| Chapter Fifteen �Mary Keely.� Gradually, strands of memory coalesced. He repeated the name, as much to confirm his own thinking as to be sure that Nora had heard. �Mary Keely!� Being reminded of someone she hadn�t heard from or thought about for decades, and seemingly out of context, Nora�s response was limited to a dull, monosyllabic �What?� �You sent her to talk to me when I went to the hospital.� Brows knitted and eyes narrowed, distrustful. What was he fabricating now? Shaking her head. �You were at the hospital? No.� But Jack insisted, nodding. �Yes. And you sent her to tell me to leave you alone, that you didn�t want me. I was making a mess of your life, of your chance for a career. That you�d gotten rid of the baby and you wanted to be rid of me as well. You sent her!� But her face, the way that she held herself, told him otherwise. He hurried on, heart racing. Oh, God. Oh, God. �I hadn�t seen you all day. Two of the girls in the Frat House told me you�d been taken to the hospital.� Pausing to remember. �The nurses wouldn�t let me see you because I wasn�t family. Mary Keely was there, in the Waiting Room; she told me. She gave me royal shit. I was going crazy and nobody would let me talk to you.� His voice trailed off, and he was young and confused and afraid again. �I didn�t know why you hadn�t told me about the baby. I couldn�t blame you for being upset, but I didn�t know what to do...� Terrified because he was telling the truth, because he so obviously believed what he was saying. Needing to reassure him none of it was true. �Jack, I never...I swear. I was sick. They kept me medicated...� Reading his eyes, she knew that he was struggling with this, too. �Whatever she told you was of her own accord. We were young and uninformed. There was so much blood...Everybody was so afraid.� Thirty years! They�d lost thirty years! When he spoke, there was still disbelief in his voice. �But the baby! Why would you ...?� Then, sudden understanding. How could he possibly think that she ever would have done such a thing? �No! I miscarried, Jack! Perhaps I was paying for wishing it away,� her eyes filled with tears, �but even if I hadn�t loved you, I could never have deliberately done it harm.� Instinctively, he knew that she was telling him the truth. Her mouth trembled as she continued to reassure him. �I would have found some way...� His voice breaking, he reached for her. �You and I, Nora, we would have found some way.� She let him hold her. And this time it was tough, independent Jack McCoy who wept. R e v i e w H o m e Nothing could have prepared Nora for what awaited her. Nothing. Completely dry, yet with a bath sheet wrapped around him, a wide-eyed Jack stepped back to let he |