Disclaimers is Part One.
Special thanks to those who read and review and to the wonderful Snugglebug for her help and her guidance. Hugs to you!
Harm and Mac both rested most of Sunday and by Monday neither was feeling great but both were "okay" to work. Harm sent Mac off to the SecNav's office with a great deal of trepidation, especially knowing he'd be in Norfolk all day and out of touch for the most part.
Mac assured him she'd take it easy and that she'd be fine, though after an hour of being up and down like a yo-yo she was beginning to have significant pain. Mic kept asking if she was okay, and she assured him she was that is of course until she reached for a book on the fourth shelf, "Oh!" she gasped and bent over a bit.
"Sarah!" Mic exclaimed, rushing to her side. "What's wrong, love?"
"My stomach..." she whispered."It hurts."
"Lie down," he said as he eased her body to the ground. "I'll go call for help."
"No, no," Mac assured him. "I'll be all right. Just help me sit down maybe?"
"All right," agreed Mic. "But I'm not leaving you alone like this. I'll sit here with you, how's that?"
"Please," Mac replied and leaned on Mic as he helped her over to the couch. She felt her stomach burning, making her feel sick. After a few minutes rest, she said, "I think I should go home."
"I think you should," agreed Mic. "I'll call Harm; is his number in your Rolodex?"
She nodded, "Tell him...Tell him I'm not feeling well okay, but don't tell him..." she trailed off.
"I won't tell him anything other than you're not feeling well," he promised as he flipped through the Rolodex in search of Harm's number. Upon finding it, he dialed, held the phone to his ear and waited for Harm to pick up. "Hmm," muttered Mic when the call went to voicemail after 4 rings. "He's not at his desk. Is he in court this morning?"
"Norfolk," she managed feeling her voice catch on a sob. She knew the surgery hadn't worked and now she had proof.
"He's in Norfolk today?" asked Mic, making sure he understood her correctly. "Does he have his cell phone with him?"
She nodded, "Red ink."
"Red ink...red..." he mumbled to himself as he flipped once more through the Rolodex in search of the number."Ah, here we go..." He dialed the number and waited three rings before hearing Harm's voice mail message.
"Let me talk to him," Mac told Mic. "He'll worry if you talk to him."
Mic hung up the phone. "It's just his voicemail, love. He must be in court or a meeting or something."
That did it; the only thing that kept her together was the idea of hearing Harm's voice. Losing that she let out a sob, "Call me a cab please."
Mic quickly knelt down at Mac's side and put a soothing hand against her shoulder. "Its okay, Sarah. I'm not going to call you a cab, but I am going to get you home and take care of you until Harm gets there."
"You don't know how only Harm knows how," she whispered sounding so much like Lucy.
"I'm sure I can figure it out, love," he said. "You need to be at home in bed and not sitting in your office chair in this kind of pain. I'm going to go let the bosses know we're leaving, and I'll bring my car around to the side door so we don't have to walk so far. I'll be right back."
Mac nodded her head slightly and waited for Mic to tell the SecNav and bring his car before coming to get her. "I want Harm," she whispered to him once he was back at her side.
"I know you do," he said as he helped her stand up. "But he's unreachable, so for now I'm the best you've got."
Mac leaned heavily on Mic her step faltering once or twice as she struggled to reach the car. Once he had her in the seat, her head dropped over to one side and her eyes closed in exhaustion.
Mic drove quickly to Mac's house, keeping his eyes on her as much as he could. She was resting but he could tell by her body language she was hurting pretty badly. Finally he pulled into the driveway and moved around to help her out of the car.
"Here," he said. "Let me carry you inside, love."
Mac nodded and lifted her arms to put them around Mic's neck. She'd much rather have Harm there with her, but Mic was a good second. "Right to the bedroom, please," she requested.
"You know, I used to dream about you saying that to me," he remarked with a smile as he lifted her from the vehicle, and closed the door with his foot.
Mac smiled but let the remark go. Mic carried her through the house directly into the bedroom and laid her down.
"You need to get out of that uniform and into something less restrictive," said Mic, as he took off his own uniform jacket and tossed it over a nearby chair. "I can help if you need me to."
Mac nodded again and began to unbutton her uniform top. She managed to get everything off herself, "In closet, left side. Harm has a sweatshirt..."
With a nod, Mic went to the closet and pulled out the large, soft fleece sweatshirt Mac was asking for. "Here, Sarah," he said as he returned to her side, holding the garment out to her.
