Chapter 4
The afternoon soon turned into the evening and once again, Diva emerged from her room dressed in that revealing outfit. This time her hair was styled and she had on make up.
"And where are you going?" Scarlett raised an eyebrow.
"On a date…" Diva smiled.
"With Falcon?" Scarlett's jaw dropped.
"Relax, it's all part of my plan. Just make sure to announce a meeting in Hawk's conference room for early tomorrow morning." Diva smiled slyly before parting. Shana shook her head wondering what Diva had in store for Falcon. She went back into her room and lay on her bed. She remembered how after her world fell apart she spent days in her bed wondering when her heart would heal.
(Flashback)
A few days after finding out about Duke's impending departure, Cobra had attacked suddenly and the base was under fire. Whatever Cobra brought, the Joes gave back harder and fiercer. Sky strikers were battling with Rattlers. Tanks were shooting at each other, trying to win the battle. Scarlett was on the ground. Troops had done a nice job polishing off about thirty B.A.Ts and a dozen or so Cobra troopers. She saw the Baroness and went after her before she had a chance to do any damage. Scarlett had the upperhand until the Baroness did some skillful manuevers, ending with a kick to the stomach, sending Scarlett to the ground. Scarlett jumped up on the defense, but doubled over. She dropped to her knees, knowing something was terribly wrong. Scarlett closed her eyes, knowing she was done for. When another blow failed to come for several moments, she opened her eyes seeing that Cobra was retreating. She stood up slowly, wincing. She staggered to the closest team member.
"Duke…" she called weakly. He turned around and caught her in his arms as she began to collapse.
She awoke to the sound of humming machines and stiff sheets. She stirred slowly, aware of her body aching.
"Scarlett," she heard a voice call. She turned her head and focused on the man standing before her, Doc, the chief medical officer.
"Doc, what happened? Am I alright?" Scarlett asked concerned.
"You collapsed into Duke's arms and he brought you here, but I'm afraid it was too late." Doc explained. Scarlett's thoughts drifted to her mid section and she knew.
"My condition…" Scarlett trailed off, tears streaming down her face.
"I'm sorry, Scarlett, you lost the baby." Doc informed her and squeezed her hand for support. An overwhelming sense of loss rippled through her body as she continued to sob. As her sobbing quieted, Doc continued, "You told me Duke knew about the baby."
"You told him? What about doctor/patient confidentiality?" Scarlett asked propping herself up on her elbows.
"When I asked you if he knew you said yes. How was I supposed to know you weren't telling the truth?" Doc fired back.
"I was going to tell him…the conversation just went in a different direction." Scarlett replied.
"Well, he knows now. He stormed out of here like a Texas tornado. I imagine you'll have a lot of explaining to do." Doc predicted.
"I have to see him." Scarlett decided and kicked the covers off. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
"You still have to be under observation for several hours." Doc commanded and put a hand on her shoulder. There was no disobaying his orders and Scarlett swung her legs back onto the bed and rested against the pillows.
"I'm sorry he had to find out this way." Doc apologized quietly before leaving the room. The tears came back again full force. The next few hours were the most agonzing hours in her life. She was at Duke's quarters moments after being discharged. She knocked cautiously, preparing for an emotional storm. He opened the door looking dishevieled.
"How could you?" he hissed. He turned away from her, leaving his door open for her to enter.
"I'm sorry." Scarlett apologized softly shutting the door behind her.
"Do you know how insulting it was to be called into Doc's office and having him tell me you miscarried when I had no idea there was a baby at all?" Duke angrily shouted.
"I was going to tell you, but then we started arguing about officer school and the future. You basically told me you hadn't thought about my place in your future…and I was supposed to tell you that I'm pregnant?" Scarlett responded defensively.
"You should have told me long before that. You should have told me as soon as you found out! Unless you weren't sure who the father was." Duke growled.
"Don't you dare suggest I was unfathiful!" Scarlett warned ferociously while poking his chest.
"You're not the same person Ifell in love with. That Scarlett would never have kept this a secret." Duke turned his back to her and lowered his head.
"Are we back to talking about secrets, Mr. I-want-to-be-an-officer?" Scarlett threw back.
"Get out." Duke commanded firmly.
"Can't take the heat?" Scarlett charged.
"I'm done dealing with all this, including you. Get out!" Duke demanded stronger.
"I hate you, Conrad!" she screamed in anger and stormed to the door.
"The feeling is mutual!" he shouted back before she slammed the door.
