A Fresh Start
Chapter Twenty Seven
After Olivia left, Jeffrey and Sam danced a few dances and then they went to get something to eat, while they were filling their plates, Rick walks up to the buffet.
"Jeffrey." He says, picking up a plate
"Rick, how's Beth?"
"She's fine." He replies. "I noticed you talking with Olivia when you came in." He says
"I'm sure you did." Jeffrey replies, putting some shrimp on his plate.
"I thought you and…."
"We broke up." Jeffrey says, cutting him off. His tone making it clear that he doesn't want to talk about Olivia.
"You're new to Springfield." Rick says, turning his attention to Sam
"Yes."
"What brings you to town? Are you visiting or do you know someone in town?" Rick asks
"I'm staying with Jeffrey." Sam replies, putting some fruit on her plate.
"Really!" Rick replies, looking over at Jeffrey. "How did you two meet?" He asks, turning his attention back to Sam.
"We used to work together at the agency?" Sam replies, looking over at Jeffrey
"Oh, so what do you do now?" Rick asks
"I'm a doctor." Sam replies, as Father Ray walks up to them.
"Mr. Mayor, could I speak to you for a minute?"
"Of course, I'll be right back." He says to Sam as he hands her his plate. "You need to eat more than that." He says, pointing to her plate
"I'll be fine." Sam says, as he walks away
"Where are you working now?"
"In Washington DC, but I will be moving to Springfield within the next month." Sam says, walking around to the other side of the buffet with Rick following behind her.
"What hospital are you working at?"
"I work for the agencies private hospital." Sam says, picking up some more fruit.
"Are you looking for another hospital?"
"I haven't really decided what I will do. I might look into starting my own practice."
"If you decide to practice at another hospital. Let me know."
"Okay." Sam says, putting some cheese on her plate along with the fruit.
"I work at Cedars. I'm one of the physicians there. I'm also on the hiring committee for the hospital."
"I'll be sure to let you know if I decide to work for another hospital." Sam says, as Josh walks up to the buffet.
"Hello, Rick." Josh says.
"Hello, Josh. How are you?"
"Fine, I'm sorry did I interrupt." He says, noticing Sam standing beside Rick.
"No, we were discussing Cedars." Rick says. "Let me introduce, Dr. Sam…."
"Dr. Samantha Whitley." Sam says, holding out her hand.
"Pleased to meet you." Josh says, shaking her hand. "You're new to Springfield." He says, filling up his plate.
"Yes, I'm thinking about moving here from Washington."
"You were Richard's doctor."
"Yes, how did you know that?" Sam asks
"Reva is my wife." Josh says.
"Ah, so you know Jeffrey."
"Yes, I know Jeffrey. How did you two meet?"
"We were partners for awhile before I left the agency." Sam replies, walking over to a table and sitting down.
"Did you know him when he was in San Cristobel?" Josh asks, following behind her.
"No, that was after I left." Sam replies, as Josh sits down beside her.
"But you know about his time there."
"Yes, he told me about it."
"Jeffrey told you about him and Cassie."
"Yes, he also told me about you and Cassie. You don't like him that much, do you?" Sam asks, looking at Josh.
"I… He is a little reckless for my tastes. He has a way of drawing people in, getting them to do what he wants no matter what type of danger there maybe associated with it."
"Jeffrey is charming, but he's also faithful and he's loyal. I think that's why people respond to him. He doesn't judge people. He accepts them as they are." Sam replies, as Jeffrey sits down beside her.
"Is everything okay?" He asks
"Yes." Sam says, popping a piece of cheese in her mouth.
"Josh." Jeffrey says, looking at him.
"Jeffrey." Josh replies. "I'll leave you too alone. Sam, it was a pleasure meeting you. I hope you come back soon."
"Thank you." Sam replies, as Josh gets up from the table.
"What was he doing over here?"
"He came up to buffet table while I was talking to Rick."
"What was he saying?"
"Nothing really, he asked about you and about Richard."
"What did you tell him?"
"Nothing really, but I get the distinct impression that he doesn't care for you that much. Why?"
"I'm not really sure, unless it's because of what happened between me and Cassie. He was the one that told Cassie about me being in San Cristobel and he thinks I hurt her."
"Did you?"
"I told you everything that happened in San Cristobel between me and Cassie and what happened here. Josh is over protective and he's a little too judgmental for my tastes."
"That's exactly what I told him that you're not. He thinks your reckless and you draw people in no matter what type of danger, they maybe in. I told him that you accept people for who they are."
"You told him all that."
"Yes."
"Well, thank you for defending me, but I'm not worried about Josh or his opinion of me. What did Rick say?"
"Not a whole lot he offered to help me get on at Cedars, if I decide to work through another hospital." Sam says, as Beth walks up to them.
"Jeffrey, someone told me that Rick was with you, have you seen him?" She says, sitting down beside them.