Mac slipped it over her head leaving her uniform scattered about her, dropped back on the bed, and pulled her knees in as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, lying in her safe, protective ball. "My children," she said after a minute.
"Where are they?" he asked in his thick, Australian tone.
"DJ's at Harriet's house, Lucy's at school, she gets out in an hour and nine minutes," Mac told him. "I need her home."
Mic sat down in the chair he pulled up next to the bed. "Are you sure you want her here when you're ill like this? I could go get her and take her to Harriet's instead?"
"I want my babies home," Mac said. "I need them home. They...they're used to this but they...they like to be home." She wasn't making too much sense, the pain not permitting that, but she knew what she meant. Lucy was so upset lately whenever it was time to be away from Mac it would be best for her to be home even if Mac was not well. "Can you get her from school?"
"Will they allow her to go with me?" he asked.
"I'll call," Mac replied. "You go to the office and show them ID. AJ's done it lots of times," she replied fighting to keep from letting him know how badly she was hurting.
"All right" he said, reaching out to take her hand. "You look awful, love. What can I get for ya?"
"Aside from my husband," she whispered. "Nothing. He knows how to do it."
"I tried calling him before we left the office, remember?" said Mic, part of him thinking he should try calling again, but part of him not minding that Harm wasn't around.
"Sometimes he gets the heating pad for me, that helps," she sighed biting down on her lip. "It's in the top drawer. And my pain killers are in the cabinet. Two of those."
"Okay, I'll be right back," said Mic, rising from his chair to get the things Mac asked for. He returned moments later with the heating pad and a bottle of pills.
He leaned down and plugged in the heating pad. "Okay, here we are," he said as he handed it to her. "What does Harm do next?"
"He sits with me and he sometimes rubs my back a little, but you don't..."
"Ssh, say no more," he said as he unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up a few inches. "If you need a back rub, that's what you're going to get. Tell me where, Sarah."
"Down low," she replied. "Behind my belly button."
While Mic rubbed her back Mac called Lucy's school and Harriet. She arranged that Harriet would pick up Lucy and deliver her and DJ to Mic at the Rabb home. Then under his gentle touch she began to relax, but still she was sore and frightened. "I'm not sure this is working," she said after twenty minutes.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Are your pills helping any at all? Can I get you anything else?"
"Maybe...the only thing the helps is sleep sometimes," Mac replied. "Sometimes no. Can you help me get under?"
"Of course I can," he said, reaching over to love the covers back so she could wriggle herself in beneath them.
With some motion and only one significant gasp of pain Mac made it under the covers. "Thank you. If you could entertain the kids..."
"Consider it done," he said softly. "Get some rest, love. I'll take care of everything."
Mac was asleep by the time Harriet delivered Lucy and DJ to their home. Lucy had a face down to her toes when she came in, a combination of sadness and fear.
"What's wrong, little lady?" asked Mic, holding his arms open to her. "Want to come tell me about it?"
Lucy stepped into Mic's arm. "I got a note from school and Daddy is gonna be mad at me," she whispered.
"Oh, I don't think he'll be mad," said Mic, giving Lucy a gentle hug. "It takes a lot to make your Daddy mad."
"He's gonna be made this time," Lucy said very certain that this would push even her Daddy to punish her.
"Did your teacher tell you what the note was about?" queried Mic.
"No, but I kind of know since I did a bad thing today," Lucy told him. "But I'm not sorry, that's why he'd gonna be mad."
"Do you want to tell Uncle Mic what you did?" he asked.
"I got very mad at Dr. Crimmins today. Very mad," Lucy told him. "And I forgot to say it like they told me. Daddy is going to put me in my room. I may even have to go to the lighthouse room this time."
Mic wasn't sure what the little girl was talking about, but he could tell she was expecting trouble when her father got home. "Why don't we go get a snack, and we can watch a little tellie together before your Daddy gets back, okay?"
"I want my Mommy," Lucy said.
"Sweetheart," said Mic. "Mommy is taking a little nap right now, but as soon as she wakes up, you can see her."
"Does her belly hurt?" Lucy asked.
Mic nodded. "It does, but she took her medicine, and she's sleeping for a little while, and then she'll be all better."
Lucy nodded, "I have to make sixes. Then I can watch TV."
"Well, go sit at the table and make your sixes," said Mic, releasing his gentle hold on the child. "Then we'll watch something fun."
"Daddy watches me," Lucy said. "And he makes me and DJ snacks."
"Well then," said Mic with a smile. "Let's go find a snack."
