Chapter 10

Abby darted through the halls as fast as she could without actually running. She needed to put as much distance between her and Marcus as possible.

She was being nasty, she knew that. She never wanted to snap at him that morning. Embarrassed about the night before, exhausted and devastated, with his smell still lingering on her body despite a shower, she had difficulty controlling her emotions. All the distance she tried to put between them was for nothing because as soon as he touched her body, she clung to him desperate for comfort. She cursed herself, vowing to never do that again. If she only closed her door, none of that would've happened but then they were.

When the morning came, Marcus was worried, confused and Abby was fully aware she owed him an explanation but she just couldn't bring herself to give him one so she reverted to what she knew best. Pushing him away. With every word the hurt became apparent on his face, he tried to control himself but she pushed and he snapped. She felt awful for doing that to him because she knew that he now blamed himself for snapping. A vicious circle.

Avoiding him was the easiest option as she didn't know how to get out of the situation that they found themselves in. Naively hoping that it would just go away, she tried to stay away. Of course, that's exactly when the universe conspired against her and she found herself cornered in a room with him. Surprised, she didn't act quickly enough and had to face him.

There he was apologizing again, and she despised that. Against her best judgment, she pushed again, not quite sure why. She needed him to drop the subject, to stop trying to get her to talk to him but he was relentless.

Their conversation was short but excruciating, every breath, every word, every eye contact hurt, and she quietly thanked that braided woman for interrupting them. At first, Abby didn't register who was behind Marcus but when she saw her, she quickly realized it was the same woman she'd seen with Marcus multiple times. It was weird she hadn't met her yet, especially as a doctor but she figured she was probably Niylah or Jackson's patient dismissing it.

Out of breath, Abby stopped by the entrance of the mess and shook her head in order to focus. Steading her breath, she braced herself and entered, quickly scanning the room to locate Jackson. Without food, she headed towards his table and sat down.

"Abby, finally."

"What was so important that it had to be discussed here, in the mess hall?"

"Look around, Abby."

"I don't see anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Look at Sarah…"

Abby searched the crowd for Sarah who stood in the queue with her husband, a hand on her stomach. Abby's eyes widened and she looked back at Jackson, realization dawning on her.

"She's not the only one," Jackson added. "Niylah's been doing tests all week. There are several pregnancies."

"Why couldn't you tell me that in medical?" She ran a hand through her messy hair getting it out of her face.

"I needed to get the point across. We need help, you know that. Have you asked Kane for extra staff?"

"I'll get right on that." After her previous conversation with Marcus, Abby decided against handing in the request for extra staff. If she was a burden, she wasn't going to inconvenience him and just deal with it on her own. But with how things were going, they needed help unless she wanted to put women's lives at risk.

"Is there anything else? Because I need to go."

Jackson just shook his head and Abby put her hands on the table, ready to push herself up when she spotted him as he entered the mess hall with the same woman from before. As he chatted with her, he was smiling, a stark difference from the expression he had when he spoke with her a few minutes ago. Abby's heart stopped, her throat tightened and her stomach tied into a knot. Her palms suddenly wet with sweat, she wiped them on her jeans, a wave of nausea hit her making her glad she hadn't eaten yet.

Like hypnotized, she watched as they interacted, she noted how at ease Marcus was with her, talking with his face relaxed, a hint of his ever-present smirk, not quite there yet but almost. Abby's chest tightened. He used to be like that with her and seeing him with another woman hurt more than she expected even if it was only platonic. But this is exactly what she had wanted for him. To move on, find someone who wouldn't hurt him. A good person who wouldn't cause him so much grief. She reminded herself, scolding herself for being unreasonable and jealous.

She pushed herself up, her legs wobbly. The movement attracted his attention and his eyes met hers, his face tensed. His face filled with sadness and concern, the corners of his mouth downturned, the hints of his trademark smirk no longer there. His expression worn and tired. Not wanting to risk him coming over, Abby broke the eye contact and left the room without a second glance. He didn't follow but she felt his gaze following her as she walked across the room. This is for the best, she reminded herself fighting the urge to turn around.

The council meeting dragged, and Abby sat there only half listening to what was going on. Sitting opposite Marcus didn't exactly help her to focus. She couldn't bring herself to look in his direction, so she avoided looking or speaking directly at him all meeting. She could tell he was looking at her, she could sense his gaze and she caught him looking with the corner of her eye but she refused the temptation to look. Iris' voice brought her back to reality.

"The last proposal of the day," said Iris and looked at the paper in her hand. "Oh, that one's from Abby." Both women smiled at each other and Abby took a deep breath.

"Women have started conceiving and we will need help in the medical to ensure their safety during their pregnancy and labor. For now, we only need someone temporarily, to train them, but it has to be done now so they are ready when the babies are being born. We also have to start thinking about a nursery so the women can go back to their work assignments once they recover."

Everyone nodded in agreement, but Marcus was the first one to speak, remembering that he already had a solution to the problem.

"One of the Trikru women is a midwife."

"Leanna," added Iris.

Marcus nodded in reply. The name didn't tell Abby anything, but she wasn't picky, if the woman had experience, it was only a bonus.

"Currently, she doesn't have a permanent work assignment so she could start in the medical immediately where her experience would be useful."

"Perfect." She briefly looked at him, their eyes met for the first time in hours. "Send her to the medical later and I'll show her around." Unable to hold his intense gaze, she quickly looked away.

"Don't touch me!" Franke hissed as he sat on the examination table holding an ice pack to his ankle as the blonde woman looked at him defeated.

"I have to take a look at your foot—"

"I said, don't touch me!"

