The next morning, Nick and Zoe are on the early shift, 6:00am sharp. They already have arrangements for Sam to come and pick Jody up later on, for school. Nick, knowing Zoe's habit for lateness, set the alarm for five to five. Unwillingly, he swung his legs out of the bed and went downstairs to make Zoe the coffee that he knew she wouldn't get up without. After throwing back the freshly made coffee, Zoe headed for the shower. In the end, they were out of the house in a record breaking forty minutes and at work for ten to six. Even nick was impressed.

Back at the house, Jody's alarm went off at seven. She peeled her eyes open and knew she had to get out of the bed before she fell asleep again and had no one to wake her up. She stood up and began to make her bed, ensuring she couldn't get back in it, however, she stopped dead in her tracks after spotting blood on her sheets. She ran into the toilet and discovered her worst fears had been true. She had started her period. Panicking, she ran through to Zoe and Nick's en suite and began rummaging for a pad. Although this was her first, she wasn't completely unaware and knew roughly what she had to do. After finding what she was looking for, she headed back to the bathroom to get cleaned up and sort herself out. Once showered, cleaned and dressed, she headed downstairs for breakfast. She ate 3 wheat-a-bix before swallowing two paracetamol for the pain in her abdomen. She groaned when the doorbell went because she hadn't made her lunch yet.
"Too late." She thought out loud before grabbing two pounds from the 'emergency coins' jar (that sat proudly on the kitchen bench), grabbing her school bag and rushing to answer he door to Sam.
"Hello Aunty Sam!" She said chirpily, opening the door and throwing her arms around Sam's waist.
"Hey you! Ready for school?" Sam asked her.
"Ready as ever." She said, bouncing down the path.
"Well then, lets head on, don't want to be late." Sam said. They were already cutting it pretty fine, as it was still a ten minute ride and it was quarter to eight. Half way there, Jody suddenly exclaimed,
"Dam!" Sam turned to her, a concerned look spread across her face.
"I didn't bring extras!" She moaned.
"Extra what's?" Sam asked, thinking she already had a good idea. Jody just hung her head and went quiet. "You can tell me you know? Is it your period sweetheart?" She asked. Jody just nodded. "Hold on then." Sam replied, pulling up outside the chemist thinking, 'excellent timing.' "Wait here two seconds, I'll get you some. Do you need painkillers?" Jody nodded again.
"Please?" She whispered.
"Sure. I'll be right back." Sam locked the car and headed into the chemist. Jody waited patiently for a few minutes until Sam returned to the car with a carrier bag.
"Just slip this straight into your bag. It's got everything you need in there." She said, putting the keys back into ignition and driving the rest of the way to the school.
"Thanks again Aunty Sam!" Jody said, hugging her quickly before getting out of the car.
"That's okay. Bye."
"Bye." With that, Jody bounced off and Sam headed to work. She headed into the staff room, got her stuff together and went to find Zoe.
"Hey Sam, Jody at school okay?"
"Yeah. Can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked.
"Of it's about her legs, Nick and I know and we're going to help her." Zoe said, defensively.
"No it's not about her legs. What's wrong? Did she hurt herself?" Zoe nodded sadly. "Jeesh. I'm so sorry. Anyway, not what I was going to say. Jody got her period this morning. I sent her to school with some pads and paracetamol. I was just letting you know.
"Oh, thanks Sam. Poor kid, imagine getting it that early." Zoe said.
"Yeah. The cramps didn't seem to be causing too much discomfort though, so she should be fine."
"Thanks again Sam."
"Don't mention it. Hey, um, do you want me to speak to her about her legs. I've... I've had experience..." She said quietly.
"You have?"
"Yes. Look, it's a long story but I think I could help her."
"Yes. I think you could too. She loves you." Zoe said, making Sam smile.
"That's just because I'm awesome." She said cheekily, batting her eyelids and walking off. Zoe just laughed. After getting stuck into a long, stressful and hard morning, Zoe began her lunch break by heading outside for a quick cigarette.

Over at the school, lunch time just started and Jody headed to the toilet to sort herself out. She opened the carrier bag in her school bag to discover everything she needed plus a rather large chocolate bar. She smiled to herself, sorted what she needed sorted, took to paracetamol and headed out to lunch to meet her friends. She was glad she only had two classes left to go, and they were her favourite two, music and art. She relaxed for the rest of the afternoon before heading out at 3:15 and waiting patiently at the gate for pick up. She watched as Nick's shining black Mercedes rolled swiftly to a halt in front of her. She smirked, hearing a few gasps from the other kids as she got into its passenger seat.
"Hey dad." She said smiling and bending over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Hello munchkin. Good day?"
"Eh. It's had it's ups and downs. But on the whole, it's been okay. Yours?"
"Yeah not too bad. Your mothers had it bad though." He said, smirking.
"What happened?" Jody asked, intrigued.
"Major RTC on the freeway. Caused a massive pile up."
"Wow. Did you help?" She asked.
"For a while. I had paperwork in my office that was building skyscrapers. I had to get it done." He said.
"I know, I've seen it. Funny too. You usually keep on top of it pretty good." She said, as nick parked outside the ED.
"I know. Ah, I'm getting older." He said, locking the doors.
"No way! You're the coolest dad ever! One day, I'm going to be a doctor just like you! And I'll have my own paperwork-towers to plough through, my own ED to run!" She said, excitedly. Nick smiled.
"Indeed you will sweetheart." They headed to Nicks office and crashed on the sofa. Nick helped Jody with her homework and then they burst open another tube of smarties. Suddenly, Jay burst through the door.
"NICK! It's Zoe, she's collapsed!" Nick shot of the couch and bolted down to the ED. Closely followed by Jody. Jody's eyes filled with tears as they found themselves staring at Zoe lying on a hospital bed, hooked up to a heart monitor. She watched as they checked the baby, checked its heartbeat, checked Zoe's heartbeat, pulse, bloods, blood gasses and ran an ECG. In the end, they confirmed it was a peak in her stress levels leaving her physically drained (due to the pregnancy) and that she had collapsed as a result. She was moved to cubicles where Jody sat by her bedside holding her hand and Nick was left to sort the understaffed ED, stressed and worried about his wife.

thanks for all the reviews! So glad you are all enjoying this fic! Please continue to read and review!

aimee x