Mai! Another Hospital Stay!

It took the ambulance about fifteen minutes to get to the café because of traffic and from where the hospital actually is.

Elliot and Zoey road in the ambulance with Mai while Zoey's parents and Wesley took separate cars; and on the way Wesley picked up Renee at her shoot and told her what he knew.

The others were informed of what was going on as well.

Once they got to the hospital they got her to a room where Mai was just screaming and crying her little head off again; she had woke up in the ambulance sometime after they had got in there. This was after Elliot had gotten a hold of Zeke and asked him how to legally add Zoey's name to the birth certificate. Zeke told him it would probably take years to get it done because of the situation, but he would get things started if he really wanted. But also said that there was an easier way to have Zoey in her daughter's life; he said that they should move in together, get married and after about half a year to a year she could legally adopt her. Elliot said he'd have to think about it; she was only seventeen after all and never asked for any of this. Come to think of it neither did he, but they both loved that little girl to pieces.

"Ok, are you two her parents?" A nurse asked Suzie and Adam as she came in.

"No, we're not…" Suzie and Adam said simply.

"We are; I'm her father and this is her mother." Elliot said shocking everyone in the room.

"You all look shocked; did you not know?" The nurse asked.

"Long story short I just got custody of her six months ago after her supposed mother died. Turns out she wasn't her mother; that she bought her stolen eggs and used my semen to implant into the eggs. And that's how we got Mai and we love her very much." Elliot finished causing tears to fall down both Zoey's and Suzie's eyes while Adam stood there shocked. None of them had thought that even though he believed it that he would say that to a doctor. I mean none of the others knew it yet.

"Well ok then; that must've been a shock. Well what seems to be the problem today?" The nurse asked as a doctor came in.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Giez and I will be Mai's evening doctor; I will be here from one in the afternoon to nine at night normally, but today I will be assisting Mai from now until then. At nine tonight someone else will be here until five in the morning and at five in the morning until I get here at one in the afternoon someone else will be here. She will have round the clock nurses to come in and check up on her periodically. Have we learned anything yet?" Dr. Giez asked after introducing himself and then explaining the doctors' and nurses' routines.

"I was just about to ask when you came in." The nurse said after the doctor finished.

"Well ok then; let's hear about what's going on here." Dr. Giez said waiting.

"Zoey, you and your mother started this journey. Do you want to start?" Elliot asked looking at her.

"Well I had just gotten home from spending the night at Elliot's because Mai was at our (my parent's and my) house for the weekend. I just wanted to spend some alone time with Elliot; we just recently started dating. But I had just gotten home when my cousins came running in saying that Mai was screaming and crying in pain, saying that her stomach hurt. And that's how my mom and I found her." Zoey said softly.

"They were playing hide and seek tag in the basement; it's perfectly safe down there; no mold or anything like that." Suzie explained.

"Ok. What happened next?" The doctor asked as he and the nurse took down notes.

"We rushed her to a hospital, JSA Memorial Hospital and then I called Elliot and told him what was going on." Zoey explained.

"When I got there they had diagnosed her with a stomach bug and put her on pain killers and nausea pills. When we got back home she started throwing up profusely with more screaming and crying. She slept a little, but not much; and when she got up she threw up again. I got into an argument with my parents so I had Wesley take her and get her changed. When he came back she was passed out and we couldn't get her to wake up. Once the ambulance arrived they loaded her in and she woke up a few minutes after we got in and she started screaming and crying again." Elliot finished.

"Ok, so here's what we're going to do. We're going to get her hooked up to an IV to get her hydrated again; just looking at her I can tell she's dehydrated and from what you've told me. We're also going to have her drink some contrast so that we can get a good look at her stomach to see what's going on in there. So no food or drink until we know what's going on in there. Oh and we'll be taking blood work as well. Are there any questions?" Dr. Giez asked as the nurse got the IV ready.

"What is contrast and how does it work?" Zoey asked confused.

"Contrast is a drink with a small amount of dye in it so that we can see if there's anything majorly wrong going on in the stomach. It's usually used to detect the appendix or anything that may be going wrong in the stomach. You don't have to worry; it's safe as long as she doesn't take too much of it. And at her age and weight she should just need to drink one bottle; she'll have one hour to drink it all, but all the IVs should be in first. Well, if there isn't anything else I'll be on my way; I've got other patients to deal with. If you need anything, don't hesitate to push this red button and a nurse will be here as soon as they can." Dr. Giez explained heading out.

