A/N - Thanks for all of the reviews! I appreciate it.
Chapter 26 – The Plunge
Tess jumped and pushed back from the table. "You called him?" she asked looking at both women.
"I called him before I walked in to find out why you were here and upset," Claudia said defensively.
Tess is pissed. "Why didn't you just walk in and ask me first?" She quickly stood, knowing how bad this must look.
John was watching them argue and he didn't understand why Tess was so upset. "What is going on?"
"Nothing, I just needed some space to think," Tess said trying to avoid his stare.
John is dumbfounded. "You sneak out of our apartment and pack a bag and leave me and you don't think I have a right to know what the hell I did to piss you off?"
"You didn't do anything!"
"Well, what the fuck, Tess? Give me something to go on," he said moving closer. "I thought we trusted each other and could tell each other anything."
"We can," she said trying to stop her tears from falling.
"Clearly, that isn't true. You basically have lied to me and left me. How could you do that? Don't you know how much I love you?"
"I'm sorry! I just needed to think for a little bit." She started to cry harder.
"Think about what, how to leave me?" His eyes were tearing as he struggled to understand where her head was at and was starting to panic.
"Please..." she begged.
"I can't believe this. I can't believe that you ran out on us."
Tess was trying to catch her breath, but the sobs were stuck in her throat and she couldn't any words out.
"You know what, screw this. I'm out of here. We're done," John said angrily.
Tess gasped and clutched her stomach as she watched John walk out the door.
Claudia cleared her throat, stunned at her brother's reaction. "I'll fix this. I'll be right back." She ran after a distraught Johnny.
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She finally caught up to him at the next pier. "John stop, it's not what you think."
John spun around. Tears were flowing down his face. "I love her so much that I don't know what to do right now. I'm so freaked out. If she did something horrible—I—I'm just scared to know what made her run because I can't be without her," he said painfully, collapsing onto a bench.
Claudia sat beside him and pulled him against her side. She is shocked that this had gotten so out of control so fast.
"Did she cheat on me?" John asked quietly.
"No, she would never do that."
"Then what, Claudia, just tell me."
Claudia took a languid breath. "She's pregnant."
John's head snapped up. "She's what?"
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Tess waited for her head to stop spinning and she pushed Johnny back. Needing some air, she ran through the diner and out the door and then down the docks.
"She forgot her purse," Liz said before picking it up.
Johnny grabbed it and took off after her.
Liz motioned to the waitress. "Can you please hold this suitcase here?" she asked handing her some money. "We'll be right back."
The waitress nodded and Liz ran outside. She couldn't find them at first and then she saw Tess's purse by the water and started to panic at the implications. Picking up her phone, she feverishly dialed a number. "Jason, something is very wrong. I'm down at the docks near Kelly's. I think something really bad just happened to Johnny and Tess." She was trying to keep her emotions under control.
"I'll be right there." Jason is shocked that Tess is involved. He didn't know that she was even in town.
Liz looked around frantically and then called 911. "What's your emergency?"
"I think someone fell in the water."
"Ma'am did you see someone fall?" a woman responded.
Liz stuttered and then she saw Johnny's head pop up out of the water.
"Please, there are two people in the water down by Kelly's diner. Send an ambulance."
She hung up the phone and ran to the edge. Jason came out of nowhere and grabbed Tess and pulled her from Johnny's arms. He laid her on the docks and Liz started performing CPR as Jason helped Johnny get out of the water.
By the time the ambulance arrived, Tess was barely breathing, but she is still alive.
"What happened, Johnny?" Jason asked as the medical team threw blankets around them.
"I was walking towards her. She was standing by the water crying and some man came up behind her and whispered something in her ear. It happened so fast after that. She whipped around and he pushed her into the water and ran. I pulled out my gun and I think I hit him and then I jumped into the water after her. I think she hit her head on the way in," he said as he tried to catch his breath.
"Who would want to hurt her like that?" Liz asked staring at Jason for a moment.
"Shit, does anyone have John's number?" Jason asked.
"No," they both answered.
Liz dialed her phone. "Claudia? Is John with you?"
"Yes, what's wrong?" She could hear the panic in Liz's voice.
"It's Tess, there's been an accident. Meet us at General Hospital."
"Okay, we'll be right there."
Claudia hung up her phone. A million bad things were running through her mind.
"What's wrong?"
"It's Tess. There's been an accident and we need to go to the hospital."
John was stunned. "This is all my fault."
"Come on, let's go."
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Jason held Liz tightly as she finally broke down and cried. "She can't die, Jason."
"Shh, the doctors will do their best to save her."
The elevators opened and John and Claudia raced towards them.
"Where is she?" John asked.
"They're working on her right now. We just have to hope for the best," Liz said.
"What happened, Jason?" Claudia asked.
"Johnny saw someone push her into the water. We don't know who. He got a shot off and thinks he hit the guy, but he's not sure. After that, he jumped in and saved her."
John sat and buried his head in his hands. "This is my fault. I should have stayed there and listened to her and none of this would have happened."
Liz sat next to him. "John, the only person to blame here is the person that pushed her."
Patrick and Kelly approached them. "I'm Dr. Drake and this is Dr. Lee. Tess is alive but swallowed a lot of water and she has hypothermia but is stable. We're trying to heat up her body. Her core temperature is about 85 and we need to get it up to 96.8. She hasn't regained consciousness yet, but we're lucky that the water is a bit warmer than usual at this time of year. It also looks like someone used a stun gun on her before she entered the water."
Johnny and Jason's gaze locked both wanting to find the guy who did this and tear him apart.
"And the baby?" John asked.
Kelly started to talk. "I can't tell you if the hypothermia will affect the baby's development, but I still hear a heartbeat. She wasn't in the water for very long, so we can only hope that she was only unresponsive for a short period. Once we have her body temperature stable, we'll do an ultrasound."
"Thank you," Claudia said.
"We'll keep you updated," Kelly said
"Can I see her?" John asked.
"Yes," Patrick said.
John got up and followed them back to her room while Jason called Spinelli and then arranged for someone to pick up Tess's suitcase.
