Title: Parasitic
A/N- Heya, Alex! I'm entirely flattered at your offer to translate my stories to Italian! If you want to take the time to do it, by all means, go right ahead. I would translate my stories, but in all honesty, my grasps of other languages are minimal, and my writing would come out extremely childish in a foreign language :(. So, I totally accept your offer! lol- Andi
Chapter Eight: Darkness
Lisa Cuddy barely contained her scream while Greg was standing at the podium, preparing to speak at the conference. As he cleared his throat to begin, there was suddenly a loud, electronic jazz sound coming from his pocket. Unashamed, Greg reached into his breast pocket of the only suit he owned, and extracted his cell phone.
Without so much as an "excuse me", he flipped open the phone, turning away from the podium.
Coming to the rescue, Lisa rose quickly and nearly toppled the podium over in her hurry to save the chances of still getting the money the prospective investors had to offer.
The brushfire of agitated murmurs made Lisa's face redden, as Greg plugged his ear with his finger, trying to hear the voice on the other line.
"Slow down, what happened?" He nearly hollered, "Jimmy, breathe! What happened... WHAT!?" Snapping his phone shut, Greg handed his hotel key to Lisa, "Pack up my stuff, I have to get back to New Jersey."
"What hap-"
"Ally's in the hospital, and not in the working sense." He provided, jumping haphazardly off of the mock stage, and nearly causing his right leg to crumble under the strain.
Unable to question her employee, Lisa swayed slightly as she looked at the audience, and the quickly retreating form of her unruly diagnostician. "His wife is pregnant." She supplied, and a fresh wave of nods and murmurs flurried once more.
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"I don't know when exactly she passed out." Wilson told his friend, seeing him practically stomping into the hospital six and a half hours after he'd first called Greg.
"Where is she?" Greg asked, snagging his wife's chart from Wilson.
"She's just on an IV." The oncologist assured. "Melissa's monitoring her constantly. She feels really bad that she didn't take more concern when Allison said she was having bad morning sickness."
"Well, she should feel bad." Greg read through the chart, "Her amnionic levels are low."
"Just a little-"
"This is serious-"
"I know!"
"NO YOU DON'T!" The whole hospital floor seemed to freeze, staring at the two doctors nervously. In a low hiss, Greg said quietly, "Everyone here thinks that she was miserable because I was gone. They ignored the fact that she was rapidly dehydrating because they thought that she just missed me. Well," he spoke loudly for everyone to here, "just in case anyone was left unaware- Allison is perfectly capable of surviving without me." He hollered.
"Greg-"
"Shut it."
"She did miss you."
"That doesn't mean it caused her to dehydrate herself."
"No," Wilson agreed, "it doesn't. But it does suggest that she was so adement about not letting anyone notice, that she put herself in danger."
With a groan, Greg couldn't help but agree. He knew that Allison had probably pushed away all assistance while he'd been gone, just to prove that she was still the same, independent woman she had been before they were together.
Arriving at Allison's hospital room, Wilson quickly made himself scarce.
"Are you going to say "I told you so"?" Allison asked.
"Yup." Greg nodded.
"I'm sorry." She flopped against her pillow, looking at where her IV was inserted, just so she wouldn't have to look at her husband.
"You should be." He sat down in the chair next to her bed.
"So it's my fault then?" She glared.
Nodding, Greg supplied, "Of course it is."
"How can you say-"
"Quite easily." Greg snarled, "You've been so... So, busy proving to everyone that you can do everything that you forgot that you couldn't."
Allison glared. Here she was, in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV and he was reprimanding her? "Go to hell."
"I'm there right now." He assured.
"You bastard." Allison sniffled, curling away from him and lying on her side to not look at him.
"Oh, boo hoo, Ally." He stood up, planting his hands on his hips. "Why? For once in your damn life, can't you think of yourself? Why does it always have to be about everyone else? I've got news for you, my dear ball and chain, we're going to be parents this year! Do you know what that means? It means that thinking about just ourselves is about to end. FOREVER. So for once in your life, can you think about you while you still have the chance? And if it helps stroke your overdeveloped sense of martyrdom, think about the three lives growing inside you. If you can't do anything for yourself, then do it for them."
Allison remained on her side, staring at the wall. "I hate you."
"I love you." He replied.
"I HATE YOU!" Allison turned abruptly, throwing the clock that had been on the nighstand at him. "GET OUT!"
"You tore out your IV." He said, rubbing his forearm where he'd ricocheted the clock off of.
"I don't care." Allison wiped her bleeding arm with her hospital gown.
"I do."
"I don't give a fuck if you care." Allison turned onto her side once more, curling into a ball so he couldn't get to her arm.