(End flashback)
Scarlett's mind drifted from the memory and she found herself clutching her journal. She had no memory of having retrieved it from its usual place on her desk, but it was already spread open onto one of the most sacred pages she had ever written. Her first ultrasound picture was paper clipped to the page and she had written down a
boy's and girl's name, even though it was supposedly bad luck that early to think of names. Caitlin Margaret for a girl and Conrad Steven, Junior for a boy. She had written C.J. in parenthesis underneath for the nickname he would adopt from Conrad Junior. She wondered what her life would be like now if things had turned out differently. Her child would be about the same age as Allison's James. It wasn't long after she miscarried that Allison told her that she and Dash were expecting. No one knew of her pregnancy except for Duke and Doc. Scarlett had a feeling Hawk knew as well, but he never mentioned anything about it. It pained her to think that she had missed out on her chance to have a family. Her mind lingered on the day of the miscarriage and then drifted into thoughts of the night that sealed her broken heart.
(Flashback)
It had been several days since the miscarriage and she had not spoken to Duke nor had he contacted her. She was in a depression about losing the baby and fighting with him. Most of the Joes knew something was rupturing between the couple, but no one knew how extensive the damage was. Diva had been at her side day and night, making sure she was alright without asking what exactly was going on and Scarlett was very grateful for her company.
After having an emotional talk with Diva, Scarlett had decided it was time to face Duke to hash out everything and see if there was anything worth salvaging. Each step towards his door made her heart pound louder. His angry words echoed through her mind and she had to squeeze her eyes shut to stop tears from forming. She hadn't been very nice to him lately either. She stood in front of his quarters and took a deep breath before knocking.
There was no answer after several moments, so she began to turn away when suddenly the door flung open.
"What do you want?" Duke demanded putting his hands on his hips. He was dressed only in work out shorts. Scarlett found it a little odd that he answered the door dressed to a minimum, but shrugged it off.
"I thought we should talk." Scarlett answered crossing her arms in front of her.
"I think we've said all that needs to be said." Duke disagreed and took a step back into his quarters.
"We've said a lot of things to each other that were hurtful. I want to talk to you….no screaming, no insulting, no accusing….just talk." Scarlett explained herself.
"I'm busy." Duke quipped and started shutting the door, but Scarlett stopped it with her leg.
"That's our problem, Conrad. We've been too busy for each other. We stopped talking time out to nuture our relationship. That's why we're struggling." Scarlett pleaded, hoping Duke would not shut her out.
"Struggling? I'd say more like F.U.B.A.R." Duke shot back, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really am busy."
"I've invested four years of my life with you. I think you could be 'un-busy' for just a few minutes and talk with me." Scarlett spoke calmly, trying hard not to raise her voice or say something out of anger.
"Conrad, when are you coming back to bed? I'm getting cold…" a female's voice cooed from Duke's bedroom. It didn't take long for Scarlett to place to voice as Cover Girl's, another female team mate.
"Unbelievable…" Scarlett shook her head, closing her eyes.
"I told you I was busy." Duke restated emotionless.
"Yeah, I guess you are. Sorry I interupted things." Scarlett sighed and reached around to the back of her neck and pulled a necklace out from under her uniform. She yanked on the chain, splitting the clasp. Duke recognized the horse shoe charm dangling on the chain. He had given it to her before they even started dating, for being his good luck charm. She had gotten him out of sticky situations countless times. She had worn it every day.
"I think my luck has run out." Scarlett softly whispered, putting the necklace into Duke's hand. She spun around and walked out of his quarters without another word, without turning back.
(End Flashback)
That was the last she had seen of Duke. The very next morning she requested to be put on a recon team that was leaving for a two week mission. When she returned, Duke had moved out and moved on. Cover Girl had not lasted much longer either. She decided to transfer to Intel, not wanting to face Scarlett as a commanding officier or team mate. Scarlett massaged her temples and cheeks with her hands. All these memories were so raw with emotion. She couldn't help but to feel the heart ache all over again. How was she going to handle seeing him again, let alone work with him?
The noise of the door opening startled her and she found Diva standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She quickly flipped her journal shut and pushed it under her pillow, wanting to hide it.
"Do I still need to call a meeting for tomorrow?" Scarlett asked wondering if Diva's plan worked.
"Oh, uh, no….the plan didn't work out the way I thought it would." Diva smiled weakly.
"What happened?" Scarlett asked happy to focus on something else than her failed relationship with Duke.
"Well, I was going to take him to the conference room and let him think he was going to get somewhere with me…y'know…let him strip down to the bare minimum…..and then I was going to handcuff him to the support beam and leave him there." Diva revealed her plan.
"That would have been classic!" Scarlett exclaimed with a gleeful expression, but soon grew concerned by the look of disappointment on Diva's face. "What's wrong?"
"I had a good time with him. It wasn't anything like I imagined it would be. He's actually a gentleman." Diva revealed most surprised about her discovery.
"Really," Scarlett replied surprised at Diva's reaction.
"There was something different about him tonight. We talked about a lot of things, personal things….I just couldn't pull a prank on him." Diva shook her head.
"Sounds like someone's had a change of heart…" Scarlett teased. Diva grabbed a pillow of the bed and swung it playfully at her room mate. The two women swapped stories and gossiped long into the night.