I've talked to Manning and he understands that Maggie and the twins need peace," Hodson explains to the stunned merman. "He won't interfere with your family, Abe. I've made sure of that."
"How can you be sure he'll keep his word?" he asks as he starts walking again.
"I have my ways, Abe," she slyly smiles.
"What happened?" he asks. "Why was she acting that way? Why did she…?"
"She has post-partum depression," she answers before he can finish the last question as they approach an intersection. "It's very common, though it doesn't usually become this severe. Get her to bed and I'll come up and examine her after I'm done checking on the twins."
"Ok," he agrees.
They part ways at the junction and he heads towards the library. He steps into the large familiar room and notes that it's empty for which he's thankful for. He carefully carries her upstairs and enters the chamber that leads to his tank. He immediately turns and goes into the bedroom.
Just as he's finishing tucking her into bed, he hears a soft knock at the doorway. He looks up and sees John standing there with a tray of food and a very big jug of water.
"Hey, Dr. Hodson asked me to bring up some food for you guys," John whispers.
"It's alright, John," Abe replies in a normal voice as he steps towards the agent. "She won't wake until the sedative wears off."
"Oh," John says, a little uncertain of what to do next. "Where do want the food?"
"I'll take it, thank you, John," Abe tells him as he holds out his hands.
"Ok, here you go," John replies as he hands the tray over. "If you need anything else, let me know."
"You don't need to do that, John," Abe assures him. "I'm sure Hellboy will need you more than we will."
"Are you kidding?" John snorts as he starts to blush. "He's locked himself in his room with a bunch of food, Liz and Trevor and has stated that he's not coming out until he feels more…relaxed."
"I see," Abe chuckles. "If we need anything, I'll let you know then. Thank you."
"Sure," John nods. "I'll leave you two alone then."
After John leaves, Abe places the tray on the table, eats a couple rotten eggs and then checks on Maggie once more. He determines that she's going to be out for a little while more and decides to go for a swim.
He quickly strips and dives into the water. His body instantly feels better, but he can't say as much for his emotional or psychological state. He idly swims around his tank as he tries to figure out how this could have happened. Though he doesn't keep track of the time, he keeps a mental touch to her mind in case she wakes up.
"How is she?"
If he had been standing on dry land, Abe is sure he would have jumped clean out of his scales. Instead he swims over to the window to find Guillermo patiently waiting there.
"She's still sedated, but she should be waking up soon," Abe answers.
"Bet you have some questions," the librarian states as he finds his favorite chair and sits in it.
"I asked Liz to check in on her," Abe replies. "How could this have happened if Liz was doing that?"
"Because Liz wasn't," Guillermo tells him and then holds up his hand to stop the on coming barrage. "And before you start railing on the poor woman, let me tell you what was happening down here while you were gone."
Abe sullenly nods his agreement before Guillermo continues.
"Shortly have you two left, Trevor became very sick," Guillermo explains. "He eventually had to be taken to the medical wing and given fluids. Luckily, whatever was bothering him went through his system quickly but he only got out of the med unit this morning. Liz has been worried sick over him and I'm afraid she forgot about Maggie and the twins. She and Hellboy are locked away in his room right now and I think it's best that they don't know what happened until they've calm down about Trevor."
"My mind agrees with you," Abe starts.
"But…," Guillermo urges when Abe pauses.
"My heart doesn't," Abe concludes.
"I know, but it is for the best," Guillermo reminds him.
"I know," Abe grudgingly agrees. "Thank you for telling me. I'd better go check on Maggie."
"Of course," Guillermo nods as he struggles to rise. "Holler if you need anything."
Abe just quietly nods and heads back towards the surface. He quickly dries and dresses, feeling a little better physically at least. When he checks in on her, she's still unconscious. Since the sedative should have worn off long before now, he lays his hand on her cheek only discover that she's sound asleep. Before he can delve into her mind to find out what exactly happened, he hears a soft knocking at the door.
When he answers it, he finds Dr. Hodson standing there with Dylan in one arm and her black bag in her other hand. Without a word, Abe gladly relieves her of her little blue burden just before stepping back and letting the doctor in. Directly behind her is a nurse carrying Morgan and pushing an IV stand complete with a bag of fluids and he takes his daughter into his other arm.
The women stand there waiting until Abe leads them into the bedroom. He sits down with the twins and lets Hodson do her work, not even noticing when the nurse leaves. He's so intent on the very alert kids that he completely ignores what Hodson is doing at first. When he finally looks up, he's rather startled to see Hodson drawing blood.
"Why do you need blood?" he asks.
"I want to make sure she's not pregnant before I start administering any medications," Hodson answers while pulling out the needle.
"You think she might be pregnant?" he inquires.
"I'm just making sure," she replies as she puts the vial and needle away. "I don't want to take any chances. Has she woken since I sedated her?"