Mac slept on and on while Mic watched Lucy do her homework and fed the children a snack. It was fast becoming supper time and there was still no sign of Harm. "I'm hungry," Lucy said. "Can we make dinner for Mommy and Daddy?"
"Sweetheart," he said. "Uncle Mic's not much up for cooking tonight. Why don't we order some pizza?"
"Okay," Lucy said. "Half veggie and half dead animal, okay?"
Mic couldn't help but laugh. "You're definitely your Daddy's Girl, aren't you, beautiful?"
"That's what he says too," Lucy smiled and hugged Mic tight just as Mac called out for Harm from the bedroom.
"Harm?" Mac's voice came out of the bedroom. "Mic?"
Hearing Mac call out like that sent Mic down the hall in a hurried stride. "What is it, Sarah?" he asked her when he reached her bedside.
"Where's Harm?" Mac asked, her face pale and damp from the pain she was feeling.
"He's not home yet," said Mic. "Lucy and I were just about to order some pizzas for dinner. Can I get you anything? Are you thirsty maybe?"
"Another blanket, maybe?" she asked. "And maybe more of my pills."
"Al lright," he said, immediately leaving to get the things she asked for as she lay there in misery.
Lucy padded into the room a few minutes later and stood near Mac, "How's your belly, Mommy?"
"It hurts, baby," said Mac. "But it'll feel better soon, I promise."
"Okay, is there any blood on you?" Lucy asked, Thanksgiving still fresh in her little mind.
"No, sweetie," said Mac. "Not this time. Mommy's just not feeling good, that's all."
Lucy smiled, "Do you need me to rub your head?"
"Oh, baby that's so sweet of you," said Mac. "But no, you go work on your homework or play with your brother."
"Okay, I love you Mommy," Lucy declared and turned to go play with DJ.
Mic returned with another blanket and Mac's pills. "What'd she mean 'rub your head'?"
"She did that when I...the last bad setback I had at Thanksgiving she just started doing that and it helped me relax," Mac replied. "Thank you," she smiled as lifted her head slightly to take the pills in her mouth. "Have Lucy read to you after dinner if Harm's not home okay?" she asked, as she felt her eyes slipping closed again.
"I'll do that," he said softly as he pulled the blanket up over her. "Sleep well, love."
Mic went back out to the children and watched them color while they waited for the pizza. He made sure the children ate enough before he allowed them to have two cookies each. Mac woke two more times and asked him to call Harm, but still there was no answer and Mic didn't not leave a message. It was nearly 8 o'clock, and DJ had dozed off on his play mat, and Lucy was snuggled on Mic's lap reading her book to him, pausing every so often for help with the hard words.
Harm arrived home just after 2030, exhausted from a long day in Norfolk. He pulled into the drive, taking no notice of the vehicle parked in front of the house. Opening the garage, he was surprised to find it empty. Mac's car should have been in there, and he became concerned. Grabbing his cover and briefcase from the passenger seat, he hurried inside, unsure of what he'd find, but finding a scene he never, ever imagined. He stopped dead in his tracks and tried to take it all in before he said a single word.
Lucy continued to read her story, then stopped, "Uncle Mic, see this puppy?" she asked and pointed.
"Ahem!" said Harm, clearing his throat as he set his things on the dining room table.
"Hi, Daddy," Lucy smiled and slid off Mic's lap going to her Daddy. "Its 2033, you are very late."
"I know, Button," he said. "Daddy had to be in meetings all day today, and they were far away from here. Did you eat dinner yet?"
"Yes, Uncle Mic got us pizza and lettuce," Lucy replied.
"You mean salad, baby," said Harm. "Did your brother eat, too?"
"Yes, he ate too, Uncle Mic helped him," Lucy replied beaming at Mic.
"Did he really?" asked Harm, looking over towards Mic with a wary stare. "Is your homework all finished?"
"Yes, and Uncle Mic checked it to see that its right. He didn't read my note though," Lucy told Harm. She wanted to be honest about notes from now on.
"You have a note? From school?" asked her Daddy.
"Yes, it's on the table," Lucy told him and let out a big yawn.
"Okay," said Harm. "Lucy, go get into your jammies and brush your teeth, please. I'll be back to tuck you in as soon as you're done."
"Okay," said Lucy as she scampered over to Mic giving him a big kiss. "I love you Uncle Mic."
"I love you too, little lady," said Mic. "Now, go do as your Daddy asked."
"Okay," Lucy said and ran to do as she was told.
Once his daughter was out of earshot, Harm stepped closer to Mic. "What're you doing here?" he asked. "Where's Mac?"