"But—"

"What's going on here?" said Abby as she entered the medical.

"Tell her that I don't want her to touch me," demanded Frank.

Niylah put her hands in the air.

"How else is she supposed to treat you?"

"I don't want her to treat me. She's not a real doctor."

"I've got this." Abby mouthed to Niylah who, by now, was well aware of Frank's reputation. "What happened to your ankle," asked Abby as she put her gloves on.

"None of your business."

"You wanted a doctor, you got one. Now, what's wrong?"

"I want Jackson."

"Jackson's not here. I am. Now, tell me what happened so I can help you." He was testing her patience.

"No. Frankly, I don't think you're competent enough. You killed your last patient after cutting her hand off. I'd like to keep my leg, thank you very much."

Abby opened her mouth to speak but closed them again rethinking her words, she swallowed.

"Fine. You can just sit there and wait until Jackson starts his shift."

"And when will that be?"

"I'm afraid that I'm not competent enough to answer that question. You'll have to wait and see." She had no mental energy left to deal with Frank. She wasn't proud of dismissing him but there was no reasoning with that man.

An hour later, Frank was still sitting on the table, now half hidden behind a privacy curtain, waiting for Jackson to come. Abby worked by the desk in the main area and she could clearly hear the conversation between Frank and his friend. She tried to ignore their voices and was quite successful until her name caught her attention.

"I told them before, don't put a woman in charge, she's not capable. But did they listen? No, of course not. Look at what she's done to Kane, cut his balls off—" Abby gritted her teeth, unable to stop listening. "She's such a bitch, always looking on everyone down. It's good to finally see her thrown off her throne." Frank's voice was full of glee.

Abby gripped her datapad. She wasn't looking down on anyone, was she? She didn't think so. Her stomach tied into a knot, a bile rose in her throat. Did people really think that Kane's behavior change was her fault? Did they prefer him on the Ark? The unrelenting one? The one who didn't believe in compromise? Surely, it couldn't be so. She shook her head. You're letting Frank of all people get to you. She scolded herself and tried to refocus on the task at hand and ignore their conversation but she was interrupted as Jackson entered the room. She lifted her head and smiled at him apologetically.

"You've got Frank waiting for you."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Again?"

"Yes. He wouldn't let anyone but you treat him."

"He can wait a while longer then." Jackson smiled and headed to make himself some tea.

The evening was slow, calm before the storm as one would say if they were pessimistic. Jackson stood next to Frank who was still icing his leg that was neither broken nor sprained, but he made sure to act like he was about to lose it. With his leg in the air, he made himself comfortable as he watched the main room where Abby sat focused on her datapad, trying to make sense of the council notes, and come up with counterarguments when Marcus entered the room. She sighed mentally and leaned back in her chair, this time looking at him.

"Abby."

"What can I do for you?" these days he wasn't Marcus anymore, it was too intimate, but he also wasn't Kane. She just avoided using his name as it sounded wrong.

Kane spotted Frank and pointed at him. "What happened to him?"

"Just a bruised ankle but he's acting like he's about to lose his leg. Is it the concern for Frank's well-being that brought you here?"

"No." Marcus shook his head. "I promised to bring Leanna to meet you."

Abby looked at him confused.

"The midwife."

"Oh, right! Where is she?"

"She should be here by now—"

"I'm here, I'm here," breathed a woman who just ran through the door. "I'm so sorry, I lost track of time." She smiled and offered a hand to Abby. "I'm Leanna."

Abby froze, her eyes widened in shock as she recognized the woman in front of her. She'd seen her before, with Marcus, on multiple occasions. Seeing them together was one thing, even though it hurt, Abby was prepared to accept that, but bringing her there and expecting Abby to work with her was just cruel. Abby thought.

Marcus watched Abby's face which went from confused to angry and then turned sad, he wasn't quite sure what caused the whirlwind of emotions. Leanna gave him a questioning look, but Abby composed herself, shook her head and grabbed Leanna's hand smiling. "Abby, nice to meet you. I heard that you're a midwife—"

His thoughts drifted away from the conversation, still focused on Abby's face when she saw Leanna when it hit him. Abby had seen the two of them before, chatting, on multiple occasions. She couldn't possibly think that he and Leanna… Could she? No! She wouldn't, she knew him, she knew she was the only one. But maybe? His thoughts were a mess and his heart dropped at the realization. He focused on Abby who by now hid her emotions, regained her composure, and put her poker face back on as she chatted with Leanna. Truth be told, he wouldn't have expected anything less, always professional.

"I'm going to show Leanna around while we discuss our plans for the midwifery program. Is there anything else that you need?" Ultimately, it didn't matter who Leanna was or what Abby thought of her. She was a professional and Leanna seemed nice enough, she was going to work with her so she wasn't about to make a fuss especially since she was grateful for the help and couldn't afford to be picky.

Marcus was about to answer when the doors to the medical burst open and two women fell in, one with her face covered in blood, the other supporting her weight, almost carrying her inside.

"Help!"

"What happened?" Abby ran over to the pair.

"She was attacked! I finished work and found her."

"Let's get her to the examination room." She directed Jackson. "Out! Now!" She barked at Marcus. "You too!" She pointed at Frank. "Your leg is fine, go!"

And with that, she disappeared inside the room with the woman covered in blood, closing the door behind them.

Marcus watched the scene in shock.

"Come on, I'll help you," he offered Frank who dismissed him and walked out on his own.

"I'll stay, see if they need me," Leanna whispered to him. Marcus nodded and left the room filled with dread, anxious to get a report about the attack.

End of Chapter 10