DOCTOR'S ORDERS

Author's Note: This chapter will be from Jeff's point of view.

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Two thousand one…two thousand two...two thousand-

"Is anyone here for Miss Denise Nicholas?"

After sighing over the fact that that wasn't the name he was waiting to be called, Jeff continued on with his counting of the cracks in the ceiling: two thousand three...two thousand four…two thousand--wait, I already counted that one…oh well, guess I'll start over. One, two, th—

"Is there anyone here for a Miss Amy Dumas?"

"Here!" Jeff said, louder than he had expected; causing those around him to look up at him in confusion. "Sorry, I'm he….I mean, I'm here… I mean, I'm with Amy."

Recognizing the younger man as the one who had ridden in the ambulance with Miss Dumas caused the doctor in front of Jeff to first nod his head in agreement before afterwards replying: "Yes, I remember you from earlier. I'm Miss. Dumas' doctor, Doctor Montgomery. Now, I can't tell you much because we're not at liberty to speak to anyone who isn't family, but I can tell you that your friend is now awake and she is asking to see you. So after we move her from OR you'll be able to go in and visit her for a few minutes, or at least until visiting hours are over."

"Thank God!" Jeff commented, more to himself than the man in front of him, before continuing with: "I know you can't tell me much, but is she okay? Did you guys have to….you know?"

Seeing where Jeff was going with this, the older man nodded his head in understanding before replying: "Yes, we did have to pump her stomach, but the pills weren't the reason for her losing consciousness...well, not, the only reason, I'll say."

I'm confused…

Not really understanding what the doctor meant by that caused Jeff to open his mouth to ask what else could've been the reason for Amy to lose consciousness, but before he could do so, a ringing in his pocket occurred telling him that one of the many people he had called when he had first gotten to the hospital was probably calling him back. "I have to take this, but will you come and get me when it's okay for me to go back there?"

"I have to finish my rounds, but I'll be sure and send one of the nurses in to get you once Miss Dumas is ready for you…have a good day, Sir."

After telling the doctor "you too," Jeff reached into his pocket and after glancing down at the caller-id, he quickly brought the phone up to his ear and replied: "Hey, you hear back from him yet?"

"No, I've left messages on both his cell phone and at the lobby at the hotel we're staying at and no one's seen or heard from Mark since we all heard what happened this afternoon. How's Amy doing?"

Figuring that some news was better than no news, Jeff replied: "She's awake and the doctor says that she's asking to see me, so that's a good thing…I'm just waiting for the nurse to come back and get me."

"Well, that's good news…and how are you doing?"

How am I doing…? I don't know. Why don't you walk in on your best friend lying motionless in her bed and tell me how you're doing. Jeff thought to himself, but knowing he wasn't really angry at Trish caused him to instead reply: "I don't know…I don't even know what I'm going to say to her when I see her. On one hand, I want to hug her and tell her how happy I am that she's alive, and on the other hand I want to scream at her for doing such a stupid thing as trying to kill herself. I just don't know what to do."

After a second of silence had passed between the two of them, Trish responded back with: "I can't tell you what to do, Jeff, but I can tell you what I would do if I was in your shoes."

"I don't think yelling would be the right thing to do. I mean, for Amy to do something as drastic as trying to take own her life, if that's what she really meant to do, isn't something very Amy like to do. I mean, I don't know her as well as you or your brother do but I know she is a very strong woman and that she wouldn't let a string of bad luck take her to this point. It doesn't sound like her at all."

No, it doesn't, does it? Jeff thought to himself, before opening his mouth to tell Trish that she was right, but at the last second having to change his mind as he saw a male nurse making his way into the waiting room, with a chart in his hand. "Look, I have to go, I think the nurse is here to take me to see Amy, but hey, I meant to ask you before, do you have any plans for the holidays—like around New Years Eve?"

"Umm no, not really. I usually go visit my parents up in Canada for Christmas, but then I'm usually back at my house in Florida by the time the ball drops in Times Square, why?"

While letting a brief smile come to his face, Jeff replied "Oh, no reason...just curious," and then afterwards he told Trish he'd call her back later on in the night.

"All right, see ya later, Jeff."

"Bye Trish." Jeff absentmindedly replied back, before getting the attention of the male nurse, who was asking if there was anyone there to see Amy Dumas. "Right here."