"In bed," Mic replied. "She became quite ill at work today and I took her home. She's been in bed since."
"She got sick at work?" questioned Harm. "Why didn't she call me?"
"I called you three times," Mic replied. "She was in too much pain to do much."
"You called me three times?" asked Harm in a disbelieving tone of voice as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "This doesn't show that you called at all."
"It went straight to voice mail the last two times," Mic replied. "I didn't leave a message. Sarah said not to."
"Did you call my office?" asked Harm, clearly annoyed at the situation.
"Once, but Sarah said you were in Norfolk," Mic replied.
Before he could rebutt, Lucy called to him from down the hall.
"Daddy! I'm ready," she called to him.
Harm pointed a finger at Mic. "I'll be right back. This isn't over."
Harm tended to Lucy, tucking her in and singing her a few lines of her favorite song before checking in on Mac, who was still sound asleep. He quietly removed his uniform jacket and tie and left them on the chair just inside the door before going back to the living room.
"Well, since you've got everything under control here, Mate," Mic sighed. "I'll be going. Give Sarah my best."
"What part of 'this isn't over' was unclear to you, Brumby?" pressed Harm. "Sit down, you've got some explaining to do."
Mic sat down, "There's not much to explain. She got sick, you weren't around, I took care of her, no brainer."
"Uh-uh, you're not getting away with blowing it off as nothing," said Harm, his voice indicating he wasn't at all pleased with the situation. "You should have gotten a hold of me! Why didn't you call the General's office and get the number to where I was? Why?"
"She was doubled over in pain and sobbing, I wanted to get her home and into bed," Mic replied. "I didn't think of asking the General where you were."
"Why the hell not?" asked Harm. "I'm her husband! I should have been the first person you called, no matter how many calls you needed to make in order to reach me! Why didn't you leave me a message, and don't blame Mac - you should have known this was something I needed to know about!"
"She asked me not to worry you," Mic replied. "She was scared enough. Why are you making such a big deal out of this? She got sick; I took care of her, its simple."
"Simple my ass, Brumby!" spat Harm. "Once you brought her home, what'd you do with her? Did you put her in bed?"
"Of course I put her in bed, she was, she is in agony," Mic replied.
"Don't tell me you helped her get her uniform off," glared Harm, ready to clobber the Aussie cretin right then and there.
"No, she did that herself. I got her the shirt she has on and helped her with her shoes," Mic replied. "Though if she needed me to do that I would have."
Harm stepped to within inches of the chair Mic was seated in, grabbed his collar and pulled him up to eye level. "Say that again, Bugme."
Mic remained calm, "Whatever she needed I would have done," he replied firmly.
"I bet you would have," said Harm, eyes wide with anger. "I looked in on her just now, she's lying in the absolute worst possible position, which if I'd been the one here with her would not be the case. Explain that one!"
"That's how she laid so I let her stay like that," Mic replied. "She never said anything about that."
"She wouldn't say anything because she hates laying the proper way!" said Harm. "This is exactly why I'm the one who should have been here with her! I know how to treat her, even if that treatment is painful, it's still what is best!"
"Why does she hate it? If she's happy like she is, what's the harm?" Mic asked.
"It's not good for her to lay all curled up like that!" answered Harm, waving his hands for dramatic effect. "Explain to me again why you've been here all night, why you've been taking care of my kids and my wife? How did you manage to pull that off, huh?"
"She is not exactly capable of taking care of them is she?" Mic shot. "And you were no where to be found. Someone had to get her the heating pad, give her her medication, hold her hand, feed the kids..."
"And of all our friends, you just happened to be the one to receive the dubious honor," said Harm, disgusted and angry. "Wait a minute, you said you gave Mac her pills. Which ones?"
"The ones in the cabinet," Mic replied. "She told me to get those for her."
"How many did you give her?" questioned Harm firmly.
"Two when we got home about 2 and two more two hours or so ago," Mic replied. "Then one more 45 minutes ago."
"What?" exclaimed Harm. "That's five pills in a 7 hour period! That's way too much, you idiot!"
"She kept asking for them," Mic replied. "I thought she should know what she can take not like it eased her suffering at all."
"Did it ever occur to you to check the label on the goddamn bottle?" spat Harm. "Percoset is a big deal, you don't just take it at will!"
Mic was silent then, but soon his own temper rose, "Well what was I supposed to do huh? You were off God knows where, you might enjoy listening to her cry and moan, maybe it makes you feel like a man, having your wife submissive and your daughter frightened, but I couldn't listen to her anymore. I had to do something," Mic bit out tired of Harm's self righteous attitude. He'd only tried to help.