"Ok, thank you." Elliot, Zoey, Wesley, Renee and Zoey's parents said as he left.

"Ok, well let's start with getting the IV going and then we'll try to get some blood." The nurse said as she felt around for a larger vein.

After a few minutes of looking and not being able to find one she gave up and called in the ultrasound machine to help her find a vein.

"Did you call Lexi?" An older lady asked coming into the room.

"Yes, did you bring the machine?" The nurse, Lexi asked.

"Yes, got it right here." The older lady said coming in.

"What is that?" Elliot and Zoey asked confused.

"This is an ultrasound machine." Lexi said simply.

"What? My daughter's not pregnant!" Zoey exclaimed jumping to conclusions.

"I would sure hope not. This is to help us find her veins so we can get an IV in; and hopefully only have to poke once." The older lady said kindly.

"Oh…ok. Sorry." Zoey said turning red.

"It's quite ok. Oh, you're Zoey Hanson? You had your appendix taken out a few years ago right?" The older lady asked.

"Yes, that's me." Zoey said softly.

"I thought so; I knew you and your parents looked familiar. Your father was a mess back then as well. I heard your story from one of the nurses passing by; yours and his? Elliot, right?" The older lady asked.

"Yes, that's me. How do you know Zoey?" Elliot asked confused.

"Oh I had to use this machine on Zoey when she had her appendix out; she was severely dehydrated back then they couldn't find any of her veins. Well that and her veins float. Any who, your story, it's like others that I've seen before; usually pre-teen and teen girls. The doctor who performed your surgery isn't the one who forged any of your signatures. I mean he took your eggs and made it so you couldn't have kids anymore, but he only did it because it was on your sheets. He was suspended for some time for not looking over his papers better and for flipping on the person who was doing it. The guy who was doing it confessed, to taking yours and several other girls; something about rich clientele. But that's all I remember. He was fired, barred from ever working in any hospital ever again and is severing a thirty year sentence for it. Hmm…just like her mother. She has a lot of small veins, but I'm assuming we're looking for a large one." The elder lady said as she looked for a vein.

"Yes; so that she can get a CT scan." The nurse said watching the screen. "Oh, there's one." She said once she seen a vein.

"Correction, there was one; like I said just like her mother; floating veins. But we'll find one." The elderly lady said as she moved the controller thing around looking.

After a few more minutes they finally found a vein and it seemed like it was staying put.

"Ok, let's get the IV in before it decides to move again." Lexi said as she got the needle ready.

Oh boy; was this part fun. It took Elliot, Zoey and Suzie to hold Mai down as she screamed and thrashed around as the needle was inserted into her arm. Needless to say they almost lost the vein, but they got it in.

"So, do we want to try to get the blood from the port or do we want to try another poke?" The elderly lady asked Lexi.

"I think we'll try the port before we decide to try to find another place to poke." Lexi said as the elderly lady got the stuff to take blood ready.

The blood work was a little easier; only Elliot had to hold her down and rubbed her forehead while Zoey held her hand.

They were lucky to get the blood they needed.

"Ok, now that that's all situated; she has an hour to drink this. She should drink it slowly, but not too slowly; it all needs to be gone. Oh and we need a urine sample when she can go; so I have a hat in the toilet; I figured it would be easier than going in a cup. It's a bit bigger, so it should be easier to aim; but someone should probably hold her up over it just in case." Lexi said as she headed out for a little bit.

"Oh I remember that stuff; it's like a shake." Zoey said making a face, but not saying anything else.

At the mention of it being like a shake Mai took the straw in her mouth and drank. But the taste she got was nothing like a shake; as she swallowed it she gagged.

"I-I don wan no more…" Mai said softly.

"I'm sorry baby, but you need to drink it all." Elliot said sadly as he and Zoey sat next to her.

"But I don wan to!" Mai cried pushing it away.

"Mai, do you want to feel better?" Elliot asked looking at his daughter.

"Yes…" Mai said softly.

"Then you need to drink this stuff." Elliot said softly, rubbing her hand.

"Den no; I no wan feel better." Mai said stubbornly.

"Mai…if you don't feel better you can't go out and play anymore. You can't spend the night at our place anymore. You can't do anything fun anymore." Suzie said softly.

"Not only that; you'll be stuck in the hospital forever with those needles in your arm." Adam said simply which got Mai to drink the stuff; she didn't want to live in the hospital and have the needle in her arms all the time.

Although Elliot and the others didn't agree with how Adam did it; it got her to drink the contrast. They even had to tell her to slow down a few times.

