Chapter 59 – Numbered

Fear shot through Ward when he recognized the voice on the other end of the phone but he did his best hide it, for Skye's sake. There was never going to be a time when the specialist was happy to receive a phone call from Skye's father.

Ward defiantly wasn't in the mood to talk to the man, "What do you want?"

"I want you to tell me that my daughter survived that explosion," Sir replied.

"And if I can't," Ward answered. If Sir didn't know for sure that Skye was alive he was going to do his best to convince the man that she was dead, "What if Skye didn't survive?"

"Then your days are numbered," Sir threatened.

"I'll start counting," Ward snapped back. Ending the call before Sir had the chance to respond. Ward turned back to face Skye.

The hacker just raised an eyebrow, "I take it that went well."

Ward just shrugged. He pulled the battery out of the back of the phone and dropped the rest of it to the floor, smashing it beneath the heel of his foot. Looking back up at Skye the specialist gave a weak smile, "Your father's a bastard, you know?"

Skye actually smiled, "So I hear."

Ward's smile faulted and he sat on the edge of the bed again, he sighed, "I know you want answers about your family, Skye, but you're safest far away from him."

Skye raised an eyebrow again, "I didn't say anything."

Ward smiled, "You don't have to. You want answers, you always have and now it's me keeping you from them."

Skye shook her head, still being careful of her neck, "It's not your fault." She grasped the specialist's hand in her own, "There are a million ways my father could have reached out to me, and he chose to send men to kidnap me. I don't need someone like that in my life, in Andrew's life."

Ward pulled his hand away, "But you need someone like me?"

Skye groaned, "Not this again, Grant." She sat up completely, swinging her legs over the side of the bed so that she was sitting next to Ward. Skye held a wince at the sudden movement but didn't let it stop her, she put a hand on Ward's shoulder, "I'm always going to need you in my life."

Ward couldn't meet Skye's gaze, "I'm not a good man, Skye."

"No, you're not," Skye agreed, "But you're getting there and I love you all the more for that."

Ward's head snapped up, "Did you just say you love me?"

Skye smiled as she moved her hand from his shoulder to the back of Ward's neck, "Yes," She pulled Ward's lips down on hers. When Skye finally pulled back she smiled, "I love you, Grant Ward. Don't you ever forget that and don't ever doubt it."

Ward smiled, slightly shocked at Skye's actions, "I love you too."

Skye grinned, "What's not to love? I'm perfect."

"Yes, you are," Ward agreed bringing his lips back down on Skye's. When they finally came up for air Ward sighed, "We may have to leave sooner rather than later."

Skye pulled back so she could look at her son, who was now starring up at her from his crib, "You think Sir's going to come here?"

Ward shrugged, "I'm not sure but I would rather not take the risk. If he doesn't believe you're dead then he will come looking for you and if he does believe then he's going to come looking for me."

Skye almost smiled, "So what's the plan? Are you going to carry us out of here?"

Ward gave the hacker a half smile, "I think someone is going to notice that."

"Well I'm not entirely sure I can walk out of here," Skye retorted.

"We're going to have to make the doctors discharge you," Ward sighed, seeing the shock on Skye's face he quickly continued, "Think about it. If a comatose woman and a newborn baby disappear from a hospital it's going to make the news."

"Which would draw unwanted attention," Skye concluded she then sighed, "I've been in a coma for a week, do you really think they're going to just let me go just because I woke up?"

"They'll want to keep you here under observation," Ward agreed, "But legally they can't keep you here against your will. If you want to leave they have to let you, even if it's against doctor's orders."

"So…" Skye sighed, "Are we going to do this now or not?"

"Get it over with," Ward agreed, he stood up and gestured for Skye to get back into the bed and under the blanket. When she was back in the bed and somewhat comfy Ward pushed the call button next to the hacker's bed.

While they waited Ward picked up Andrew, who was demanding attention. Skye couldn't help but smile at the way Ward lit up when he held his son, so far away from the robot he had been when they first met.

"Well, look who's awake," The voice of a nurse came from the door.

The fact the woman was looking at Ward as she spoke made Skye wonder if she was talking about her or Andrew. A shot of jealousy ran through the hacker at the way the nurse looked at Ward. The only thing that stopped her from saying something was the fact the Ward didn't seem to look twice at the woman, his attention solely on Andrew.

"Yeah," Skye finally spoke, trying to keep her thoughts on the nurse out of her voice, "And if I could get out of here that would be great."

The look the nurse gave Skye was a mixture of shock and annoyance, the woman crossed her arms, she was probably used to difficult patients, "That's not up to me and I highly doubt the doctor is just going to let you just leave."

"Well why don't you go get him and we'll find out," Skye snapped.

The nurse turned on her heel and stormed out of the room in annoyance.

Still holding Andrew Ward turned to look at Skye and just raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Skye shrugged, "I don't like her."

