First Comes
Chapter Seven
By Karisma
Karisma456@hotmail.com
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Alt
Standard Disclaimers Apply
August 2001

When Serena stirred the following morning, her mood was slightly 
dampened when she found a note next to her instead of Darien. But the sweet 
words he had written were enough to make her blush at his suggestive remark 
about continuing their recent 'activities' as well as smile.
After she showered, she slipped into a black sweater and tailored 
slacks, formulating a surprise lunch for her husband. Grinning ridiculously 
at the mundane way she was carrying on, Serena collected an assortment of 
fruits, cheeses, and crackers, opting to pack cider rather than wine. He 
was, after all, on call. And no one wanted an inebriated surgeon.
The unexpected reminder of his vocation stilled her smile for a 
heartbeat. And then it was back. Darien wasn't her father-nobody but her 
father was her father, and she couldn't blame Darien for the antipathy 
between them. In any case, Darien was different, he had showed her kindness 
and patience. Of course, to get to that kindness and patience, she had to go 
through his bullheaded stubbornness first.
Yes, he had bulldozed his way through her life. Yes, he had tipped her 
neat world upside down. Yes, he was incredibly crazy and seemed selfish at 
times.
And yes, she loved him.
Serena shook her head, smiling fondly at the thought of all the things 
he had done just to give them a chance. He had given up a rather important 
fellowship and that was a sacrifice he had brought upon himself, but the way 
he had handled it, with complete grace and indifference. Point blank, he had 
cared more about her than the job opportunity. And she hadn't even told him 
she loved him back.
Seeking out to rectify this wrong, Serena grabbed her car keys and 
lifted the quaint picnic basket. She was at the hospital in no time, jogging 
to the elevator, her feet tapping impatiently as she was carried up past the 
multitudes of floors.
She smiled at the nurses behind the admit desk, her effervescent mood 
bubbling over at anyone who crossed her path. Serena lifted her fist to 
knock on the closed door, but stopped when she heard an undeniably familiar 
voice. Shaking her head as if to clear it and the erroneous signals it was 
sending her. She heard the deep tone again and it was irrefutable.
****
"I have to tell you, she really does seem to have a certain...antipathy 
for you."
The older man smiled wryly, his ageless eyes crinkling with the 
movement. "You mean she hates me. It's quite all right; I can take it. And 
it is not as if it is undeserved, she is justified."
Darien nodded, his heart going out to the man. He had heard Serena's 
side of the story quite some time after hearing this man's. Subsequent to 
the man's surprise visit to Darien's place of work, Darien had reluctantly 
listened to all the man had to say concerning the one thing they had in 
common. While the older man's admissions were nothing to be proud of, he 
seemed genuinely contrite and eager to make amends. Darien could understand 
that. So he agreed to help him.
While Serena's view on the situation was understandable, she had no way 
of knowing this man's remorse. She had no way of knowing how truly sorry he 
was for his past transgressions. As her husband, Darien saw it as his duty 
to act as a mediator and work things out.
"Darien, when do you want to start this fellowship?" The other man 
asked as he made his way to the door. "You've definitely earned it; I was 
shocked to hear Stanhope let you go."
Darien, too, stood up and followed the man, opening the door for them to 
exit. "Yes, well, it was somewhat of a..." He never completed his thought.
Serena stood in front of them, and it was glaringly apparent she had 
heard the conversation in its entirety. She glared at the older man first, 
before fixing her husband with a long, cool stare.
"Serena." She whipped her gaze back to the distinguished gentleman in a 
charcoal gray suit.
"Hello, Dr. Johnson," she said, her tone reserved and her posture 
austere.
Darien was the palest Serena has seen him, it gave her a sense of sick 
pleasure that he was uncomfortable for the first time since she had known 
him. Mighty Darien had been thrown for a loop. Of course, she had as well, 
but she covered her shock with a caustic smile and angry eyes.
"Serena, I-" he reached out for her and she calmly evaded him, stepping 
back in a casual manner that belied her voice.
"Save it," she snapped, fixing both of the men with a frosty glare. "You 
know, I am glad you two have become such good friends. I'm not that 
surprised either; you both having so much in common. After all, you're both 
lying, vindictive, conceited bastards. I only wish you didn't have me in 
common as well. Because, I for one, rue the day I met you." Tossing the 
basket in Darien's general direction, she whipped around and calmly walked 
out, impervious to the gaping nurses and orderlies.
She was way out of sight before the two doctors turned to each other. 