By the time she finished it she threw some of it up; but that didn't matter.

Just before Lexi came back in Mai started to get antsy.

"What's wrong baby?" Elliot asked looking at his daughter.

"I has to go potty." Mai said bouncing.

"Ok, well you need to pee in hat." Elliot said getting a look from Mai.

"But I no wan to ruin a hat." Mai said softly about to cry.

"Wrong kind of hate sweetie; this is a special kind of hat for people to pee in while in the hospital." Suzie explained kindly.

"Ok." Mai said softly.

"Ok, let's get you situated." Elliot said picking her up.

"NO! I mean I wan Zoey to take me." Mai said softly.

"Oh, ok." Elliot said as Zoey looked at them.

"Are you sure?" Zoey asked astonished, but happy.

"Yes. Are you mad daddy?" Mai asked sad she may have hurt her daddy's feelings.

"No, I'm not mad. It's your choice who takes you to the bathroom." Elliot said with a smile as Zoey walked over.

So Zoey took her to the bathroom and got Mai situated so she could use the bathroom so that they could get the sample that they needed.

When Zoey brought her back out she was about to put her back in bed when a male came in with a wheel chair.

"Oh, I'll take her if she's ready. I'm Steven by the way." He said, meaning it was time for the CT scan.

"Ok…" Zoey said setting Mai in the wheel chair.

"Daddy?" Mai asked scared.

"Do you wish to come with? Both parents can go with if you'd like." The Steven said kindly.

"Do you mind Elliot?" Zoey asked softly.

"You don't have to ask that; of course you can come along with." Elliot said as they started walking behind Steven.

Once they got to the X-Ray room Mai wanted nothing to do with the CT machine.

"No! NO! NO!" Mai screamed as Steven tried to put her on the CT bed.

"Now Mai; remember what Grandpa Hanson said about the contrast? This is the same thing; if you don't do this you'll have to stay in the hospital for a long, long time." Elliot said and Mai listened and let Steven lay her down in the CT bed.

"Ok now Mai just do as the machine says and everything will be ok." Steven said as he, Elliot and Zoey went to a different room so they wouldn't be affected by the radiation.

"Hold Still." "Take a deep breath and hold it in." "Now breathe." A robotic voice instructed her and she did as she was told…with tears in her eyes because she was scared.

"Ok, now I'm going to give you some medicine so that the machine can get a better picture. You're going to do the same thing as before; but this time you're going to feel hot and it might feel like you have to pee and that you're having a hard time breathing, but you'll be ok. Ok?" Steven asked as he put the contrast medication in the IV after cleaning it first.

"…Ok…" Mai said slowly.

"Ok, just do what the machine says." Steven said as he started up the machine.

"Hold still." "Take a deep breath and hold it in." "Now breathe." The robotic voice instructed again and once again she listened.

But this time after the machine pushed her out she started crying.

"DADDY! MOMMY!" Mai cried out not really realizing or even caring that she called Zoey "mommy." The only thing she knew was that she wanted them and bad.

"DADDY! MOMMY!" Mai cried again as she was completely out of the machine and in the wheel chair.

"Hey, it's ok; we're right here. You're ok; it's all done and over with. Zoey, are you ok?" Elliot asked rubbing Mai's back while looking at Zoey.

"She called me mommy; she called out for me." Zoey said in shock with tears of happiness in her eyes.

"Yes, I know; feels good doesn't it?" Elliot asked looking at her.

Zoey couldn't say anything; she just nodded her head with a small smile.

"I sowee Zowee…I know you said you don't wan me calling you that…" Mai said softly, sadly.

By now the whole hospital knew about what had happened so Steven didn't say anything.

"No, it's ok; I don't mind really." Zoey said softy.

"Rewee?" Mai asked softly.

"Of course." Zoey said softly.

After a few minutes Steven took them back to Mai's room where they waited for two hours before they got any results.

"Ok…" The doctor said coming into the room while looking at his papers.

"What's going on Dr. Giez?" Zoey's parents asked right away.

"Well…what I'm about to say is going to sound very scary and it really is. Your daughter needs to have her appendix out and within the next hour. So within the next few minutes she'll be put under to go into surgery. Now this surgery should be pretty routine, but…now this is the scary and very dangerous part so I need the consent of her legal guardian to do this surgery more than ever. The reason this is so dangerous and scary is because she has a blood clot the size of a gulf ball coming out of a vein in her liver and going up to her heart." Dr. Giez said receiving exactly what he expected to receive.