"You arrogant, egotistical, son of a bitch!" hissed Harm. "How dare you say that to me! You don't know anything about my wife or my daughter or what our lives are like, so you can just shut the hell up!"
"Daddy?" Lucy said softly as she came around the corner clutching her Pooh. "Daddy stop yelling."
"Go back to bed, Lucy," said Harm, not taking his eyes off of Mic.
"Daddy?" Lucy asked again eyes wide as saucers. "Why are you yelling at Uncle Mic?"
"Because Daddy is very angry with him," replied Harm, his eyes still fixed on the man in front of him.
"You're scaring me," she said sniffing a little bit. "I was bad, not Uncle Mic."
"You weren't bad," said Harm, turning to look at his little girl. "Daddy will read your note in a little while, but this isn't because of anything you did. Go back to bed, and Daddy will stop yelling."
"Promise?" she asked lower lip still quivering a little bit.
"Promise," said a bit calmer Harm.
Lucy turned then and went to her bed. "You see, she's scared of you. She was terrified you'd be angry and make her sleep in the lighthouse room or something like that. And Sarah, well, what was she doing at work in the first place three days after surgery?"
"She needed to get back," answered Harm, not yelling but still clearly upset. "She'd been out for almost a solid month before today, or hadn't you noticed?"
"Or I noticed. I also noticed she's still too sick to be there," Mic replied as they heard Mac start to cough in the bedroom.
Both men started heading for the hallway before Harm spoke up. "You stay out here," he said, leaving zero room for negotiation. "She's my wife, I'm going to check on her."
Mic did as Harm asked but out of worry he did wait when he could have made a run for it.
Harm hurried down the hall and into the master bedroom to find his wife in total agony. He sat on the bed beside her and placed his hand on her back as she laid on her side in the all-too-familiar wrong position. "I'm here, baby. What do you need?"
Mac smiled just a bit when she saw Harm, "I don't feel very well," she told him.
"I know," he said. "And I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you. I'm here now, though, so tell me what I can do to help you."
"I...have to sit up," she managed. "Now."
"Okay," he said, sliding his hands beneath her back to help ease her up.
Mac looked over at him, her hand over her mouth, knowing he'd get the idea.
He ran and grabbed the bathroom trash can and ran back to the bed, getting it to her just in time. "I'm so sorry, Mac," he said, rubbing her back as she emptied everything from her stomach.
By the time it was over Mac was crying hard from the burning agony becoming ill had caused her. She was breathing hard and perspiring, "Oh God! Oh...Harm..." She cried only to have his name die on an actual scream of near torture.
"Lie back down, baby," he said. "Let me help you lie down. You can't sit up with this much pain."
Mac let him ease her down, "It hurts, Harm," she whispered through sobs. "So bad."
"I'm sorry," he said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "I wish I could make it all go away, but I can't. I can't even give you any more pills, since I think that's what made you sick in the first place. Do you want me to call Dr. Bradley?"
Weakly Mac nodded then asked, "Where's Mic?"
"I think he's in the living room," said Harm, trying to mask the disgust he felt at the sound of his wife asking for that man.
"Send him home," Mac whispered. "I don't want him to see this anymore. Please," she said rapidly losing strength.
"Okay, okay baby," soothed Harm. "I'll go ask him to leave and then I'm calling Dr. Bradley. You just rest."
Mac nodded and let her eyes close moving towards the peaceful darkness of sleep.
Harm left Mac sleeping, but he left the door opened in case she was sick again. He had a feeling that was not over for the night. He was having a hard time breathing when he returned to the living room to see Mic sitting with Lucy on his lap. The child was crying and clinging to Mic like she would normally cling to Harm.
"Hey, baby girl," said Harm to Lucy as he knelt down and held his arms open to her. "Come to me; come to Daddy."
Lucy kept her face buried in Mic's neck and continued to cry. She was all ready scared Harm would be angry with her and now memories of that awful day with Mac were coming back.
Harm looked at Mic and coldly stated. "Let me have her; you need to go home."
"I'm not sure she's ready to let me just yet, Harm," Mic replied as he continued to try and soothe the frightened child.
"It's not up to her," said Harm, pausing as a coughing spell came over him. "Mac asked me to send you home, and I'm more than happy to oblige her. You've done more than enough here today." Harm's eyes were wide and dark with anger as this man he disliked so much held onto his little girl.
"Come here, Lucy," said Harm, reaching out and taking a hold of the child's shoulders.
"No!" Lucy cried and held onto Mic tighter. "No! No!"
