Danny held Mary's hand as he rushed alongside the gurney into the ER. Even in her weakened state, Mary's grip was surprisingly strong and it gave him hope that that she was going to pull through. Once they passed through the double doors he was forced to let go of her and let the doctors do their work.

"She's pregnant," he said for probably the tenth time in the last five minutes and yet another nurse made sure it was noted on Mary's chart. Danny stood back out of the way as a flurry of activity surrounded her. He watched her dress and the shirt he'd wrapped her with fall to the floor in pieces as she was covered with various drapes and blankets. More people entered the room as IV's were started, blood was taken and different leads were connected.

"Are you her husband?" One of the nurses who had met them on the roof approached him with a clipboard in hand. Danny nodded his head, knowing that answering in the affirmative would make things much easier.

"How long has she been this way?"

"I'm not sure," he said, trying to get a glimpse of Mary through the crowd of people. At the nurse's disgusted look, Danny tried to explain. For some reason he couldn't stand the idea of this woman thinking he'd been neglecting Mary or much worse, that he'd done anything to hurt her.

"She was kidnapped—four days ago, but I don't know how long she's been sick. She wasn't ill when they took her."

The woman's look of disdain changed to sympathy as she continued with her questions. "Do you know how far along she is?"

Danny shook his head again. "She just found out this week." He tried to listen as the doctors and nurses shouted numbers and orders back and forth, but everything was still a blur inside his head. "Is she going to be alright?"

Before the woman could answer, she abruptly pulled Danny out of the way as a technician entered with a large machine.

"Good. Let's get an ultrasound so we can see what we're dealing with," the doctor said as he looked up and reached for the wand.

Danny held his breath as everyone grew almost quiet with anticipation. Suddenly, the swooshing sound of the ultrasound machine filled the room followed by a garbled, but rapid thumping noise.

"Is that what I think it is?" Danny quietly whispered to the nurse.

"That's your baby's heartbeat," she told him with a warm smile and Danny couldn't help but smile back. His joy was replaced with fear, however, when the piercing cry of an alarm cut through the din of activity. Danny took a step towards Mary, but the nurse stopped him, having realized immediately what the problem was.

"It's okay. She just pulled off one of the leads to the heart monitor. They'll reconnect it in just a second."

"Mary, we need you to relax." Danny could hear the doctor plead as other people moved quickly around the table.

"Is my baby alive?" Mary's voice sounded so tiny and Danny's heart ached for her.

"For now, but you have to let us treat you."

Danny could see Mary's face as she listened to the man intently. He was thankful that she appeared to be lucid, but he could tell by the look on her face she was about to put up a fight. "No. I don't want to take anything. I don't want to do anything that could hurt my baby."

"Mary, look at me. Right now the fever and the infection are hurting your baby much more than any medication we're going to give you," the doctor tried to reassure her while still stressing the gravity of the situation. "You have to let us help you or you're both going to die."

That statement sent Danny over the edge and he broke free of the nurse's hold. "Mary, please," he begged from his position at her feet, the only space left for anyone to stand.

Even through the haze that was clouding her mind she could hear the desperation in Danny's voice. She squeezed her eyes shut, causing a flood of tears to pour down her face before finally nodding her assent. Danny gently rubbed her leg through the heavy covers keeping her warm before he felt a hand pulling him back and away again.

---

Two hours later and Danny was more exhausted than he'd been in his entire life--even more than when he'd returned from active duty two years ago. He knew the FBI was waiting like a pack of wolves. Ed had managed to keep them occupied while Danny was with Mary, but his boss' charm could only go so far.

Mary. He wasn't sure if it was the antibiotics or just the fact that she was finally out of that hell hole, but she seemed to be improving with each passing moment and she was finally being moved to a private room. As Danny waited in the hallway for them to bring her up from the ER he finally had a moment to think about everything that had happened. He tried to recall anything and everything that might be useful in tracking these guys down, but one thought kept him from concentrating on much else—he was going to be a father. The intense fear he'd felt this last week over losing Mary or the baby had kept him from even considering that he should be scared about the rest of their lives. Now when he actually had time to take a breath he realized that it wasn't exactly fear that was overwhelming him, but anxiety. Before Danny could dwell on this new feeling, the elevator doors opened and he was once again focused on Mary.

It didn't take them long to get her settled and the two of them were finally left alone. Her skin was pale, but her cheeks were flushed with the remnants of the fever. They had set her arm and it was in a temporary cast until the orthopedic specialist Ed had called in could be consulted. Danny brushed Mary's hair away from her face and placed a tender kiss to her forehead—noting thankfully that she was much cooler than the last time he'd touched her. The feel of his lips against her skin caused Mary to stir and Danny quickly pulled the chair close to the bed and brought her uninjured hand up to his face.

"Mary? Can you hear me?"

She whimpered a bit before calling out for him softly. "Danny?"

"I'm right here, Mary."

It took a bit of effort, but she finally opened her eyes and looked at Danny. He smiled brightly and Mary's eyes instantly filled with tears. "Hi," she barely managed, her voice breaking.

