A/N: Yes...I know. I'm a bad bad person. But in my defense...I haven't had a laptop for like three months. My kid spilled something on mine and pretty much destroyed it. Luckily, the files could still be pulled from it. And then my dad was nice enough to give me the one he never uses so I'm back in business! Hope this was worth the wait guys! And thanks for your understanding!

From Nothing to Something

There was something about the sound of the wooden arch of the rocking chair creaking over the carpeted hardwood floor….something that told Mary that she was slipping into madness and she had to stop. The constant back and forth, the creaking groan, and that closet door that would never open no matter how much she willed it to – if she went on this way, not acknowledging anything past the shattered slivers of her heart…she was going to go insane. She was going to lose her mind, her life, her house…her son.

The last thought had her grip on the curved handrail tightening. She couldn't loose Josh. Not Josh. She had to figure out a way to live without Sulley and move past the pain that was growing harder and harder to ignore.

The first month she'd been able to get by clinging to hope that dwindled with every passing day until the first week of the following month when she realized that there was a very good chance Sulley would never find his way back to her.

She could stare at that damn door all day long every day if she really wanted to. It wouldn't change the fact that it was just a closet stuffed with boxes of clothing that wouldn't fit Josh again and remnants of her childhood.

Sniffling pitifully, Mary leaned forward and buried her face in her hands.

Pull it together. You have to pull it together. You're too old to be wishing for things you can't have.

Her stomach, a mess of nerves, anxiety and heartache, rolled uneasily and she quickly sat back, laying the flat of her hand over it. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten anything. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt like eating. And it was suddenly too much.

She pushed out of the chair and stumbled for the bathroom down the hallway. The bathroom door bounced off the wall when she pushed it open and smacked against her heel as she fell to her knees before the toilet, one hand gripping the vanity counter. Her shoulders tensed and nausea washed relentlessly over her, toying with her as to whether or not it would allow her to keep whatever minimal amount of food she'd managed to eat in her stomach. She swallowed hard, the thickness in her stomach making everything so much worse.

Mary looked towards the shower which was a mistake. Her shampoo sat there, taunting her. It was never usually where she put her shampoo. It's where Sulley had put it after he'd washed her hair the last time they'd been together. She had thought she'd lost it and had gone out to buy a new bottle. But there it had been the entire time, hiding behind the shower curtain.

Tears burned her eyes and her stomach protested strongly, forcing her back over the toilet to heave wretchedly until there was nothing left in her.

Trembling, tears tracking over her pale cheeks, Mary fell back against the wall and dragged in huge gulps of air, trying to steady herself. It was only then that she noticed the dull throb at her heel and looked down to see the bruise already starting to form where the edge of the door had hit her.

She was a mess. A pitiful, puking, sobbing mess that had just spent an extended lunch break at home staring at a closet door for the better part of an hour.

People who do things like that usually end up seeing shrinks, she thought a she got to her feet and went to her room. Going back to work was out of the picture. Her stomach was still uncertain, her limbs were hardly supporting her and her heart was racing.

"Christ," she muttered, running her hands through her hair and trying to slow her pulse with deep, even breaths. She managed to make it to her room where her cell sat on the night stand. Her vision blurred momentarily as she stared down at the list of contacts and then tunneled in, taking her completely off guard. A thread of terror slipped down her spine.

Taking another slow breath, she narrowed her eyes until the names came into focus, found the one she wanted and hit send. The phone was answered on the third ring by a slightly nasal female voice.

"Hey Vi, its' Mary," she muttered in greeting.

"Mar? Good lord, kiddo…what's wrong?"

"It's….it's nothing. I'm just not feeling good. I'm going to take the rest of the day and try to get some sleep…see if that helps any."

"And eat?"

Mary cringed. Violet was her closest friend and supervisor, a fact that they kept under wraps as much as possible to avoid any workplace gossip and assumptions. She knew Mary better than anyone and had been very careful not to mention anything about the way Mary had been acting. But Mary could always feel her gaze on her, watching her, that tongue barely held in check with each passing day.

"I eat-."

"What, a saltine and a glass of water? Mar…what's going on? You haven't been acting like yourself and although your work's not suffering any…there's no way you can keep up at this pace. What's going on?"

"Vi…it's nothing…really." Her vision started to blur again, the edges slipping away and her heart tripping. "You know what? I lied," she said quickly, scared enough now to get help when she needed it. "Something isn't right. I can't get my heart to stop racing and I just threw up…" The fact that she sounded like a child made the tears well in her eyes and she swore softly, wiping impatiently at them. "Could you…I dunno-."

"I'll be there in ten," Violet cut her off. "And I'm taking you to the doctor, Mary."

"Vi, no. I'm-."

"Bullshit. I'm taking you in and that's all there is to it. You've got three hours before you have to pick up Josh so you have no excuses. And I'm your supervisor. You'll do what I tell you to do."

"Okay," Mary whispered, the fear subsiding slightly.

She made it in under seven, breezing through the front door like a red headed Amazon on a mission, her brown eyes flashing and her squared jaw set. "In the car," she instructed.

Instead, Mary went to her and fell into her arms, clinging to her as she sobbed uncontrollably. She'd thrown up two more times in those seven minutes and her the unhealthy heart rate had made a continual pattern of racing and dropping.