Darien wordlessly gave the basket to the older man and heeded his unspoken 
advice.
Go.
****
Serena thankfully found she was too numb to cry on the way back to 
Darien's house. She was crazy for returning there, but there was no way she 
could carry out her plan to just leave if her passport, credit cards, and 
other such items were not on her person. Slamming the car shut with growing 
anger and mounting desolation, she jogged to the front door, determined to 
be in and out before Darien even got to his car back at the hospital.
She ran into her room, scrupulously avoiding looking at the rumpled bed, 
and scrambled around, collecting various items with shaking hands and a 
racing pulse. She was checking around the dresser to see if she had missed 
anything when she felt him.
He was standing across the room, but his presence had touched her like 
always. He was leaning against the doorway, his ankles crossed. The 
nonchalant stance was a complete antithesis of his face, which was drawn 
into a stoic, harsh mask.
"We need to talk."
She ignored him, scooping up a necklace and letting the cool metal slide 
from her fingers into the black bag she had packed.
"Serena!" It was a command, an angry one, and it ignited her own short 
fuse.
"Don't you dare yell at me, you two-faced weasel. I have every right to 
be the one hollering and carrying on. Instead I'm going to walk out of here 
with no harsh words spoken. And I'll thank you to do the same."
His eyes narrowed to slivers of blue. "You can't leave until we talk 
about this."
"What 'this'?" She pretended to be confused and then acted as if she had 
a sudden revelation. "Oh! You mean how you used to me to climb a medical 
corporate ladder? Or do you mean how you pretended to care for me when you 
really wanted a better fellowship?
"You know, now it makes sense. Of course you weren't upset when 
Stanhope withdrew his offer, you had a bigger and better one all lined up." 
She squinted up at him. "Was there even Stanhope fellowship? Or were you 
just suckering me in to get to the big kahuna?"
"Serena, he came to me."
She went on as if she hadn't heard him. Or didn't want to. "When I 
imagine how surprised you must have been when you discovered you had tied 
the knot with Dr. Johnson's little girl. Hot damn for you, huh? So was 
sleeping with me a bonus or something that you had to do to ensure your 
investments?"
Darien's hands balled up into fists as he checked his anger. "Dammit, 
Serena! You know it wasn't like that!"
"Oh, do I?" She tilted her head, pondering. "No, Darien. I'm not so sure 
I do. You see, all I know is that I was used to heighten your career. But 
the thing that gets me, is what did the good doctor get from this? Oh, 
pardon me. The *other * good doctor."
"He really is sorry, Serena. He truly regrets everything."
"You're both sorry. Sorry, pathetic individuals who will stop at no ends 
to muddle and bull doze right in, no matter how much they hurt others." Here 
she found her voice breaking, to her utter mortification. She paused long 
enough to collect herself before continuing. "I told you things that I 
hadn't even told Amy. I shared things with you, private things!" She 
sniffed. "Did you relay on that information?"
Silence.
"Did you!?"
"No!" His tone grew softer. "I thought you should be the one."
Serena glared at him for a full minute and he stared right back. 
"Why?" She finally asked.
"Why what?"
"What did you uproot everything for me? Why did you insist on staying 
married? Surely there must have been some other way to get your precious 
fellowship." Her blue eyes were quickly filling up with tears she refused to 
let spill. Her angry shout had dulled to an aching whisper. And Darien found 
her even more beautiful this way. Unfortunately, she was also more 
unapproachable.
"I made a decision that I thought was best."
"And damn the consequences, right?"
"I was willing to accept the consequences," he said tightly.
Serena laughed bitterly. "But what about others? Hmm? Your actions 
affect others, Darien. You're not the only one who has to face the 
ramifications. It affects me, Darien." She thumped her chest with a fist to 
emphasize the word. "It affects my father. It affects Greg. And it affects 
all the other people you use to get what you want."
He remained silent, his face drawn into an impassive mask that was 
ruined slightly by the slight twitching in his clenched jaw.
Serena looked at him hard, discerning every movement he made, or didn't 
make. "Do you even give a damn? Do you give a damn about *anything * but 
yourself? There *are * other people in this world." She stopped and smiled 
up at him, a frozen smirk that mocked him. "But then again, you don't need 
anybody do you?"
Darien's eyes narrowed a fraction further and he pushed himself away 
from the doorjamb. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
She raised both hand to gesture toward him, her expostulations as 
scornful as her words. "You are a country unto yourself. A--a one man 
island. You need no one; you stop for no one. You make decisions, you ruin 
people's lives. Narcissism elevated to a fine art!" She laughed again before 
growing quiet. Biting her lip and looking straight into his eyes, she spoke 
softly. "Good-bye, Darien."
