Disclaimer:
These characters aren't mine. Well, some of them are. But the important ones
are all property of MTM and NBC Productions and used without permission. I'm
not making any money out of this . . . . Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.
"You're sure she's fine, Doctor?" Jarod asks one last time. A tall woman with short blond hair and a
long white coat stands across Miss Parker's bed at the hospital and gives him a
reassuring look.
"She's fine," the doctor promises. "The baby has a strong and steady heart
beat. You heard it yourself. They're both fine. The cramping was probably the cause of several factors. A very common one is what's called round
ligament pain."
"What's that?" Miss Parker asks curiously.
"Kind of like growing pains," Jarod
explains. "As your uterus expands,
so do your muscles. And you might feel
a stretching or dull cramping in your sides."
"Very good, Jarod," the doctor
praises. "I see you know your
stuff. Are you a doctor?"
"Not today," he smiles. "I've been through this before with my
late wife. But the pains seemed to be
kind of intense. That doesn't sound
like the round ligaments to me."
"She's fine, but not entirely out of the
woods," the doctor admits.
"Her blood pressure was a little high and she was a bit
dehydrated. And from the labs we ran,
she appears to be lacking an adequate supply of potassium in her diet. Those factors could have also contributed to
the cramping. Right now, I'm mostly
concerned with her blood pressure. I
want her to stay here for observation for a couple of hours to see if it goes
down on it's own. Otherwise, we'll have
to medicate her and she'll have to stay the night." A little beep sounds and the doctor looks
down at her pager. "I'm sorry I
have to go. If you need anything, just
have the nurse's page me." She
smiles one last time at the couple before walking out the door.
"That's a relief," Miss Parker sighs. She places her hand on her stomach and
gently rubs it. "I was really
afraid something was wrong."
"Me too," Jarod admits. "I can't let that happen. I'm NOT going to let that happen." He places his hand on top of hers and they
both hold on to her stomach. The door
slowly begins to open and Sydney sticks his head in.
"I'm not interrupting, am I?" he asks kind
of shyly, suddenly feeling like he's intruding on the private, family moment.
"Come in, Sydney," she smiles.
"In a minute," he smiles back. "Jarod, can I speak to you out
here?"
"Sure," he tells the man before turning
back to his wife and stealing a quick kiss.
"I'll be right back," he whispers.
"I just heard from Broots," Sydney starts
once they get outside the room. "A
little birdie told him that Mr. Parker knows his daughter is here. By now, I'm sure a sweeper team is on the
way. You should probably . . . "
"I can't leave her, Syd," Jarod insists.
"I'll stay with her," Sydney offers. "You get out of here."
Jarod thinks long and hard about leaving when he
sees a flash of something from the corner of his eye. A man in a dark suit and sunglasses getting off the elevator and
turning down the other hall. He's
followed by a group of others, and they try to inconspicuously search the
floor. He ducks quickly behind the
nurse's station before any of the men can see him.
"I think I'll take you up on that offer,
Sydney. Tell her I'll be back for
her," he whispers before quickly moving towards the stairs. He opens the door and runs down the eight
flight of stairs to the parking level without running into any more
sweepers. He gets into the car and
drive home, constantly searching his rear view mirror for signs he's been
followed. It's not until he gets home
that he lets out a deep sigh of relief.
Sydney peeks inside the hospital room at the
blissful Miss Parker. He smiles at the
sight, not knowing when was the last time he's seen her that happy. And he knew Jarod was the cause of
that. He always suspected that only they
could make each other happy. Even when
they were children he could see it.
Jarod's face would light up everytime she would enter the room. And she seemed to leave behind that shell of
a sad little girl when she came to visit him.
It was like they both found a home in each other.
He knocks lightly before entering the room, trying
to keep an easy smile on his face as hers fell slightly when she noticed Jarod
wasn't there anymore.
"Where is he?" she asks, her eyes
searching almost frantically for her husband.
Seeing that he's not with Sydney, she realizes that something
happened. "They're here, aren't
they? The Centre."
"Yes," Sydney replies simply. "Broots alerted me that your father
sent a sweeper team here. I managed to
convince Jarod to leave before they saw him.
It was a close call, though. He
refused to go anywhere until the sweepers showed up. They just barely missed seeing him."
"So he's home safely? Did he make it out of here alright?" She starts to become a
little agitated.
"Calm down, Parker," Sydney advises. "This isn't good for you or the
baby. Jarod's managed to escape us for
years. I'm sure he's fine."
"He has to be, Syd," she whispers, wiping
a stray tear that managed to escape.
Her emotions were all over the place these days anyway. She really didn't need a near disaster like
this setting her off.
"Well, well, well. Fancy meeting you here," a voice calls from across the
room. They look up in time to see Lyle
walking into the door. Sydney moves
around to the other side of the bed to stand in front of the fetal monitor so
Lyle won't see it.
"What are you doing here, Lyle?" Sydney
asks, although he knows the answer.
Very little stayed a secret at the Centre. And if Mr. Parker knew about his daughter's whereabouts, then it
was only a matter of time before Lyle knew as well.
"Sydney, can you excuse us? I'd like to have a few words with my
sister."
"I'll be right outside," he says, getting
an approving nod from Miss Parker and letting him know it was alright with her
for him to go. He walks out the door,
glancing behind him one last time, giving Lyle a warning glare, before finally
closing the door to give them some privacy.
"Imagine my surprise. Waking up and finding I'm guarding an empty hotel room. And that I no longer have a ride home,"
Lyle says.
"I'm really sorry, Lyle," she
apologizes. "I couldn't stay there
another minute. I really just wanted to get home."
"Without me?" he asks, confused at her
actions. "I thought we were . . .
you know . . . we kind of connected, I thought."
"I'm sorry," she says again, her eyes
beginning to water.
"Oh, don't cry," he says, suddenly feeling
guilty over the big scene he was making.
"You're not used to me being there for you. But I want that to change. I want you to know that you can count on
me. I mean that. Starting right now." He pulls a chair close to her bed and sits
down next to her. I'm not leaving until
the doctor says you're okay. Then, I'll
take you home. Because you need
rest."
"That's sweet, Lyle. But not necessary," she tells him, knowing that Jarod will
be home waiting for her. "Sydney's
here."
"No. You're my sister. And I've never been supportive of you. Let me take this chance to prove I can do
this for you."
She looks at him and sees a sincerity in his eyes
that's never been there before. And she
couldn't say no to him. He was really
making an effort and she didn't want to ruin that.
"Okay," she relents. "If it'll make you feel better, you can
stay. Actually, I think I would enjoy
that." She smiles at him and her
heart flutters when he smiles a genuine smile back at her. There really was a heart lurking under all
the hate. And she was finally getting a
glimpse at it.
Previous Chapter HOME Next Chapter