Ward gave the hacker a half smile, "I thought she was nice."

"You really are an idiot, you know?" Skye groaned, but she smiled, "But you're my idiot."

Ward grinned but was saved from responding by the arrival of the doctor, Skye was glad to see that the nurse hadn't returned.

The doctor was elderly and gave Skye a warm smile as he shuffled into the room, "Ah, Mrs Ward so good to see you awake."

Skye glared at Ward at his choice of name but the specialist chose that moment to find his son more interesting than the child's mother. Skye didn't say anything to him, she would deal with him later, instead speaking to the doctor, "It's good to be awake." Skye smiled, trying to be as charming as possible, Ward hid a smile at the hacker's attempt.

The doctor, however, just smiled, "I see you've already met your son." Nodding to the child in Ward's arms.

Skye smiled, "He's perfect."

"We were all a little worried about both of you in the beginning," The doctor noted, "But it seems both mother and child are fighters."

Skye smiled, looking at Ward, "So is his father."

Ward just smiled back.

The doctor nodded, "Good to know." He had a brief look over the fire he carried in his hand, "The nurse tells me you want to leave. I must advise you against that, there are several tests I would like to run, not to mention all the rest you need."

"I'm fine," Skye assured, "And I promise I won't sue if something happens because I was in a rush."

"Why the rush?" The doctor asked, it was obvious that he was curious about the unconscious woman who had been brought into his emergency room.

Skye was prepared for that particular question, "You can probably tell we're not local." The doctor just nodded and let Skye continue, "We," Giving a brief nod at Ward, "Wanted one last holiday before the baby was born, obviously he came a bit earlier than planned and now all we want to do is get home."

The doctor gave a knowing smile, "That I can understand, my eldest was born while my wife and I were visiting Melbourne and in the hospital all my wife could talk about was getting home. However that doesn't mean I can just release you. You were seriously hurt, I cannot in good conscience release you without at least running a few tests.

Skye sighed, leaning back into her pillow, "Fine, run your tests. But I want out of here as soon as possible."

The doctor nodded once, "I'll do my best. I'll be back in about ten minutes and we'll start them, okay?"

"Okay," Skye agreed, watching as the doctor left the room before turning to Ward, "Mrs Ward?"

Ward carefully placed Andrew back in the crib before speaking, "I was in a hurry."

"Skye Ward?" Skye suddenly smiled, "I could live with that, you know?" Ward bit his lip, obviously hiding something and Skye almost laughed, "What did you tell them my first name was?" When Ward remained silent Skye poked him, glad that he was still within reach, "Come on, Robot, whatever you said my name was it can't be that bad."

"Mary," Ward replied quickly, seeing the shock on the hacker's face he back peddled quickly, "Sorry. It's the first name I thought of, I have no idea why."

"It's okay," Skye assured, "It's just that no one's called me Mary in a while."

Understanding washed over Ward's face and supressed a laugh, "Your name is Mary? For real? Mary Poots?"

Skye shifted in the bed and then glared at Ward, "The nuns gave me the name Mary Sue Poots, so you can see why I go by Skye."

"I can understand," Ward smiled, "That doesn't mean I'm ever going to forget about it."

"Shut up, Douglas," Skye snapped.

Ward didn't dare respond to that.

It was almost twenty four hours later that Skye was released from the hospital. The tests the doctor ran took longer than both her and Ward would have liked, but they both agreed it was better to be safe than sorry.

Skye was escorted out of the hospital in a wheel chair, Andrew secured in her arms, she raised an eyebrow at the car that was waiting for her, "What happened to the last one?"

Ward cringed as he helped Skye into the car, "I may or may not have crashed it." Seeing the look on Skye's face the specialist gave a weak smile, "I needed an excuse for your injuries, a car crash was better than saying your house exploded."

Skye smiled and shook her head, "You're an idiot."

Ward smiled as he made sure both the hacker and their son were secure, he gave Skye a kiss on the cheek, "But I'm your idiot."

"Yes," Skye smiled, "Yes, you are."

Ward smiled as he got into the driver's side and started the car, both he and Skye remained silent as the car left the hospital far behind. It was Ward that finally broke the silence, "Do you know what you father told me?"

Skye turned her head to face the driver's seat, "From your response I'm guessing he said your days are numbered."

Ward nodded, "And I told him I would count the days."

"So…?" Skye asked.

"Sir thinks I'm counting the days until I die," Ward replied, "But I'm only counting every day I spend with you."

Skye smiled, "Aww, the tin man has feelings."

"Only when I'm with you, Skye. Only with you."

"And Andrew?" Skye asked.

"And Andrew," Ward agreed.

Author's Note: I will publish the final chapter soon, it is difficult to actually write. I know how I want the story to end but actually writing it down is proving harder than I thought it would be. I never realised how attached to this story I actually am.

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