Note: I didn't mean to take this long. I'd written another draft for this chapter, but something was wrong with it… My friend Neco-Arc appropriately dubbed it a "filler chapter." You guys deserve better! So I thought long and hard and came up with this. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Easy Button, Staples does. But I could buy one if I felt like it.

Chapter Eighteen: Code Red!

If I had a choice, I'd never stay a night at the Clinic. There are a few simple reasons for this.

One: The beds. They are lumpy and the blankets are scratchy.

Two: The place is more than a bit drafty. I was shivering all night.

Three: The noise. I could hear Jamie's dog barking like crazy. (Does that thing ever sleep?)

Four: It smells like rotting Tylenol.

Five: You have to eat Martha's cooking, which is where the smell of rotting Tylenol comes from. And the worst part? The smell is better than the actual taste.

I'd rate it half-a-star at best. Not that anyone wants my opinion.

But the real reason I couldn't get any rest was because of Ray. Fish it all, I wanted to kick myself over and over again for what happened on the beach with Jamie. Why did he have to show up then? Why couldn't I have a chance to explain first? Fish it all, why?!? What did I ever do to the world?

Don't answer that.

I swear, it was the strangest feeling sitting awake in my bed. Part of me was insanely happy and delusional because Ray had shown some signs of forgiveness and love. The other, more practical, side of me said this was merely pity for a wounded pregnant woman.

That thought made me want to cry.

I'll admit, I'm not the easiest girl to get along with. I'm selfish, and clingy, and stubborn, and whiny, and a lot of other things no one wants in a wife. But I'm human, too. I have feelings. And the thought that Ray might leave me for good…it tore me up inside.

I can deal with Jamie. I can deal with Maria and Katie wanting me dead. I can deal with Ann accidentally blowing stuff up once in a while. I can deal with it.

But I can't deal with him leaving.

The baby inside me kicked, and I groaned. Yet another reason I was worried: my unborn son wouldn't have a father. I couldn't raise him alone…I knew it instinctively. I wasn't ready. I wasn't nurturing, or sweet, or supportive, or anything.

I was just Harley.

But Ray had been okay with that, for a while at least. He'd accepted me blindly, and I had turned on him. How much did it hurt him when I told him I didn't love him all those weeks ago? How could it have felt being rejected twice when Jamie revealed his proposal? I wouldn't want to trust me again if I were him. I would simply walk away.

And yet, at this moment, he was in my house. He was feeding my animals, and taking care of my crops, and getting my mail for me. He was caring for me.

I didn't…deserve that.

Maybe I could fix things somehow, and get Ray to return to me one final time. Oh fish, what I wouldn't give to turn back the clock and redo everything! I was such a selfish idiot! All this time, I had been searching for what I truly wanted, and in the process I had turned him away.

But it wasn't too late. It couldn't be. I wasn't going to give up; not now, not ever. Ray, at the very least, had to know how I felt about him, and he had to know now. I had to clean up the mess that Jamie and I had made.

Of course, it wasn't going to be easy.

I fell asleep at about three in the morning. Five hours later, a rude Martha woke me up and tried to feed me a disgusting pile of goop that was supposedly oatmeal.

I told her pregnant women don't eat poison.

"Good morning, Harley," Alex smiled when I entered the examination room. "It looks like your shin is doing better."

"Yeah…I think Katie was right; it was just a bruise. A reeeeally nasty one," I told him, yawning.

"Katie? She broke her nose too, right?"

"Yup."

"Why on earth are so many people's noses getting broken?" Alex sighed. "Really, it's ridiculous. If only we could find the source of the problem…"

"Eh-heh. Yeah," I laughed nervously. Time for a subject change. "So…where's Gina?"

"She's watching soap opera reruns," Alex informed me. "She's extremely addicted to them. Early in the morning, she's no help at all. Honestly, I don't know how I get any work done."

"Soap operas?" I repeated.

"Indeed. She's tried to get Dia to watch them as well, but her taste is very different than Gina's," the doctor explained.

"What does Dia like?" I questioned.

"For some reason, she's gotten into watching horror movies. Personally, I think she's just looking for an excuse to scare Gina and Martha out of the room."

"Does it work?" I asked, mentally writing this valuable tip down.

"Let's put it this way; Gina refused to go out at night for a week because she thought some corn-obsessed madman was lurking in the streets. Another time, she thought Maria's library was really an alien base."

"Have to agree with her on that one," I grinned.

"At any rate," Alex cleared his throat, "you are free to go. You seem to be fine."

"Really? You don't have to do some check-up or something?"

"Harley, I'm a professional," the doctor reminded me. "I know what I'm doing."

"DOCTOR! Dia's escaped! Code red, code red!" Martha shrieked, running into the room.

"You know what to do!" Alex nodded. "Turn on the invisible fence!"

"Excuse me?" I interrupted. "What the fish is going on? Isn't Dia a patient?"

"Well, yes, but she is under orders not to leave the premises," Alex explained. "Sometimes she gets a little…rebellious, so we put a collar on her that, when activated, turns on an invisible fence."

"You mean like the kind they put on disobedient dogs?!"

"Basically."

"Isn't that harsh?" I gasped.

"We blew up a bunny, didn't we?" Alex shrugged. "This is nothing."

"All systems go!" Martha announced, hitting a big red Easy Button.

A loud shock was heard from outside.

"Curses!" Dia seethed as Gina dragged her in. "I was so close to freedom! Stupid fence…"

"Glad to have you back," Alex replied. "Martha prepared a meal for you in your room; you might want to eat it. Your stamina is low."

"NO! Not the nasty hospital food! Anything but that!" Dia hollered as she was pulled away to the Sanatorium. "NOOOO!"

Poor, poor Dia... I prayed with all my heart that I'd never have to stay in the Sanatorium. Not while these psychos were in charge of it, anyway.

"Uh…I'm just gonna go now…" I said as I began to make a run for the door. Unfortunately, someone was in the way.

"Move it!" I whispered insistently, pushing whoever it was blocking my path to freedom. "I need to escape! NOW!"

"Harley?"

I looked up to see Ray. Oops.

"Um…I-I—I'm sorry, I just—How are you?" I laughed nervously.

"I just finished taking care of the morning chores," he smiled. "Your shin looks better. I thought maybe you'd be up by now, and we could…talk. Or something."

"Yeah, sure! I'd love to!" I exclaimed. "But, uh, not here, okay? This clinic is…um, scary."

"You can be weird sometimes, you know that, Harley?" Ray said, raising his eyebrows. "Alright. Maybe we could go somewhere else? Maybe Carl's?"

"If Katie is working there, then no," I responded automatically. "What about my place? It's devoid of psychos as far as I know."

"Except for you," Ray teased.

"Hey!" I hit him playfully. "Be nice!"

"Okay, okay," Ray smiled. "Um…should we go now then?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Alex might change his mind and not let me escape while I can."

"Excuse me? Alex might do what?"

"Long story. You don't really want to know," I sighed.

And with that, we started off to my house.