"No," he answers while she pulls out an alcohol wipe.
"I'm not surprised," she states as she starts to clean the back of one of Maggie's hands. "She was probably exhausted when we got there. I'm glad you got there when you did. If you hadn't, I'm not sure how this would have turned out."
"I'd rather not think about it," he mutters, the thought of being without his family horrifying him. "What could have caused her to breakdown like this?"
"I'm sure you can ask her what happened when she wakes up, but it might be easier to go straight to the source," she replies as she slides the needle to the IV into the hand that was cleaned. "It's likely that she won't give you a straight answer if you ask. As it is, she's going to be very upset when she wakes up, so try to make sure she doesn't pull the IV out again, please."
"I will, doctor," he assures her. "But why would she be upset? The twins are alive and well from the looks of it."
"Yet she's now back under Manning's control," she points out as she starts the drip. "Not something she's going to be happy with. Plus, she's very depressed right now, so we need to keep a careful eye on her. Post-partum depression is not something to take lightly, Abe. She'll probably wake up thinking she's a horrible mother and more than likely she's going to pull away from the twins. We need to assure her every step of the way that she's a good and loving mother. It won't be easy and there's going to be the occasional set back."
"I'm sure once she nurses, she'll be fine," he states as she starts to collect her things.
"Except that she's so dehydrated that her milk is all but dried up," she tells him. "Once she has fluids in her again, her milk will come back but we'll need to encourage her to start nursing again."
"If you start giving her medication, won't that affect the milk?" he inquires.
"A little bit, but not enough to affect the babies," she replies as she closes her bag.
"What about food for the twins?" he asks. "If she's barely producing any milk, what happens when they get hungry again?"
"You let them try and nurse," she instructs. "When they're done, give them a bottle of formula. I'm hoping to get the off the formula as soon as possible or at least only have it as a supplement to her milk."
"But where do I get the formula?" he questions. "I can't exactly go to the local market."
"My nurse will be back shortly with the formula and bottles," she chuckles. "Just follow the direction on the can."
"How are they?" he finally inquires as he looks back down at the twins who seem to be getting drowsy again.
"They were hungry and they've both got a bad diaper rash, but other than that, they seem fine," she answers. "I threw out the clothes they were wearing. I'm not sure how long they were in those diapers, but it must have been a long time. I sent John to get more clothes and diapers from the house, so he should be back shortly."
"What was wrong with Trevor?" he quietly asks.
"I'm not sure yet," she responds as she picks up her bag and starts to head towards the exit. "I haven't gotten the reports back from the lab. It was probably something he ate. For the time being it's probably best to keep him separate from the twins. Do you have any other questions?"
"No, Dr. Hodson," he answers while he stands. "Thank you for all you've done."
"You're welcome," she smiles.
She quietly leaves and he stands there staring at the figure in the bed. It bothers him that she's gone from self assured, confident woman to a nervous wreck in only a few days. He knows that there's only one way to satisfy his curiosity, so he settles the nearly sleeping babies down next to their mother and then crawls into the bed on the other side. He lays his hand on her forehead and silently slips into her mind. In a matter of moments the last three days are played back for him.
She becomes overwhelmed by the constant demands from the twins, the feedings, the changing of diapers and clothes and the constantly wanting to be held. Because of this she isn't able to take proper care of herself, so not only has she not been able to bathe, but she's barely eaten or drank over the last couple days and sleep has been almost non-existent by the time she couldn't take it any more.
Overwhelmed and exhausted, when the twins start they're last demand from her she just runs and hides, crying in shame and exhaustion. When their cries ceased, she knows that they have died and it's her fault, but it isn't until her admission to Abe that true despair sets in. It isn't until then that she knows she can't live life without them in it.
A shiver runs down his spine as he pulls his hand away from her head. He now understands how Hodson was able to draw blood and insert an IV needle into her without as much as a twitch. He checks to see that the babies are now asleep pressed against their mother's side and he starts to settle down himself on her other side when someone knocks at the door.
When he answers it he finds the nurse from earlier with a box of feeding paraphernalia, a couple cans of soy formula and another bag of fluids. He takes the box from her, thanks her and she leaves to return to her duties. He puts the box on the table and heads back to bed only to be stopped by another knock. He finds John waiting with a couple shopping bags of worth of clothes and a new package of diapers and wipes. Abe takes the items and thanks the agent before closing the door. Once he's stowed the bags next to the box, he slips into bed and falls into a fitful sleep.
Author's Notes: Post-partum depression, or baby blues as it is sometimes called, is a very serious condition that should never be ignored or taken lightly. Ok, at least one more chapter coming before I finally end this story. And fear not, my pretties, my muse is cramming more story ideas in my head. Hopefully I'll get them written out before I lose my mind.