The tension holding Violet's shoulder back slipped away and she wrapped tightened her hold on the smaller woman, running a hand over her hair and shushing her. "Honey…you have to tell me what's going on."

"I will," Mary nodded. She'd already decided to confide in the other woman – at least to some extent. She'd done this entire thing on her own before and knew that if she had to do it again with no one to support her, she would end up back in that dark place with no way out.

"After the doctor."

Again, Mary nodded. "After the doctor."

Violet didn't say another word until after they had made it to the hospital, past registration and were sitting in a room waiting on the doctor after the nurse had done the initial work required to start the exam. She dug in her purse, pulled out a granola bar and handed it to Mary. "Eat something, sweetie. I know you haven't been."

It wasn't a statement to be argued with. Mary took the bar and peeled the wrapper back before taking a tentative bite. It tasted like sawdust but she forced herself to take another bite, knowing she needed to.

"Please tell me this isn't all over a guy, Mar. You're smarter than that."

She couldn't help it. She smiled sadly. "Not a guy," she said. "Not exactly."

A knock sounded and they both looked up as a young doctor with a mess of tight curls and a handsome smile entered the room. "Ms. Gibbs?"

Mary raised her hand and swallowed the bite she'd taken. "Hi."

He reached for her hand, shaking it, his blue eyes just as bright as his smile. If she was a normal woman, not blindingly in love with a monster, she would have been highly interested in him. Judging from Violets appreciative eyes scanning him from head to toe, she was.

"I'm Dr. Jacobson. So," he sat in the swivel chair beside her, looked over her file and turned to the computer to pull up her chart. "What's going on?"

"I'm just not feeling the greatest. I threw up three times and my pulse keeps…I don't know how to explain it. It will speed up, slow down…and just keep going back and forth like that."

"Okay." He typed a few things into the computer. "No fever?"

"No."

"She's hardly eaten a damn thing at work," Violet spoke up, earning herself a half-hearted glare from Mary. "Well, you haven't."

"I see," Dr. Jacobson leaned over, propping his elbows on his knees. "Sleeping okay? Drinking enough fluids?"

Mary sighed, suddenly feeling very disappointed in herself. "No and if by enough fluids you mean coffee…yes."

"Not what I mean," he said with a grin before straightening again. He removed the stethoscope from around his neck and placed it against her chest. "How much coffee are we talking?" he continued.

"Too much, probably."

"That could definitely have something to do with the heart rate." He looped the stethoscope around his neck once more and placed his hands against each side of her throat, probing just below her jaw-line. "It is a on the rapid side. No history of cardiac issues in your family?"

Mary shook her head. "No. I mean…my dad died of a heart attack but he was also an overweight alcoholic."

"Yeah, that would do it," Dr. Jacobson said, angling her another crooked smile that had Violet elbowing her in the ribs. "Have you been experiencing any pain of discomfort?"

The questions unexpectedly provoked a fresh wave of tears and she bit her bottom lip to stop them from coming. "Um, no. I hit the door with my ankle earlier but that's about it."

"Well, Mary…I'd say there's nothing seriously wrong with you. The heart rate could very well be explained by the lack of sustenance and the fact that you've been taking in a little too much caffeine so you might want to back off on it for a while or at least make sure you're eating enough so that your body isn't only processing that and nothing else. I would like to do some blood work just to rule out any infection or dehydration. Is that okay?"

"That's fine."

"Okay. I'll have you step over to lab for a few samples and see you back here when you're done with that."

The second he was out and the door was shut behind him, Violet whirled to face her. "So, what do you think?"

"What do I think?" Mary asked as she stood and slid the strap of her purse over her shoulder. "About what?"

"Him! Mary, come on! He's a doctor and he's been semi-flirting with you!"

"Oh, he has not."

"He has too!" Violet slipped her arm through Mary's. "You should ask him out."

"You ask him out." Mary was already thinking of everything Dr. Jacob's lacked that would pique her interest. Height, startling deep blue eyes, a coat of the softest fur imaginable. In short, he wasn't Sulley.

"Oh, trust me…if you're not going to, I'm all over that. It's about time I start lining up husband number three."

"I thought you were on four now?"

"Nope. Not quite. But after today, I'm one step closer."

The lab work took a minimal amount of time and before long they were back in the small, sterile room waiting for Violet's fiancé to return. The other woman had insisted on buying Mary a water as they passed by a small coffee kiosk and Mary. The bottle was nearly gone by the time the doctor came back in, looking over paperwork and taking a seat before he faced her again.

"Well, your labs came back showing mild dehydration which I see you're already taking care of. And…well-."

He fell silent, looking her over thoughtfully. It made her uncomfortable and not because he was watching her, but because there was a slight tone to that "well" she didn't trust. Something that told her something was wrong.

"Well what?" she asked, the words sticking in her throat slightly.

"Dehydration was definitely a contributing factor to the elevated heart rate, however…with the level of fluids in your system right now and the fact that your body is experiencing more than the normal amount of blood and oxygen flow-."

"Say it in a way I'll understand it," she muttered, now not only afraid but also extremely annoyed with how he was going the long way about telling her there was something wrong with her.

"Mary…you're pregnant."