"Hello Beth and no, he's not here." Jeffrey says, as she looks over and notices Sam "This is my girlfriend Sam. Sam, this is Beth Bauer."
"Hello." Sam says, holding out her hand
"Hello, so how do you meet?" Beth asks, shaking Sam's hand.
"We used to work together." Jeffrey says, picking up a piece of shrimp
"That's nice." Beth says, looking over at him
"Rick was here a little while ago, but I haven't seen him since I was talking to Father Ray." Jeffrey says.
"Thank you; it was a pleasure to meet you Sam."
"You too." Sam replies.
Beth leaves and Jeffrey turns to Sam. "So, Rick was recruiting you."
"I guess. I didn't realize he works at Cedars."
"Yes, he's also the coroner." Jeffrey says, eating another piece of shrimp as Alan walks up to them.
"Jeffrey." He says
"Alan."
"I didn't think you were going to make it tonight."
"I wasn't sure myself, but our flight got in on time."
"Yes, and I see you have a very beautiful lady with you. Alan Spaulding." Alan says, holding out his hand to Sam.
"Dr. Sam Whitley." Sam replies dryly, clearly not impressed with Alan or his attitude as she shakes Alan's hand
"Are you in town long Dr. Whitley?" Alan asks.
"I'm here for the weekend for now."
"My families company, Spaulding Enterprises, is sponsoring the fund raiser this evening." Alan says, trying again to impress her.
"Okay." Sam replies, still not as impressed as Alan expected her to be.
"Did you two meet here at the party or have you known each other a long time?" Alan asks, looking between both of them.
"We used to work together." Sam replies before she turns to Jeffrey. "Would you mind another dance?
"Sure, Excuse us Alan." Jeffrey says, getting up and taking Sam's hand and leading her out onto the dance floor. "You realize what he was trying to do."
"Yes, he reminds me of my father." Sam says, moving closer to him
"Well, that can't be good. I'm not sure Alan would appreciate being compared to a Baptist preacher."
"No, the name dropping, he was trying to impress me first by telling me his name and then by telling me that his families company is sponsoring this fund raiser. My dad used to do the same thing, not on this scale but still the same thing. We are the Whitmere's from Georgia, and my great, great, great grandfather was the aide to President Jefferson. He was decorated at the Battle of Gettysburg blah, blah, blah."
"Well, you certainly have intrigued him." Jeffrey says, looking over Sam's shoulder
"Why?"
"Because he hasn't taken his eyes off you since we step out on the floor."
"Oh well." Sam says shrugging her shoulders as Jeffrey starts to laugh.
"I forgot how much I enjoyed your irreverent attitude towards people."
"I'm not irreverent; I'm just not impressed by names and money." Sam says, as the music ends and they leave the dance floor. "What did the priest want a while ago?"
"He wanted to talk about a project he's looking to get started. I directed him to the appropriate person at City Hall." They were standing over by the bar with his arms around her waist with her leaning back against him. "Are you ready to go?"
"Now, do you need to go?" Sam asks, turning her head to look up at him.
"No, but you're getting tired."
"I'm fine, we can stay."
"Sam."
"Okay, so I'm a little tired but we can…."
"Go, besides it's winding down." Jeffrey says, releasing her and taking her hand leading her across the room to the doorway.
"How are we going to get home?"
Walking out of the country club, Jeffrey walks over to one of the Springfield officers. "I need one of the patrolmen give us a ride to my loft?"
"Yes sir, Jenkins come here." The Sergeant calls.
"Yes sir." Officer Jenkins says, walking over to the Sergeant and Jeffrey
"I need you to take Mr. O'Neill and his companion to his loft."
"Yes sir, right this way Mr. Mayor."
"Thank you." Jeffrey says while he and Sam follow the officer to his patrol car. They leave a few minutes later.
When Olivia left the country club after overhearing Jeffrey's comments about her and the situation with Ava and watching him dance with Sam. She dials Simmons's number as she walks to her car. After a couple rings she gets his voice mail "why am I getting your voice mail? I pay you to always be on hand. Call me." She hangs up, pulling through the gates of the country club while she burns rubber.
After Dr. Simon left, Cassie, Richard and William go back into Will's room.
"How are you feeling?" Cassie asks Will
"I'm sleepy." He says, yawning.
"Then close your eyes and go to sleep."
"You'll be here when I wake up?"
"Yes, both of us will?" Cassie says, looking over at Richard.
"That's right buddy." Richard says, taking his hand.
"Okay." Will replies closing his eyes, he's asleep in a matter of minutes.
"I think I'm going to go to the palace. I had Jodi cancel everything for today and there are things I need to take care of, if that's okay." William says
"No, go ahead. We'll stay here and sit with him." Richard says.
"Okay, I'll be at the palace."
