dchfive

The sunlight filtered in through the gauzy, white curtains that hung across the bedroom windows, casting it�s hazy light upon the room. Michael turned and looked at the sleeping woman beside him. The rise and fall of her chest beneath the covers was seductive, her calm, peaceful breathing, soothing. He slid his hand beneath the covers and ran it down to her belly across the cottony nightshirt. Rising just a bit he reached and slowly ran his hand down the sides of her thigh and back again, resting on her stomach. Reaching forward, he kissed her forehead and then let himself plop back down on his back against the pillows that surrounded him. He stared up at the ceiling. Sunday. It looked like a beautiful day outside� a great day for a family get-together, but her really didn�t want to go. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat there wondering how sick he could make himself sound. It would have to be awfully convincing to fool his mother. If he didn�t convince her, he knew she�d send Joe. Mike hadn�t felt the sting of Joe�s hand, or belt, in years� but he was pretty sure that if he were caught trying to get out of �Sunday�, especially by deceit, he�d feel it again. And he DID remember what it felt like. He took a deep breath and tried to decide how to go about begging off going to the house for the afternoon. All he could think about was Kate complaining to Joe, and Joe on his way over to �insist� that he be there. Joe had a pretty powerful way of insisting� He could only hope that Joe had another of his �sick head-aches�, and then he would be in no mood to insist on anything.

Faith turned and sleepily watched as Michael stood, grabbed a pair of jeans from the closet and walked toward the bathroom. He was still in the clothes he wore the day before, he looked a mess, he looked gorgeous. She heard the water begin to run in the shower and got up to head for the bathroom.

The house was quiet, except for the sound of running water as it pelted his body and he lost himself in its rhythm. He heard the rear shower door slide slowly open, he didn�t look back, he felt her enter behind him and put her arms around his wet body, curling her own against his back.

In the kitchen, showered and dressed, Mike watched as the two women seemed to signal a silent truce as they walked gingerly past each other, co-operating to prepare breakfast. Mona turned the eggs in the pan as Faith pushed the lever on the toaster to brown the bread for toast.

�I was wondering�� Mike began as he walked up behind the younger woman, putting his arms around her waist. She smelled so good, warm and fresh, like soap. He smiled casually. �If you�d like to come with me to my parent�s house for the afternoon.� He had long since given up the idea of trying to get out of going. The possibilities were too painful. Better to put up with an afternoon there, than an afternoon in the hospital.

Faith turned and gave his chin a kiss and began to answer, but was cut off by the ringing of the phone.

Mike lifted the receiver to his ear. His heart pounded hearing his mother�s voice on the other end of the line� she sounded upset. How in the world did she know what he had been thinking? He started to open his mouth to respond, or argue, or plead his case� but he was stopped short of any conceivable thought when she continued with the purpose for the call.

Michael felt his knees began to give out, and the room start to swim around him, he knew he was only moments away from passing out; he could feel the blackness enveloping him. Breathe, breathe, he told himself as he fought the urge to let the faint take him down. He felt Faith�s hand rest gently on his shoulder and it provided comfort, but no relief from to the dizzying sickness the phone call had brought. He could hear his mother�s voice on the other end of the line, calling for him to say something, but he couldn�t force himself to move his mouth.

�Michael!� Mona snapped at him from across the kitchen. �Get hold of yourself, boy!� She started toward him. �What�s wrong with you?� She demanded to know as she reached him, grabbed his shoulders and turned him sharply to face her. The look in his eyes scared her to death. She had never seen them so vacant, glassy� oh yes, once before, nothing could be that horrible again, it didn�t seem possible.

Faith picked up the dangling receiver and lifted it to her ear. Hearing the woman�s voice on the other end, still calling for Mike. Mona shot her an angry glance not to interfere.

�Don�t you want to know what�s going on?� Faith asked in a whisper, one hand covering the mouthpiece.

Mona let out a sign of resignation and focused her attention on the man in front of her, who had now begun to sob in her arms.

�Michael, what�s wrong?� Mona wrapped her large arms around him, partly to comfort him, partly to keep him on his feet; she held him close as he cried. He seemed so small and frail, a little boy whose world was shattering around him. Her eyes implored Faith, who in turn began to speak into the telephone.

�Hello.� She tried to break in� �Excuse me.� She tried again to get the attention of the voice on the other end of the phone that was now shouting orders to an unseen person. When the woman�s voice returned, it spoke with resolve and determination.

�Where�s Mike.� The voice demanded to know.

�He�s unable to come to the phone right now.� Faith answered, it was certainly true; Mike was definitely incapacitated.

�You tell him to get down to Cedar-Sinai, right now!�

�Yes ma�am, I�ll tell him, but��

�You tell him to get there. NOW!�

�Yes ma�am. I will, but��

The phone went dead and Faith stood there for a minute and listened to the dead-air space, almost expecting it to jump to life again and have some one tell her what in Heaven�s name was going on. Mona�s eyes searched her, but all Faith could do was shrug.

�I don�t know, all she said was tell Mike to get down to the hospital NOW.� She copied the urgency of the voice on the phone.

�Michael?� Mona shook him gently. �Michael, what happened?�

Michael gulped in a breath of air and looked at the two women, helpless to be of any comfort, not knowing what was causing him such grief.

�I have to go.� He was still weak, and unsteady, but the room had stopped spinning. He grabbed the back of a chair and stood there for a minute, breathing deeply, avoiding eye contact. He couldn�t bring himself to say the words. They made it too real. How could she? Why. Were the only two thoughts that continued to run through his head as his brain screamed a continuous NOOOOO in response to the overwhelming sensations that beat at his very soul.