"Hey," he told her, leaning forward until their lips were touching. "I missed you."

"Danny…"

"Sshhh. You need to rest. I just wanted you to know that I'm right here."

Mary took a deep breath and nodded her head before realization hit and she turned to Danny in obvious distress. "The baby?"

Danny smiled again, looking her straight in the eye. "Hanging in there—the doctor said the heart rate was a bit off when you first got here, but it's leveled out and they sound optimistic."

"What aren't you telling me?"

Before Danny could respond a short, dark-haired woman in her 40's entered the room.
"Hello, Mary."

"Dr. Overton? I didn't expect to see you here. How did you even know I was pregnant?"

The doctor looked a bit confused and they both turned to Danny for an explanation.

"I knew you'd made an appointment with her--they called to confirm--so I gave them her name. With everything that's happened, I just thought you'd be more comfortable with your own doctor."

"Thank you," Mary whispered, grateful for Danny's uncanny ability to anticipate her feelings. Mary had felt at ease with Dr. O from the moment they'd met. She was nice, but no-nonsense and Mary had been going to her regularly for almost ten years.

"Good, now that we have that cleared up—let's talk babies... and kidney infections," Dr. Overton said as she glanced at the first few pages of Mary's chart.

"A kidney infection?"

"Yep--a real nasty one by the looks of it. The IV antibiotic the doctor in the ER started you on looks likes it's working really well. How do you feel?"

"Woozy and worn out. I feel like I want to move, but my muscles aren't really cooperating and my back is killing me."

"All that should pass. Is your arm bothering you?"

"A little, but not too bad."

"They gave you some Demerol before they set it. If the pain gets to be too much as it wears off let one of the nurses know."

"Dr. O, I'm really concerned about the effect all this is having on the baby."

"I know, sweetie, but you have to understand that there really was no other choice. The doctors did choose drugs with a lower risk of side effects, but we'll need to monitor the pregnancy pretty closely."

The older woman put down Mary's chart and sat at the foot of the bed. "Okay, I want to be completely honest with you guys. The baby seems to be doing okay, but after a trauma or illness like this it's not unusual for a miscarriage to happen days—sometimes weeks-- later."

Mary gripped Danny's hand and tried to hold back her tears.

"I'm not saying it's going to happen," Dr. O assured them. "In fact, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that it doesn't and that includes, Mary, putting you on bedrest—at least until the end of the first trimester."

Danny turned to see if Mary was going to protest, but she simply nodded her head—her watery gaze still focused on her doctor.

"Okay, good," Dr. O stood up when another tech arrived with the ultrasound machine.

"According to the doctor in the ER, you're between nine and ten weeks, Mary. Does that sound right?"

"Nine weeks?" Danny's heart sank as he realized that he and Mary had only been back together for six.

"We determine gestational age based on the mother's last menstrual cycle, Danny, not by the date of conception. Conception was probably around seven or eight weeks ago. Does that sound better?"

That did sound a little better, but Danny was still having a bit of difficulty with the math. "What were we doing seven weeks ago?" he said more to himself than to the two women in the room.

"I've got a pretty good idea, but I can bring in some visual aids if you'd like," the doctor told him sarcastically as she exposed Mary's stomach and squirted it with the requisite goo.

Mary chuckled as Danny's face turned three shades of red, but she couldn't help but feel a little hurt. "Did you actually think it might not be yours?"

Danny stuttered a bit in his reply, "No… of course not, but if you were…I mean…it wouldn't matter. It wouldn't change things, Mary. I love you."

She was too touched by his words to be angry with him so she merely rolled her eyes and put his worries to rest, "It was the night before my ski trip, Danny. It had to be."

He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about that night and he felt like a cad for even thinking this baby might be anyone else's. He leaned forward and placed a soft, lingering kiss on Mary's temple before whispering in her ear, "I guess it's a good thing we got back together, then."

Mary smiled and turned her head to kiss him again before the sound of Dr. O clearing her throat interrupted them.

"So, let's take a look," Dr. O placed the wand on Mary's belly while Danny held her hand. "I wanna see this little peanut for myself."

The rapid thumps that Danny now recognized as the heartbeat were even louder this time and the sound brought him an overwhelming sense of relief and comfort.

Mary stared intently as the grainy, black and white image appeared on the screen. She smiled when she realized Dr. O's description had been right on the money--the baby did resemble a little peanut. While she watched the flutter on the screen and listened to the steady beat of her baby's heart she turned to see Danny's reaction.

He looked…mesmerized. It was the only word Mary could think of to describe the complete look of awe she saw on his face. The fresh round oftears she'd been trying so desperately to hold back finally spilled over as she watched one lonely drop leave a salty trail down Danny's cheek. Mary smiled at him and untangled their hands so she could gently wipe the tear away. He glanced down at her with a radiant smile before turning back to the screen, but Mary couldn't stop looking at him. She knew deep down in her soul that everything would be alright as long as they were together …it just had to be.