"If we need you we'll call." Cassie says, as William walks to the door.
"Thank you; if I get these things done I'll be back later."
"Okay." Cassie replies, with Richard nodding.
William leaves as Richard and Cassie sits down beside Will's bed. When William reaches the palace, he hands his keys to the car to one of the guards as he walks into the palace. "Keep it close, I maybe leaving again."
"Yes, your highness." The guard replies.
William turns, heading towards his office. "Your Highness, how is Master Will?" Jodi asks when he walks in.
"He's doing better. Dr. Simon is keeping him in the hospital to watch him and they've started him on antibiotics. What did Natalie tell the press?"
"That he was taken to the hospital for a routine check up."
"I'll be in my office making calls." William says, opening the door
"Actually Sir, Ms. Peralta is in your office.
"Ava!" William says surprised
"Yes."
"Okay, thank you Jodi, you can go for the day." He says, walking into his office.
"Yes sir." She replies, getting up from her desk.
Ava is standing by one of the windows when William walks in. Turning, she watches him before he says. "Hi."
"Hi." She replies, as he walks over her.
They hug and then he steps back. "I wasn't expecting you back so soon. Is Jeffrey with you?"
"No, I came by myself." Ava replies, sitting down in front of his desk.
"It's good to see you." He says, sitting down beside her. There is several minutes of silence before he asks. "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" Ava asks, getting up and walking over to the window again.
"Yes, you don't seem like yourself."
"Do you even know who I am?" Ava asks, turning to look at him
"I don't know everything about you, but you were a lot more free and happy when you were here a couple weeks ago and now you seem withdrawn." William says, getting up and coming over to her. She takes a step back and backs into the windowsill. Moving around him, she walks to the other side of the room.
"Why are you running from me?"
"I'm not…."
"You're not, you sat down in the chair, and I sat down in the other chair. You get up, and I got up. What's wrong?" He asks, standing in front of her. She stands there, watching him, trying to decide what she should say, how she should tell him, if she should tell him. "Ava?"
His voice brings her back and in that moment she realizes that she can't tell him. "I'm sorry I shouldn't've come here. I'll take care of this myself." She says, walking towards the door.
"Whoa, wait. What are you talking about? You'll take care of what?" William asks, stepping in front of her and blocking her from leaving. "Something is bothering you, I thought we were friends."
"We are more than friends now." Ava says, sitting down again
"What do you mean, we're more than friends."
"I don't know how to tell you this."
"Tell me what? What's going on?"
"I'm pregnant." She says, looking down at the floor
For a couple minutes he just looks at her. "You're…."
"I'm pregnant."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I took three pregnancy tests before I came down here. All three were positive. I am pregnant."
"And….
"And, it's yours." She says, looking at him
"What about…?"
"Mike and I broke up the day after I got back from here. We hadn't been together, so you're the only man I've been with. I knew I shouldn't've said anything to you." Ava says, getting up and heading towards the door.
"Ava, wait." William says, reaching out to stop her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't've said that. You took me by surprise."
"That's…."
"I know that's no reason to question if this baby is mine." William says, sitting down. "I have to think." He says, rubbing his face with his hands.
"I'm sorry; I knew this would be a shock. I shouldn't've been so jumpy. I was shocked when I saw the results."
"We need to have the palace physician examine you. We have to make sure that you really are…. I mean I assume you used a home pregnancy test. And not because I don't believe you, but before we do anything we have to know for sure that you are."
"No, I understand." Ava says, sitting back down in the chair.
"Did you tell anyone before you came down here?"
"No, I left immediately after I got the last test result. I didn't even pack a suitcase."
"That's good. We don't…." He looks over at her "Never mind."
"No, what?" Ava asks
"I was just going to say that we don't need this leaked to the press, at least not until we decide what we're going to do."
"You mean if we're going keep the baby or not."
"No! But if the people find out about this, the pressure on both of us will be almost unbearable. And if you are pregnant, you don't need that stress. I know this doesn't sound romantic, but…."
"But it's a part of your life and we have to consider it."
"Are you okay with that?" He asks, taking her hand
"I'm fine with that. The monarchy adds another dynamic to the problem." Ava says, getting up and walking over to the window again, looking out at the palace garden and ocean beyond.
"I am sorry about this." William says, getting up and walking over her
"It wasn't just you, we did this together." She says, turning to him.
"I know, but we weren't looking for a permanent thing."
She looks at for a few moments before she replies. "No, it wasn't but we weren't exactly trying to prevent this either. I guess I should ask you this. Do you want a baby? I know you have an heir with Will."
"Will is my heir, but I missed everything when Camille was pregnant with him because I was at sea. To be honest, I haven't even thought about having more children. I've been focused on running the country, helping it to recover from the earthquake and changing back from the Presidency. Are you ready to deal with that?"
"I don't know." She says.