The car pulled to a halt out-side the emergency room entrance where camera�s flashed in every direction and police who had been called in for extra duty fought to keep the reporters at bay.

Great, their radar was working again! Why couldn�t this be one of the rare times that they overslept? Michael tried to summon the courage to walk into the hospital, past the press with their never ending questions and cameras pointed at him. If they knew, of course they knew, why else would they be there? How did they know? It made him so mad. Madder still that by the time their stories made it to press it would be twisted beyond recognition, and of course, his fault. He looked over at Faith who had insisted on driving. Insisted he was in no condition to drive a car. She had been right, but boy was she in for it now. For the past few weeks that they had been together, he had managed to shield her from the press, even when they were traveling. Now there would be no mercy. Mona sat in the backseat and leaned forward to touch him, she knew too, but perhaps her being there would throw the reports off just enough for Faith to remain obscured. Maybe, if nothing else a mystery.

When she turned off the car, Mike reached over and held her hand.

�Thank you for coming along, but�� He looked back out at the mob of reporters. �This is not going to be easy.� He squeezed her hand gently and then looked back at Mona. �If you want to go back home. I�ll understand. I�ll probably be here awhile.� He smiled at both of the women and tried to look calm and in control when the truth of the matter was, he was scared silly to get out of the car.

�Oh sure. We�re gonna drop you off here and feed you to the wolves, while we go back home and back cookies.�

�I wish we could go back home and bake cookies.� He said weakly.

�Michael, why are we here?� Faith finally drew every last bit of courage and asked the question that they both wanted an answer to, but Mike seemed unwilling, or unable to give them. Strange how it felt like an invasion of privacy to ask. Maybe he wanted them to go home and leave him alone with whatever the problem was.

�It�s Kia.� He struggled with the next sentence, to say the words brought horror to his mind. �She went to a�� he started to cry again, not the racking heartbreaking sobs of that morning, just a single tear fallen down a cheek. �She went to a clinic yesterday�� Oh GOD how could she have done that!� His mind still screamed Noooo at the horrible vision in his head.

�A clinic?� Faith wasn�t sure what he meant. �So?� She looked back at Mona and shrugged her shoulders. What was so horrible about that? But Mona�s face had drained of all color and her eyes were wide with disbelieving pain. �What?� Faith remained clueless, and felt like she was the only one who had been left out of the loop.

�The baby�s gone!� Mike said anger creeping in over the agony. �Oh God� How could she?� Now the tears came back flowing freely. He sat there in the car, surrounded by reporters, cameras flashing, he didn�t even notice as some made it past the police line to point a camera through the glass, only to be pushed away again by an officer.

Mona reached over the seat and touched his shoulder, it wasn�t possible to console him, but she needed to try.

�Why is she here?� If the baby�s gone, why is she here?�

�A friend of her�s found her this morning at home, bleeding� that�s all I know.� Well the other thing he knew was that he didn�t really want to meet that �friend�. He had seen pictures of Kia�s boyfriend, if he was there� well, maybe he had left by now, one could only hope.

Opening the door and stepping out onto the curb, Mike felt the rush of people closing in around him, he reached out to find Faith or Mona, but they had been closed off from him by a wall of reporters. As cameras flashed and questions were shouted at him, he fought his way toward the building. He heard the sounds of the police yelling trying to break up the mob scene. Finally, a blue clad figure appeared in front of him and pulled him toward the doors.

Once inside, Mike looked frantically back through the glass doors of the emergency room for signs of Mona or Faith. He couldn�t see anything but a sea of people most with their cameras raised. He spoke to the officer who had pulled him in and pleaded with him to find his friends, but the officer just shook his head, unless they were in danger, that was not his job.

Michael turned helplessly and walked down the empty hallway, following the signs for information. He didn�t have to look at the signs too closely, this was not uncharted territory. With nine kids, his mom had dragged them all to the emergency room often enough. Hell, he hadn�t been much of a stranger here as an adult either.

At the emergency room desk, he was pointed in the direction of a long hallway, lined on each side with individual care rooms. He walked cautiously to the room number the receptionist had given him when he saw the looming shape of the figure he had wished would have gone by now.

Kia�s boyfriend flushed with anger when he saw the thin figure approaching and in an instant, shot toward him. Mike felt the large hand close around his throat as he was pushed up against the wall. His head banging hard as he made contact, but the pain in his head was overshadowed by the fear that gripped his body, feeling the hand that covered his throat. He felt the heal of the giant palm pressed tightly against his Adam�s apple.

�It�s your fault!� The gigantic man shouted at him. Mad anger in his eyes and spit flying from his mouth.

�My fault! I didn�t tell her to do this!� Mike wondered about the intelligence of arguing with a man at least a half a foot taller that himself, who out-weighed him by probably 100 pounds, and who obviously lifted weights. He didn�t have to question the sanity of his question long, as he felt the pain in his throat as the big hand squeezed harder. Bracing his neck muscles against the pressure, trying to breathe, he felt himself loosing the battle.

�You did this to her!� Again the giant beast shouted at him.

�I didn�t force her�� Mike pleaded his case in a hoarse whisper.

�That�s the only� reason� you�re� not� dead!�

Michael�s head hit the wall as if to accentuate every word.

�I can�t breathe� please�� The last word was little more than a rasping sound. He felt light-headed, his breath cut off, his brain was begging for air and his lungs burned from the lack of oxygen. Then, he felt himself hit the floor just before his world went black.