Her actions did little to prevent him from climbing onto the hospital bed with her and wrap his arms around her coiled body.
"I don't want to do this anymore. I want an abortion." She said softly, causing Greg to recoil from holding her.
"Ally-"
Jerking awake, Greg woke up just as the plane landed on the runway. His hands went to his face, and the cold sweat that dripped from his head assured him that he had truly had the worst nightmare of his life.
"Are you okay?" The woman sitting next to him asked nervously.
Not saying anything to the nosey woman, Greg got up and went towards the exit of the plane.
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Arriving at the hospital, Greg zoomed past Wilson, heading straight for the room he'd dreamt Allison had been in. Frighteningly enough, she was actually in that room.
Her eyes blinked open slowly, and the weak smile she gave him broke his heart.
"Are you going to tell me "I told you so"?" She asked.
Mutely, Greg shook his head, feeling a constriction in his throat.
Allison smiled a little bit more, "Come here." She scooted carefully over on the bed, and Greg sat down on the cleared space, his entire body rigid.
"I love you."
Allison grinned, "I love you too." She nuzzled against his hand that he'd placed on her pillow, "I've made a decision."
Greg swallowed hard. "Ally-"
"You're not allowed to leave my side for the rest of the pregnancy." She smirked, but when she looked at his face she frowned, "Baby, you're pale as a ghost..." She said softly, sitting up, "You... You're shaking!"
Indeed, he was shaking from head to toe, and his face had begun to perspire.
"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly, raising a hand to his forehead, "You're not warm."
With another shudder, he confessed, "I fell asleep on the plane."
"I thought I was the one who got airsick." She smirked.
"I had a nightmare."
"Wow, I've had one of those too before!" She said sarcastically.
"We got in a fight, you wanted an abortion." Allison froze, "And then I got here, and you were in the room that I dreamt you were in... And the first thing you said to me, was the first thing you said in my dream."
"I think your precognitive abilities are only accurate for a few sentences." Allison assured him, "I don't want an abortion. One, I don't believe in it. And two... How could I ever want to kill something that's a part of you and I?"
"Just a bad dream." He assured.
"No shit." She laughed, curling her arms around him, and tugging him downward to lie beside her, "Think we could get a nurse to hijack some lime jell-o for us?" She joked.
"I could get you-"
"No, I don't want you to leave me..." Allison snuggled against him as she hit the call button. Nurse Angie responded promptly, "Angie, can you get us some lime jell-o?" She mock pouted, giving her best pleading expression. Angie just rolled her eyes and left, but she returned shortly with two large bowls of the green, jiggly stuff.
"Nicely done."
"Thanks." Allison took a spoonful of jell-o.
"So, what happened?" Greg asked softly. "Dehydration, I can guess how that happened, but... Jimmy didn't tell me much over the phone."
"Called off work." Allison slurped more jell-o. "Wilson came over to check on me during his lunch break... I'm assuming you gave him a key to our apartment?" She narrowed her eyes.
"Which proved to have been a good idea." He pointed out.
"True." Allison sighed, "Anyway, he couldn't wake me up, so he brought me here, they put me on an IV and voila."
"You didn't fall did you?" He asked.
"No, I recognized what was happening, so I sat down on the bed to call for help."
"Good girl." He kissed her forehead, "Just... Take it easy, okay?" Greg said carefully, "I know you want to prove to everyone that you're more than capable of taking care of yourself, but-"
"Baby, if I learned anything from this, it's that I obviously can't do this entirely by myself." She frowned a bit, staring at her bowl of jell-o. "Melissa says my amnionic levels are low."
"I figured as much." Greg rubbed his face briskly with his hands, "So, I guess it's my duty to hydrate you then." He teased.
Nodding playfully, Allison sighed, "I just hope it's maternal dehydration and not a complication of a multiple pregnancy."
"I'm sure it's dehydration." Greg nodded.
"Since when are you the one who goes for the easy diagnoses?"
"Since it's my kids and my wife who are effected." He said sternly.
Smiling softly, Allison ran her hand through his hair, "You're adorable."
"Uh huh."
"They didn't need you at the conference did they? I mean, everything is okay, right?" Allison asked nervously, not wanting to deal with her boss's wrath.
"Everything is fine."
"Good." Allison sighed.
He didn't want to worry her by admitting that he hadn't even been able to speak at the conference because he'd been called away the very minute he was suppose to talk. She didn't need the guilt, and he wasn't about to shove it onto her.
"I do have to call Cuddy though." He explained. "Think your IV will keep you hydrated for a few minutes so I can use the phone?" He teased. Allison jokingly took a moment to decide before nodding. "Be right back." Greg assured, planting a chaste kiss on her lips.