"Whatever happens, I will be there." William says, hugging her.
"I know you will."
"I need to call for the palace physician and have him come over here." William says, releasing her and walking over to his desk.
Picking up the phone, he dials the number and after a couple rings he picks up. "Hello."
"I need to see you at that palace immediately."
"Yes, Your Highness." William hangs up and turns to Ava. "He's on his way."
"Okay." She says, sitting back down in chair in front of his desk.
"Are you nervous?"
"Maybe a little bit. "
"Whatever the results, we will deal with it." William says, sitting down beside her and taking her hand. A few minutes later, Jodi buzzes them.
"Yes."
"Sir, Dr. Myers is here."
"Thank you, send him in." William says. A couple seconds later the door opens and Jodi shows him into the office.
"Your Highness." Dr. Myers says
"Thank you for coming. Jodi could you please close the door and I do not wish to be disturbed for any reason."
"Yes Sir." Jodi leaves, closing the door as William turns to the doctor.
"I need you take care of something for me. You can not say a word about this to anyone until we know more, is that clear."
"Yes Sir. What exactly is it that you need to do?"
"I need a pregnancy test." Ava says quietly
"Okay."
"Whatever the results, you are not to tell anyone until you tell us." William says.
"Yes sir." Dr. Myers says, opening his medical bag. Pulling out a plastic cup, he hands the cup to Ava. "Do you know…?"
"Yes." Ava says, taking the cup and leaving the room. She returns a few minutes later. Handing the cup to Dr. Myers, she sits down again.
"I'll be right back." He says, leaving the office with the cup and his medical bag.
About five minutes later, he returns. Ava and William are sitting beside each other on a couch that is next to one of the bookshelves in the office. When the office door opens, they both stand up.
"Well, Congratulation Ms. Peralta, you are going to be a mother." He says, with a smile. Ava sits down again, as William sits down beside her.
"I would suggest that you set up an appointment immediately with your doctor."
"I will."
"You're 100% sure that she's pregnant." William asks
"Yes, but if you want I can draw some blood and test it." Dr. Myers says
"No, there's no need for that. I took three pregnancy tests before I came down here, on top of this one. I'm pregnant, thank you doctor for coming." Ava says, holding her hand out to shake his.
"Thank you Doctor." William says, walking him to the door. "Again, you can not say a word about this." He reminds him before he opens the door.
"I won't say anything to anyone."
"Thank you." William says, opening the door
Dr. Myers leaves and William closes the door behind him. Turning around, he stands beside the door for a while until Ava looks up
"Well, say something." Ava says
"I don't know what to say?" William says, walking over to her and sitting down
"What do we do?"
"I don't know." William replies. "The one thing I do know is that we have to make sure that this doesn't leak to the press. The pressure would multiply by 10 if the press finds out."
"Why does it matter so much? You have your heir. Will's the heir to the throne, is he not?"
"Yes, but you know what the press will say and do to you."
"If I'm not here, how will they know?"
"That's my child Ava; I'm not going ignore him or her. I wasn't there for Will when he was born. Now he's my son, but for a while he belonged to Cassie and Richard."
"And what about what I want? I don't know that I want to move down here. I certainly don't know if I want to be apart of this royal family and all the things that goes with that." Ava says, getting up and walking over to the window.
"Of course you're going to move down here."
"Excuse me, but I have a life in Springfield. My family is there and I have a great job at Spaulding. I'm not ready to give that up." Ava says, turning around and leaning back against the window.
"But I have to take care of you."
"I'll take care of myself. I've been doing it a long time before you came along, and will probably be doing it a long time afterwards." Ava says, walking over to the door.
"Ava."
"No, I need to think." She says, walking out of the office.
Olivia is walking into her suite when her cell phone starts to ring, pulling it from her purse as Emma comes out of her room.
"Hello." She says, as Emma stops. Turning she goes back into her room.
"I was busy." Simmons says
"I pay you to be on hand, whenever I need you." Olivia says. "The job has changed. We have a new target now."
"Who?"
"I'm not going tell you over the phone, meet me at the light house." Olivia says before hanging up. "Can you stay for a little longer?" Olivia asks, turning to the babysitter.
"Yes ma'am."
"Thank you." Olivia says, walking out of the room.
A few minutes later she arrives at the light house, checking to see if anyone is around she walks inside. Simmons is waiting for her.
"There a change in target." He says, as she walks in.
"Yes." Olivia says pulling out her wallet she hands him a picture.
"I thought you decided…."
"No, the other one. That's the target."
"Are you…?"
"Just get it done. You know where to go?"
"Yes, the old inn on Wilder Road."
"Yes, and make sure no one sees you. Get as much help as you need."
"You realize you're playing with fire. This is serious, if we get caught."
"Then make sure you don't get caught." Olivia says, walking out of the light house.
27.10