Harm couldn't figure out where this was coming from, but one thing was for sure, something had his little girl extremely unsettled. He stood up in frustration and walked into the kitchen, pulled out a chair and slumped down into it to try and gather his thoughts. When after a minute or so, he didn't feel any better, he quickly rose from the chair and returned to the living room. "Lucy," he said. "You need to calm down and come talk to Daddy, please." He looked at Mic. "You need to tell her that, and then you need to go home. I mean it."
"She's obviously very upset Harm," Mic replied. "And apparently you aren't helping matters."
Mic turned his attentions to Lucy and whispered to her, "It's all right, Love. Uncle Mic is here. Stop your crying."
Lucy slowly began to calm down, and finally looked up at her father. "You're gonna yell at me, aren't you?"
"No, Button," said Harm softly. "I just want to talk to you, that's all."
"I don't want to talk to you," she said firmly. "It's your fault." She said those words so calmly, so simply, she had no idea of their impact on her father's heart.
Harm stood still, not certain what she meant or how to reply. "I'm sorry for whatever you say is my fault, baby," he finally said to her. "But it's way past your bedtime, and you have school tomorrow and you need your sleep, so if you're not going to come to me and tal;k, you need to go back to your bed."
"No!" Lucy said again and buried her face back inside Mic's neck. Mic knew though Harm was right, "Lucy, you need to go and sleep and you need to tell Daddy what you told me, okay? Unless you want me to tell him for you?"
"You tell him," said Lucy as she clung to Mic. "You can put me in my bed and then you can tell him."
Mic silently nodded and stood up with Lucy in his arms and carried her to her bed. A few minutes later he returned and sat on the sofa again, waiting for Harm's lead.
"I don't appreciate this, Brumby," said Harm, who'd taken a moment while Mic put Lucy to be to grab himself a glass of iced tea. "I shouldn't have to stand aside while you put my kid to bed after she tells you...whatever she told you, and then sit here and hear about what she told you from you. Spit it out and then get out of my house."
"She's angry at you," Mic told him. "She's angry at you for leaving her alone with Mac when she got so sick. And she's angry at you for sending her to some Dr. Simmons or something and for breaking some promise to Sarah," Mic outlined. "And she scared that you're going to punish her when you read the note."
"I'll be the one who decides if she needs to be punished for whatever's in that note," said Harm, pausing again to cough a few times. "And as for the rest of it, it's none of your business and I'll deal with it tomorrow. Anything else."
"Yes," Mic replied. "Take care of Sarah. I don't know what you did in there but she sounded..."
Harm bolted up out of his easy chair and got to within inches of Brumby's face. "Listen, you son of a bitch, don't you dare tell me how to take care of my wife! What you heard in there was her puking her guts up because you overdosed her on the meds this afternoon! She'll be doing that all night, thanks to you!"
"I didn't know...if they don't help her you should see to it she has something that does," Mic fired back leaning as close to Harm as he had to him. "If you can't take care of her someone else has to, and obviously you haven't been doing that good a job of it."
"Get the hell out of my house!" spat Harm as loudly as he dared, having promised Lucy he wouldn't yell anymore. "You had no right to do what you did today, none! You didn't try worth shit to reach me and we both know it! Don't think I don't know that you've got a thing for Mac, and so help me God if you even think about going near her in that way, I'll..."
Mic took a deep steadying breath, "Well that may be the kind of man you are, but that's not the kind of man I am. It's true; I do have feelings for Sarah, deep feelings of friendship, respect, and love, something I doubt you know anything about. You love the idea of her as your wife, oh yes, but you have no idea how to respect her. She's a shell of the woman I knew, the woman who survived years of abuse at her father's hands. You're just as bad, you abuse her too. You might not hit her but you suffocate her, you lie to her, cheat on her...she has no idea how valuable she is and that is your fault. Its no wonder she didn't ask for you once today." Mic knew it was a lie, but still this was war now, all was fair.
Harm had taken all he could take. He grabbed Mic's collar and reared his fist back in preparation to punch the man square in the face when...
"Harm!" Mac called from the bedroom, voice weak but desperate. "Harm!"
"You better count your lucky stars, Brumby," said Harm as he released his grip on Mic's collar and started down the hall, stopping only to tell him once more to get the hell out of the Rabb home.
"Harm!" Mac called out again, her voice losing its presence the more times she had to call him. Something was wrong, she was in more pain than she ever had been in before and now the area around her stitches felt wet. She didn't care if she sounded like a big baby or not, she wanted her husband and she didn't care who knew it.
