Okay, I have not forgotten you!! This story got a little hard to do and my obsession with all things Xena waned in favor of a new SVU addiction. I have returned to my roots, however. Hooray! I know this chapter is short, but there will be more posted tonight, and it will be much less depressing. So check back. Also, quick note to the very talented Xedra: when are you gonna upload more vids?? My cousin and I have a song in mind for a X/G vid if you are taking suggestions...

Love to the lovers

Xena appeared at Gabrielle's bedside some time late the next morning. Drowsy, her clear blue eyes came into slow focus, followed by the softness of her fingertips on Gabrielle's cheek.

"Wake up," she was saying. Gabrielle frowned while her brain translated the noises.

"What's going on?"

"Come on, grab on to me. I'm taking you to the doctor."

"Doctor? Xena, you and Mira are taking care of me just fine, I don't need a doctor. I'm not in much pain anymore."

"I know, I just need to be sure. Come on." She slid an arm under Gabrielle's knees. "Come on, grab on to my neck."

Gabrielle reluctantly obeyed. "Are you sure you can..."

But Xena lifted her out of the bed with ease. "Of course I can." She smiled lightly.

The short walk to the village doctor was long enough for Gabrielle to watch the worry from the night before creep back into Xena's face. "What do you need to be sure of, Xena?" She asked softly. Xena pretended not to hear her.

The doctor met them at the door. He was a well-muscled man for his age. His young-looking chest and shoulders contradicted starkly with his white hair and deeply lined face. Xena and he exchanged a wordless greeting and he gestured further into the hut. Gabrielle was carried through a curtain into a sun-streaked room and laid on a table. A woman met them there, wearing the same apron and cap as the old man at the door.

"Hello." She said. "On the table, here."

Gabrielle tried again as she was laid on the table, looking at Xena in question. Xena dodged her gaze and said to the woman, "I thought the owner was going to do it."

"I am the owner." She said coolly while she inspected Gabrielle's wounds and looked for signs of fever. She asked Gabrielle a few basic questions -- how she was feeling, any change in appetite, nausea, fatigue. Gabrielle answered and relaxed slowly -- the doctor had a very reassuring manner about her -- but every chance she got, Gabrielle was watching Xena.

"Well, she doesn't appear to have any sickness or fever. These wounds are healing nicely." She felt Gabrielle's legs and hips. "Her hip isn't broken, just badly out of alignment. This leg is in really bad shape, though. I'll put a good splint on it, it should heal faster if it's immobilized." Xena nodded and paled a little as the doctor came to the end of the table by Gabrielle's feet. "Knees -- well, knee up, please." She went to get a block to prop up Gabrielle's bad leg.

"Wait. Woah. Xena, what the hell is going on? Why do I need an internal exam?"

The doctor looked at Xena. "She doesn't know?"

"You let me worry about her. Just do your job." Xena turned back to Gabrielle and took her hand. "Don't worry, Gabrielle. Everything's fine, just relax." The exam was quick but excruciating, mainly because of the waives of panic she and Xena had to battle. When it was over, the doctor put Gabrielle's leg down and turned to Xena and said,

"She is."

"Is what?" Gabrielle was panicking again. When Xena didn't answer right away, she became vehement and terrified. "I am what, Xena? Tell me!"

Xena took a breath and looked at her partner resignedly straight in the eye. Her response was a whisper. "You're pregnant."

There was one excruciating moment of silence, and then it began. "No." Gabrielle managed. Her breathing sped up dangerously. "No." The tears began to gather in her eyes. "There must be some mistake. I can't be. Tell me it's not true." She turned her face up and let her green eyes bore into Xena's. "Xena, tell me it's not true."

"I wish I could," Xena answered after a pause.

"Oh, gods, not again. This can't be happening to me again!" She didn't notice the doctor setting her leg and strapping on the splint. Instead she pulled and clawed at Xena, as if trying to keep from drowning. "I can't do this." She told her. "I can't. I can't go through this again. I can't do this."

Xena leaned down and kissed Gabrielle at the hairline, unsure of just who she was trying to comfort. She didn't know what to say to her. "I know," was the only thing that came to mind. She and the doctor exchanged a quick glance and Xena knelt down to Gabrielle's level. She began tentatively. "Gabrielle. There's a procedure we could do. It -- well it would end the pregnancy. But the risks are very, very high..."

"End the pregnancy?" Gabrielle asked, her voice quieter now. "You mean kill the baby."

Xena's eyes were unwavering. "Yes."

Gabrielle nodded slowly in understanding. "I don't know...I don't know if I could..."

"It's okay," Xena reassured her. "You have time to think about it."

"Actually," the doctor butted in, "you don't. You're too far along now for it to be safe. I'm sorry."

Xena and Gabrielle stared off at the doctor for a long moment, neither able to speak, nor sure of what was to come. Finally, the doctor spoke up again quietly.

"If there's anything I can do..."

That snapped Gabrielle out of it. "Uh," she swallowed. "Thank you. Xena, take me home."