"Follow me…"

After making his way down two hallways and one corridor, Jeff finally found himself outside of Amy's room. "She's right through these doors…she might be a little out of it 'cause of the effects of the sleeping pills she took, but she should be pretty coherent if you try and talk to her."

After nodding his head in understanding, Jeff waited until the male nurse had walked away and was out of his sight, before hesitantly pushing the doors to Amy's room open and having to let out a sigh of relief when he saw the now, not so pale, Amy was lying on the bed in front of him with her eyes all the way open and her head turned halfway towards him.

I just knew that they would have her strapped down to some gurney with a straight jacket on of some sorts…I'm just glad that wasn't the case.

"Damn, I never thought I'd see the day when I was happy to see you in front of me."

Even though he knew that was her way of making a joke, Jeff couldn't help but respond back with: "And I never thought I'd see the day when I was happy to see you alive in front of me."

As if she knew she deserved that remark, Amy turned her line of vision away from Jeff's and then after a second of pure silence was heard between the two of them, she calmly spoke up again with: "Jeff, I never meant to try and kill myself…I just wanted to forget for a second. I know you probably don't understand, but I hope you believe me when I say that I didn't mean for this to happen…I swear to you."

Seeing the look of apology on Amy's face and remembering Trish's words from before caused Jeff to quickly close the distance between him and Amy while replying: "I believe you, Ames…I know you didn't mean for it to happen, but I just wish you would've called me or someone else, if you were feeling this way. I can't say I'm all that great at giving advice, but I'd like to think that we are close enough for you to call me if you ever needed someone to vent to."

As tears began to pour down Amy's face, Jeff couldn't help but feel a sense of brotherly love for the older woman, as he reached out to hold her; hoping that that would keep her from crying. "Stop it. You know I can't stand to see a woman cry…soon I'm going to cry."

After taking a second to laugh at the slight joke, Amy opened her mouth to let out—what Jeff assumed to be—a sarcastic quip, but before she could do so, the doors to Amy's room opened revealing Doctor Montgomery behind them.

"Well, it's good to see your in better spirits, Miss. Dumas…my name is Dr. Montgomery and I'm the doctor who treated you earlier today. How are you feeling?"

That's a stupid question…how do you think she's feeling? Jeff wanted to ask, but knowing that now was not the right time at all for his sarcasm, he instead just shrinked back from Amy's bed, towards the wall beside it.

"I'm feeling a lot better now, thanks for asking…when can I go home?"

After looking down at the chart in his hand, Dr. Montgomery let a hint of a frown appear on his face before he reluctantly replied: "Not for a couple of days, I'm afraid…it's routine for people who suffer an apparent suicide attempt that they stay in the hospital overnight for observation, but because of your condition, we'll have to keep you under observation for more than one night, just so we're sure everything's all right?"

Her condition..?

As if reading Jeff's thoughts, Amy asked what exactly her condition was, and then after realizing Doctor Montgomery was hesitant to go on with Jeff still in the room, she continued with: "You can either say it in front of him now, or I'll just tell him all about it when you leave the room; your choice!"

A comment, which under any other circumstances, Jeff probably would've laughed at, but not today.

"Okay, well with that being said…judging from your lab results, it appears that you're six weeks along and because of that, we'll need to keep you overnight for more than one day just to monitor both yours and the baby's heart-rate. We have to make sure that everything is okay before we release you."

The baby's heart rate…? Wait…what? I didn't even know she was pregnant.

Moving his gaze away from Doctor Montgomery, Jeff let out another small sigh of relief when he realized that Amy was looking at the doctor in confusion as well.

She didn't even know…

"That's impossible, I can't be pregnant...we were so careful. Mark and I always used condoms."

"Condoms are never one-hundred percent effective, Miss Dumas…but anyway, I'm going to let you and your companion get back to visiting. I'll be back in twenty minutes, when visiting hours are over to talk to you about this some more."

Seeing that Amy was still in a state of disbelief, Jeff told the doctor that that would be fine and then waited until Dr. Montgomery was finally out of the room before turning his attention back to Amy, who had yet to say anything else.

"Ames...you okay?"

After not getting a response from the older woman, Jeff opened his mouth to ask her again, but before he could do so, Amy replied back with: "I almost killed my baby, Jeff…I almost killed Mark's and my baby."

A comment which caused the woman to finally break down in tears and Jeff to rush back to her side to hold her while she let it all out.

Next part soon.