"WHAT?!" Everybody but the doctor yelled in utter shock.

"Yes…normally we wouldn't do a surgery on something that can be treated with blood thinners, but she also has appendicitis; and if that's not treated she'll die anyways." Dr. Giez explained as he held out a clipboard with a few papers on it for Elliot to sign.

After Elliot looked it over he signed the papers and handed them back.

"Now, I have a very important question." Dr. Giez started, but was interrupted.

"Elliot?" Came a voice at the door; it was his mother, Amy.

Elliot just sighed…

"I know you're probably mad at me, but can we talk, please?" Amy asked softly.

"Where's dad?" Elliot asked annoyed.

"I'm not sure; we're currently separated." Amy said from the doorway looking at Elliot.

"Yeah, come in." Elliot said simply.

"Thank you." Amy said softly.

"Before you continue with whatever it is you need to discuss I need some important information." Dr. Giez said injecting himself back into the room.

"Yes, what is it?" Elliot asked right away.

"On either side of your families are there any blood disorders?" Dr. Giez asked looking at Elliot and Zoey.

"I'm not sure." Elliot and Zoey said dumbfounded.

"My grandmother and aunt had a blood clotting disorder." Amy said speaking up.

"My great grandmother had a clot disorder as well." Adam said closing his eyes in annoyance; he knew exactly where this was going.

"Why do you ask?" Amy asked softly.

"Because Mai is so very young; she shouldn't have a blood clot the size of a gulf ball anywhere in her body let alone coming out of her liver in a vein. I just wanted to make sure there was nothing hereditary, but it seems that there is; on both sides. What about your husband's side or your wife's side?" Dr. Giez asked looking at Amy and Adam.

"Nothing on my side." Suzie said softly.

"I don't believe there was anything on James's side either." Amy said softly.

"Ok then. Well we'll need a lot more blood work to determine which type of clotting disorder she has, if she has one at all. I should also ask if she's had any trauma to the abdomen in the last year." Dr. Giez said simply.

"Yes; her aunt…well Mara's sister Amanda kidnapped her and beat the crap out of her. Then shortly after that Zoey's ex took her and I don't know if he did anything to her. Anything that may have happened before I'm not sure; the only thing I do know is that Mara, her sister and her boyfriend used to beat the crap out of her daily." Elliot explained as a nurse came in and started administrating the drugs into Mai's IV to make her sleep.

"Ok. Well a clotting disorder with constant abuse to the abdomen can certainly cause all of this. From now on she'll need to be really careful and she will probably have to be on blood thinners for the rest of her life. After surgery to remove the appendix she will be put on Low Molecular Weight Heparin. And before she is discharged the hematologist will come in and he will put her on a permanent blood thinner until he sees fit. There is a possibility that she could get more clots in the future depending on what the blood work tells us." Dr. Giez explained.

"Is she ready for the surgery? Just to remove the appendix correct?" A surgeon came in and asked.

"No...Daddy…Mommy…" Mai said weakly; the drugs were taking affect.

"It's ok baby; we'll be here when you wake up." Elliot said softly holding her hand.

"Yeah, we promise." Zoey said smiling at the young girl.

At what they said Mai smiled a small smile as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

After she was out of the room and all the nurses and doctors left Elliot closed the door.

"What do you want mom? I don't mean to sound rude, but the way you and dad acted earlier…it makes my blood boil. Mai is my one main priority and Zoey is second. Sorry Zoey, but Mai does come first." Elliot said looking at Zoey.

"It's ok; I feel the same way." Zoey said looking at Elliot before saying, "But I still love you with all my heart."

"I love you with all my heart as well. But back to why mom is here." Elliot said quietly.

"You still call me mom; I didn't know if you would after today. Although I couldn't blame you if you didn't." Amy said softly as tears fell down her eyes.

"Why wouldn't I; you're still my mother no matter what. I'm just really mad at you; but I will never hate you. Dad, on the other hand; him I can never forgive for what he said. If he can't accept my daughter and my love then I can't accept him. I'm sorry mom; I know you love him with all your heart, but I can't forgive or accept him anymore." Elliot said truthfully.

"I know; I understand. Personally I think we're heading towards a divorce; we've done nothing but fight for the last nine years. I wanted to look for you and Wesley so bad; but you know your dad; he cares more about his projects now a days. I'm not sure what happened to him, but he changed after the explosion. And when we saw your name in the newspaper I wanted to look for you right away, but he wouldn't let me. Again, I'm not sure why. But now that I've found you I don't want to lose you again. I'd also like a relationship with Mai if that would be at all possible. I don't want to take away from Zoey or her parents, but I would like to have a relationship with her. She doesn't even have to call me grandma, but…" Amy said as she started to break down.