Darien followed her as far as the living room where she reached for the 
front door. "Serena, wait. You can't just walk away."
When she saw the pain he allowed her to see in his eyes she almost 
faltered. But her brief moment of weakness only strengthened her resolve. 
Even if he hadn't lied and cheated her, he was still too proud for his own 
good. To what extent? She wouldn't-couldn't-spend her life with a man who 
believed himself infallible. Who deemed himself above reproach.
"You didn't need your parents, Darien. Like I said, you don't need 
anyone, remember? And you sure as hell don't need me."
The only sound left was the one of the door slammed behind her. And 
sadly, Serena realized, there was no sound of him coming after her.
****
A week later, Serena sat in front of a cup filled with liquid. 
Anxiously fidgeting, she stared at the second hand once again. Finally, the 
dinger went off and she practically spilled the cup over in her haste to 
check the stick. Her face remained impassive as she read the results, there 
was a detached expression on her face, one that belied the turmoil racing 
through her.
She was twenty-seven, soon-to-be divorced, and out of work.
She was also going to be a mother.
****
"Maybe you should drink liquids," Amy suggested, smacking her gum as 
she patting her friend's thigh sympathetically.
She snorted, "Like I don't have to pee five times a minute anyway?"
Amy tilted her head to side as Greg came over and sat next to her. 
Gnawing on her lower lip, she missed the doting glance Greg sent her. Serena 
didn't. When she had discovered the life she carried inside of her, she 
needed a best friend, regardless of any man confusion between them. Truly, 
she was happy for the both of them. In some ways, she had seen it coming. 
Her only jealousy lay in the fact that she and Darien couldn't have had that 
kind of future ahead of them.
"Do you need anything, Serena?" Greg asked, his soft eyes looking at 
her with a concern that had always been there. She then realized how much of 
a brother Greg always had been to her. Their relationship had never been 
about anything remotely passionate, it had been comfortable, a sibling sort 
of love.
"No, I'm good." She smiled and patted her protruding stomach. At eight 
months she was large, and constantly felt like an ungraceful elephant 
waddling along. Hormones had also turned her into a sobbing mess at Hallmark 
commercials and anything that was remotely associated with any form of a 
pet. Of course, she knew it wasn't simply hormones that led her to cry at 
night when Amy and Greg were sleeping. No, those tears were destined to be 
shed, baby or no baby.
She missed him. She missed him even when there was nothing to remind 
her of him. She missed when she saw married couples in the park; she missed 
him when she saw a random object. He was everywhere for her, every minute 
she lived she could relate back to a memory they had shared.
But it helped to acknowledge that she was carrying a part of him. She 
only hoped word hadn't gotten back to him, or would ever get back to him. 
She didn't want him coming back due to guilt. He might even fight for 
custody of the baby. The child was hers, Serena instinctively covered her 
swollen tummy.
"Serena?" Amy's cool touch grazed her hand and Serena blinked up into 
her concerned eyes. "Are you all right?"
Serena forced a smile that her friend saw right through. "Yeah, sure," 
she said brightly.
Amy nodded slowly, biting her lower lip thoughtfully. She wondered how 
long it would take Darien to come to his senses so that maybe he could be 
there when his child was brought into the world.
****
Darien rubbed his eyes, hoping to eradicate the exhaustion that lay 
behind them. When he opened them again to glance down at the bleary chart in 
front of him, he knew that his endeavor was to no avail. He was tired. But 
he wouldn't get any restful sleep tonight. Just like he hadn't slept 
peacefully every night since she had left. He couldn't even properly work, 
the one thing that had remained constant throughout his hectic life. Damn 
that woman!
He yanked a hand down his face, stretching his wary features. He 
couldn't even blame her; it was all his doing, his fault, his punishment.
"Dr. Mathison?" A med student pushed his way into his office, her young 
face eager, showing no signs of the weariness one was bound to feel after a 
thirty-six hour shift. "Your wife is here."
"My wife?" Darien's head snapped up, a spark of joy shooting through his 
chest.
"Yes, sir," the student checked the chart and suddenly look extremely 
uncomfortable. "She appears to be dilated to-"
"Dilated?" Darien felt deflated, his emotional high gone, leaving him 
depleted and more aggravating then before. "You have the wrong doctor."
The student furrowed her brow. "It's a Serena Price. That is your wife, 
isn't it, Doctor?"