Out in the hallway, Greg went to the phone at the nurse's station and called his boss.
"You better have a damned good reason for-"
"Ally had to be put on an IV." He explained, "It was an emergency. She needed me."
There was an extended silence over the phone before Lisa spoke at last, "They said they needed to discuss their decision. They'll call in a week."
"You coming back up now?" He asked.
"Yeah, trip got cut short, but I'll be back on Wednesday instead of Friday."
"I'll tell Wilson... Don't forget to bring my stuff."
"This was all a plot so you wouldn't have to carry your own luggage, wasn't it?"
"Yes, because I want to buy a toothbrush I don't need." Greg rolled his eyes, even though Lisa couldn't see it, she knew he'd done so.
"See you Thursday."
"Bye." Greg hung up and went back to his wife's room, "So, how long does Melissa want you on that IV?" He asked.
"I can go home in about an hour." Allison assured, letting her eyes shut softly. "Now come here and keep me company." She smiled lazily.
Doing as he was asked of, Greg slid onto the hospital bed and wrapped his arms around Allison's waist. She snuggled against him, and napped for the remainder of her hour.
As she slept, Greg couldn't help but wonder where his nightmare had manifested from. Maybe it was because he felt less than confidant about becoming a father. However, perhaps most of the dream had come from Allison's own insecurities that she'd shown before he had left. Combining both of their anxieties seemed to be a reasonable result for dreaming such a thing. After all, wouldn't the doubts both of them had been feeling be resolved if they discontinued the pregnancy?
Unable to avoid the snort of dark amusement, Greg couldn't help but note his internal use of the word "discontinue". After all, it was a rather flowery word for abortion or even murder. He wasn't one to dampen words down to sound less truthful. He also wasn't one to consider a first trimester abortion "murder", but in his mind, he couldn't help but consider it that. Ceasing the growing life inside Allison seemed wrong to him, and that was what comforted him, because he knew that she felt the same way. Whether they were ready or not, it seemed obvious that neither were willing to stop what they'd begun. He didn't want her to have an abortion, and the look in her eyes when he'd mentioned his dream had Greg convinced that Allison didn't want that either.
Comforted, Greg continued stroking her belly. She wasn't rounding yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time. After all, Allison had already begun complaining about her clothes being too snug. Part of him prayed that Allison would leave him out of maternity clothes shopping, and only subject her sister-in-law to it.
Thinking further, that had Greg wondering another thing. Had Allison told her family yet?
He tried not to dwell on the potential answer. Greg knew that her family tended to leave big news for their get togethers rather than phone conversations. It seemed to him that Allison's family enjoyed seeing each others' reactions over just hearing them, and triplets was definitely big news!
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night..." Greg murmured in her ear, "Take these broken wings and learn to fly..." What compelled him to sing to her was beyond him, but his voice won over his brain, "All your life... You were only waiting for this moment to arrive."
As his low voice echoed in her ear, he heard Allison sigh and snuggle back against him, her head turning slightly so that her ear was closer to his lips. Smiling at her unconscious action, he continued to sing softly in her ear.
Hearing the door opening, Greg quickly clamped his mouth shut and turned to look at Melissa. "Hey." She said, standing nervously in the doorway. Had she heard him singing? "I... I'm sorry-"
"Can I take her home now?" Greg cut her off. He didn't want to hear it. It was hard enough for him not to snap at her, and he wouldn't be able to stop himself if she uttered another word that wasn't "yes".
"Yeah, I've got her release papers filled out, so you can go ahead and take off." Melissa teetered slightly, "I-"
"Why don't you get back to work. I can take it from here." Greg stood up, cutting her off once again.
Melissa's lip quivered before she turned back to the door; he saw this, but chose not to acknowledge it. She should feel guilty. Allison had told her what had been happening, but Melissa had just waved it off. Sure increased symptoms were to be expected with multiple pregnancies, but that was no reason to dismiss them!
"Ally, baby, wake up." Greg gave Allison's cheek a slight caress. Her eyelids flickered and her beautiful eyes looked at him. "We can go home now."
"Okay." Allison took out her own IV, much to Greg's amusement.
Getting Allison to agree to be put in a wheelchair, however, was not as simple as removing her IV. She kept insisting that she was perfectly capable of walking.
"Ally?"
"What?" She snapped as he urged her to get in the wheelchair once more.
"Remember when you said that you realized you couldn't to this all by yourself no more than an hour ago?" Allison seemed resigned to her fate at that meer statement, "Get in the chair."