"Are you and dad really over?" Elliot asked seriously.

"I believe so. I think he has girlfriend, but I'm not sure on that either; I guess I shouldn't assume. But he did tell get out and not to come back if I chose you. I understand if you need time to think so I'll go; I'm staying in room 32A at the Marriot. Please, I don't lose you again." Amy said truthfully.

Elliot had searched her eyes the whole time she was talking and he couldn't find any hint of lies; just the truth.

Just as she was about to leave Elliot called out to her, "Wait! Would you like to stay here for awhile; at least until she gets back?" Elliot asked.

At this Amy quickly turned around with tears pouring down her eyes as she ran to hug Elliot, who hugged her back.

"So you chose them then?" A drunken voice came from the doorway; it was James.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Elliot asked annoyed, more because he was drunk.

"Don't call me dad. I don't even know if you're really my son; you look nothing like me. And just so you know I have moved on and I'll gladly give you the divorce. Here, I already signed the papers." James said throwing the papers at Amy; and sure enough he signed them.

"Dad, sorry, James you can leave now." Elliot said calmly as he pushed the call button.

Pretty soon James was yelling obscenities and when a nurse tried to remove him before the security guards got there he threw a glass bottle at her. She was lucky enough to not be hurt too much; just a few cuts, scratches and one bump on her forehead.

Needless to say James was escorted off the hospital's property and then taken to jail to sober up.

After all that before she broke down completely Amy signed the papers and put them in a mailbox to be sent to the courts to make it final…legally.

After about another hour or so Mai was wheeled back into her room where everybody waited; surprisingly enough all the parents were getting along splendidly.

"Daddy…mommy…" Mai said softly.

"The operation was a success. We also got a little bit of the clot out as well, just so you know." The lead surgeon said as they all sat there looking at Mai.

"Ok, thank you." Elliot and the rest of the gang said softly.

"You're welcome." The surgeon said before leaving and in came a nurse who hooked her up to the heparin and fluids.

So Mai was in the hospital for a little over a week; ten days to be exact and then she was able to home. You have no idea how happy she was to be going home; but she really liked it there. She got all sorts of stuffed animals and coloring books from everybody; everybody came to visit by the way. Well everyone except for Derek who had found out about everything when Elliot left him a voicemail and he called Zeke to make sure. Needless to say he wasn't the happiest, but he understood; at least Mai had both parents who loved her. Elliot had even said he could still be part of her life, but he never heard back from him.

And once she was able to eat solid foods her favorite was the pasta; that's all she wanted.

The doctor had come in and she does have a clotting disorder; she has Antithrombin deficiency, which is hereditary. This significantly increases the chance of developing abnormal blood clots. About half of those with this disorder will develop at least one clot, usually after adolescence. So she will need to be on warfarin which means she'll have to prick her finger every so often and has to watch what she eats; a lot of dark green veggies like broccoli and spinach and stuff like that are out…which you know Mai is so torn up about.

The first four days she pretty much did nothing but sleep and after that she complained about being thirsty, but they would only give her ice chips. After the fifth day she got to drink clear liquids and brother. After day seven she got jell-o and puddings and things like that. After that it was mashed potatoes and such. And finally she was able to eat pastas; boy was she happy about that. Pasta and orange juice; that's all she wanted while there. Hey, at least she's eating again.

She got to meet her grandmother who she calls grandma just like she now calls Zoey's parents grandma and grandpa now instead of Grandma and Grandpa Hanson because they told her the truth. Needless to say Mai was the happiest little girl in the world; she had a daddy and a really mommy, a grandpa and two grandmas; it was better than her birthday.

Elliot's mom moved into the café and she debates on whether or not she'll stay there or move in with Elliot like he offered. And instead of waiting until after Christmas to move Amy convinced him to move sooner and she even helped him pack and transfer along with Zoey's parents, Wesley, Renee and the rest of the gang.

Oh and Zoey's parents found out about her and the other girls being mew mews…oops. Boy were they unhappy at first, but had it not been for any of that they would've never got to know Mai. So happy ending there.

Now that everything and everybody was settled in it was time to get ready for Christmas…Mai's first Christmas.

So there you go

Tell me what you thought

Try to update soon,

SarT55