"I'm here, I'm here," he said, breathing heavily as he reached her side. "What's the matter, baby?"
Once he reached her she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "It hurts..."
She lay curled into an even tighter ball than she was in before, her arm across her abdomen as she unconsciously rocked back and forth in effort to escape the agony.
"What hurts?" he asked, touching her shoulder and trying to move her onto her back.
"Where he cut me," she managed. "Its wet."
"Roll onto your back, baby," he said as he tried to help her move. "Let me look at your incisions."
"No, hurts too much," she gasped. "Leave me."
"Not a chance, Mac," he said firmly yet lovingly as he kept his hands on her shoulders and moved her slowly towards him. "Come on, you have to move so I can get to the cuts, okay?"
Mac let out tiny little moans as Harm moved her then lay in placid silence as he manipulated her clothing to get to see her incisions.
"Ohh, Mac," he said. "It looks like you broke a stitch." There were only three incisions - one in her belly button and one on each the right and left side of her lower abdomen, and each incision had only one stitch. Somehow, she'd popped open the incision on the right side. "It's open and bleeding pretty bad."
Mac made no sound save a tiny whimper, but her eyes said it all. She hurt, she was scared and she needed him to help her.
"It probably happened when you were throwing up," said Harm as he gently manipulated the area surrounding the cut. "Let me go get some gauze and some tape, and I'll be right back."
Again she said nothing; just lie there wishing for unconsciousness to take her to oblivion. No such luck though. Harm returned a few minutes later and began to gently fix her wound, "Doctor?"
"I don't think so," said Harm as he carefully opened a sterile gauze square and laid it on the wound, then tore off a piece of medical tape to keep the bandage in place. "If it gets too bad, I'll call, but that should take care of it for now." He stopped and thought for a moment, somewhat hesitant to ask her the question on his mind, but knowing he needed to. "Do you think you're bleeding anywhere else?" He knew if the pressure she'd put on her abdomen throwing up was enough to break a stitch, it was enough to do just about anything.
"I don't know," she replied. "Can't tell."
"Can I check and see?" he asked. "That could be worse than a broken stitch."
She didn't reply she just lay there, letting her thighs part slightly for him to look.
"Ah...um..." he mumbled. "How should...what's the best way for me to do this without hurting you, sweetie?"
"Your hand," she said softly, closing her eyes asked the pain. "No pain."
He nodded. "Okay, just lie still, I'll be careful," he said. Slowly, he slid a hand inside her panties, down to where he feared she may be bleeding. He felt around only as much as he thought necessary before bringing his hand back out. When he did, there was enough blood on it to worry him. Not wanting to alarm her, he chose his tone and his words carefully. "Sweetie?"
"Hmm?" she asked her eyes getting heavy as she fought to stay awake. She needed to be held when this was done and she wanted to feel it.
"You're bleeding," he said softly. "But I don't know for sure how little or how much, and I need to find that out. How do you want me to do that, baby?"
Mac didn't verbalize her answer, she knew there was only one way. Slowly she started to bend her left knee to allow him a better view, but the effort was too much. "Help me?"
"Of course," he said tenderly as he placed his hands on both of her shins and slowly moved them towards her body, her feet flat on the bed. "You okay?"
Mac took a deep shuddering breath and nodded, "Just do it."
"I wish I didn't have to, baby," he said as he tucked his fingertips beneath the waistband of her panties and slowly pulled them down, inch by inch, only as far as necessary in hopes he wouldn't hurt her. He thought he had them almost far enough when he heard her take in a deep breath and close her knees against one another. "Did that hurt?" he asked in a deeply concerned panic.
"Mmhmm," she replied through gritted teeth. "Stop."
"I stopped," he said softly. "Where does it hurt? I tried not to pull too hard."
"Okay now," she replied. "Hurt the cut."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," he said, leaning down and placing a kiss on her left knee. "I'll be more careful. Can you move your legs for me, sweetie?"
Mac complied and moved her legs so that he could see between them. "Is it bad?" she asked on a whisper.
"Can't tell just yet," he said as he moved her panties a few more inches out of his way. "I...I don't think it's too bad. I need to check again, though. You're gonna feel my hand, okay?"
"Better than what I feel right now," she tried to joke and waited for his verdict.
"Well, at least I'm not hurting you this time," he said as he moved his hand away from her body and carefully slid her panties back up. "I'm gonna go wash my hands and then I'll call Dr. Bradley, who I actually said I'd call right after you threw up and I got...sidetracked."