With a grunt, Allison finally flopped into the wheelchair and was soon rolled out of the hospital with minimal staring.
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"Home sweet home." Allison sighed as they came into their apartment.
"Yup, now to bed with you." Greg ushered her to the bedroom.
"I've been asleep all day!" She protested in a whining voice.
"No, you've been rendered unconscious via dehydration. Now you're going to sleep willingly!" He nudged her once again.
"But-"
"Sleep-"
"But I'm-"
"Sleepy-"
"No, I'm-" Her stomach gave a horrible growl and Greg just laughed.
"Fine, dinner, then sleep." Greg kissed her cheek, "Chicken noodle soup?"
"Sounds good." Allison snuggled up on the couch, popping in a movie.
Taking out a can of Campbells, Greg quickly heated it and brought it to Allison. "Even I can't screw up canned soup." He smiled as she began to eat it slowly, apparently savoring her delay in "bedtime".
When she'd finished her soup, Greg couldn't get her to turn off the movie she'd started watching, so he let her finish the film before once again trying to get her to go to bed.
"But I'm not even tired!" Allison whined around her toothbrush.
"Too bad."
"Are you practicing on me?" She glowered.
"Practicing for what?" His brow scrunched in confusion.
"Fatherhood." She teased, spitting out the toothpaste foam.
"I hope I do a better job commanding them than you. I suck at getting you to do anything." Greg rolled his eyes.
"Depends on what you're trying to get me to do." She pointed out, a playful smirk growing on her lips.
"Really?" He knew that look. That was the "Ally wants to play" look. Kane was already running from the bedroom, apparently cued by the tone of Allison's voice. "You up for that?"
"I can see you are." Allison pressed her tongue against the backs of her teeth.
It was true, he was hard already just by the smirk on her face and the sound of her voice. "You're manipulating me. You're forcing me to choose between your health and getting laid, and that's not fair."
"I'm not forcing you to do anything." She teased walking towards him with a sultry wiggle of her hips.
"Uh huh." Greg placed his hands on those beautiful hips when she got right next to him.
"Come on, baby," Allison cooed, "It's been a week since I made love to you." She jutted out her lower lip.
"I believe that's because you fell asleep while I was brushing my teeth the night before I left." He pointed out.
"So you're going to blame me?" She gawked playfully. "I'll have you know, the reason I keep falling asleep is purely because I'm currently the host of three of your offspring!"
"Hey! Technically, that's your genetic fault, missy." He jibed back, already inching them towards the bed, "You're the one who produced three eggs."
"Maybe they're identical triplets and I only produced one egg."
"Still your fault that they split." He replied nonchalantly as he nudged her onto the bed.
"Is not!" Allison protested as he covered her body with his.
"Is too."
"Is nommmm..." Allison mumbled against his mouth, her legs wrapping around his hips.
His body moved against hers through their clothes. Allison loved the resistance of the fabric, the friction it created, the sense of unattainability.
There was something about keeping their clothes on for a while that reminded her of their relationship before their relationship. Clothes were the barrier that had kept them from one another over the years, and as each article was stripped away, they grew closer and finally let the resistance end, succumbing to one another like she'd always wanted.
When their clothes had vanished during her philosophical moment, Allison mewled as his hand cupped her breast gently. Greg's hands on her were always touching her just how she wanted and needed to be touched. Somehow, her husband knew when to squeeze and when to caress, he knew when to fuck her and when to make love to her. He always knew.
"Love you." She moaned softly as he turned her onto her side and curled up behind her. Allison's arm wrapped backwards to grasp the base of his skull as his hand took her thigh and pulled it back against his hip.
Gently, he slid inside her, soft kisses pressing against her back in warm, little raindrops. Rolling against him in a fluidity that expressed many shared moments of intimacy, Allison crooned her words of love and adoration for the man behind her.
Greg whispered words of passion into her ear as the grip Allison had on his scalp belied the gentle motions of their combined bodies. Their plateau was reached slowly, and ebbed away just as smoothly, leaving them surprisingly sated, even Allison who usually peaked multiple times in a single coupling. Very little perspiration coated their bodies, for the lovemaking had been slow and gentle.
Idly, Allison wondered, even as she fell asleep, if her husband had intentionally made love to her so tranquilly. It would be a fine way to keep her from perspiring and exasperating her previous dehydration. With the smallest sigh of amusement, Allison fell asleep, cozy and warmed by her wonderment.
"Love you, Ally." Greg murmured in her ear even though he knew the words fell on deaf ears.
TBC
A/N- Heya guys! Thanks for waiting for me:'( I know, (Smacks hands) bad Andi! I made you guys wait to find out what happened to poor Ally! But please review!-Andi