"Pills Harm," she told him rolling to her safe position. "Please."
"Not until I talk to the doctor," he said, pulling the covers back over her with his clean hand. "You had too many already, that's why you got sick. I'll see what he wants you to have."
"Please," she tried again. "Please it hurts so much."
He sighed. "Baby, you took too much already today, I don't want you getting sick again, which you'll probably do anyway and the pill wouldn't even help. Let me call the doctor." He hated leaving her in pain, but he didn't feel comfortable giving her another pill.
"Please hurry," she begged licking dry lips and closed her eyes once again.
Harm quickly washed his hands and then grabbed the phone, dialing the doctor's answering service number from memory. Within minutes, Dr. Bradley returned Harm's call, and the two men spoke briefly about what had transpired with Mac's condition that day. Ultimately, Dr. Bradley said she could have one pill now and another in 4 hours, if needed, an if she couldn't last that long then she'd need to go to the emergency room so they could give her something stronger and closely monitor her. With this information, Harm ended the call and ran to get Mac's pills, giving her one and a cup of water.
Mac looked at him as if he were an angel of mercy, "Thank you," she whispered as she swallowed the water.
"Welcome," he replied, stroking her sweaty brow. "I'm going go get ready for bed, then I'll be back for the night."
Mac slowly nodded and fought the exhaustion until Harm was once again beside her. She reached out to him then with one shaky hand.
He took a hold of her hand and held it gently within his own. "I love you, Mac."
"Why..." she began.
"Because you're my everything," he said. "I wish you weren't so sick and hurting so badly, but since you are, I'm so glad I get to take care of you." He brought her hand up and kissed it.
She shook her head. His words were sweet but not the answer to her unspoken question. "Why didn't you answer?" she asked him.
He instantly felt about two inches tall. "I didn't have my phone on me in the meetings," he answered with a sigh. "Why did you tell Mic not to leave me a message? I checked my phone after each meeting; I could have broken away if I'd known you needed me."
"Scared to," she replied. "You get so worried."
"But you needed me, baby," he said. "I came home late tonight and found Brumby here, feeding the kids and taking care of you. Those are my jobs, and you can always call for me when you need me. Always."
"But...it was okay," Mac replied. "Mic helped so much."
Harm felt his blood pressure rising at the sound of such a compliment being paid to Brumby. "I'm sure he did," he said, masking his feelings as best as he coul. "But still, don't ever feel that there's anything you can't tell me. We're...we're working on being totally open and honest, and this is one area where we both have to concentrate, okay, sweetie?"
Mac nodded, "I was too scared Harm. Really, I know how you get. That's why sometimes I don't say things."
"Like when?" he asked with a single cough as he caressed the back of her hand with his thumb.
"Like after Belleville," Mac replied. "When the pain got really bad."
"You told me a few days later," he said softly. "But I wondered from the moment we, uh, finished reconciling if you were hurting."
"I wasn't until we got home. Then it was so much worse but I knew you'd overreact, like today you overreacted," she whispered as she tried to shift closer to him, needing to be held.
He pulled her carefully into his embrace. "When did I overreact today?"
"I heard you yelling at Mic," Mac replied. "It was my fault, he was trying to help."
"I know, but..." began Harm. "Why didn't you ask for me?"
Mac was confused, "What?"
Harm coughed a little. "He said you...you never even asked for me."
"I know I did," Mac replied. "I must have...I don't remember much but I remember saying you knew how and that I wanted you. I said that at the office before he called you," Mac replied. "I wanted you Harm, so badly."
He sighed once again. "I kind of thought you did. If this had been a little while ago, well...I'm glad you asked for me, Mac, because more than anything I want to be here for you through this."
Mac nodded and changed the subject, "What was in Lucy's note?"
"I don't know," he said softly, leaning in to place a kiss on her temple. "I'll read it when I get up, and deal with it at breakfast. You feeling any better yet?"
She nodded, "Kind of tired. Still hurts but at least I can breathe. This was a bad one."
"I know," he said softly, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze. "You'll wake me up if you need anything, or if you feel the bleeding form anywhere get worse, right?"
"How are you feeling?" she asked as she nodded yes to his question.
"Tired," he said. "Been coughing all day, but I'm okay. Aside from that, I'm good."
"We need to sleep, but I need..." He cut her off. "Need what? Are you hurting?"
"Easy, Sailor," she soothed. "I need you to hold me all night this time," she told him remembering his request from the other night.
"Then that's what I'll do," he replied kissing her temple. "Good night, Marine."
"Goodnight, Sailor."