STORY: Adjustments, part 4 of ? (It's a long one LOL) FANDOM: Remember WENN AUTHOR: Michele Savage (1998) RATING: NC-17, M/F, hurt/comfort SUMMARY: After Hilary is brutally attacked and left for dead, she and Jeff have some healing to do. SETTING: 1942, Pittsburgh FEEDBACK: Would be muchly appreciated. :-) ARCHIVE: Hetsketeers. (anywhere else, let me know before archiving please.), Sockii, this can be archived at Rest Is Silence too. :-) DISCLAIMER: Remember WENN and its characters are copyright Rupert Holmes, Howard Meltzer and AMC. No infringement is intended. The story is mine as are any original characters. One week later, Hilary sat in a chair next to the window of her room. She'd only been able to get out of bed in the last two days and it still took all the strength she had. Her right upper arm was still bandaged tightly to her side, the lower half in a sling to keep it immobile. Her doctor had told her that the second stab wound cut through some muscles in her shoulder and she might not be able to completely lift her right arm. He'd said they tried to repair as much of the damaged muscle as they could, but there was still no guarantee. She still couldn't turn her head completely to the right, but the pain had lessened considerably and she was able to move her head farther. The cuts and bruises on the rest of her body were beginning to heal and fade. Jeff sat behind her brushing out her hair and humming softly a song that they used to sing together in Razzle Dazzle. She smiled and began to hum along with him. "Sometimes I miss touring." She interrupted quietly. "You do?" he asked surprised, "I seem to remember you did nothing but complain." "Oh, I did more than complain, Jeffrey Singer." She retorted. "Yes you did," he breathed softly against her neck. She stiffened and pulled away slightly. She realized her action and apologized. "It's okay." He assured her and continued combing her hair. "Knock, knock." "Hi Scott." Jeff said as the man walked into the room. Scott walked to where they sat, "I just thought I'd come see how Hildy was feeling." "Hilary!" She snapped. "And I see she's feeling just fine." Scott retorted without missing a beat. "Oh. I also brought you these," he gave her a bouquet of flowers, "If Jeff doesn't mind you getting gifts from your ex-husband." "As long as I'm not the ex-husband again, I don't mind." Jeff said with a grin and put the flowers on the table in the corner with the rest of the floral arrangements. Scott pulled up a chair, "So, seriously, how are you feeling Hilary?" "Better." She answered, "Still not sure when I'll get out of here. Soon, I hope. If the nurses don't kill me the food will." "I heard that, young lady!" Mary said from the inside of the door. "If MOST of the nurses don't kill me." Hilary amended. "On the other hand, if you keep calling me 'young lady' I might learn to like it here." Mary smiled and rolled the cart she'd pushed in with her to the end of Hilary's hospital bed, "Okay boys, shoo. I've got to change Hilary's bandages and the doctor wants to see how things are going." Jeff set the brush onto the table, "Do you want me to help you into bed, darling?" he asked as he stood. "No Pumpkin, why don't you and Scotty go get some breakfast. Mary and I'll be fine." She assured. Mary looked at Jeff as she walked to help Hilary to her feet. "It'll probably be about an hour. Take your time." "I'll be back, Mittens." Jeff said as he leaned to kiss her. "I'll be here," she retorted back as the men walked out of the room. As Mary walked slowly with her to the bed, Hilary thought about the other news the doctor had given her the previous day. She hadn't said anything to Jeffrey yet as she still was worried. She sat on the bed and winced slightly as the cut on her chest pulled a bit. The nurse covered her and then pulled the cart with the bandages around. "Mary, are you sure everything is fine?" she asked as the woman removed Hilary's robe and lowered the right side of her hospital gown. "Of course. I checked your chart this morning and there were some new test results. Likely that's what Dr. Jamison wants to speak with you about." The woman answered as she began to unwind the bandage binding her shoulder wound. "You haven't told Jeffrey, have you?" Mary asked, realizing he hadn't said anything. "No." She admitted quietly. She'd been very surprised when her doctor had informed her that she was nearly four weeks pregnant. He said he didn't tell her until they were more confident that she wouldn't miscarry. She'd asked why he waited nearly a week to inform her and he told her he'd remembered how badly she'd taken the news of her first miscarriage. He hadn't wanted to tell her, only to have her lose this baby as well. He'd been quite surprised that she hadn't lost the baby, but assured her the longer her body heals without treating the fetus as a symptom, the more likely it is she'll carry to term. "You know it's funny," Hilary started, "When we settled in Pittsburgh I actually stopped using birth control. Back then, I think my reasoning was that if I had a baby, Jeff wouldn't leave me for the next ingenue to come along. I was beginning to think I couldn't get pregnant. Ow," she said as Mary pulled the bottom layer of bandage away from her shoulder wounds. "How does it look?" "Worse than it is, actually. Still seeping a bit, but you'll get that for a while." Mary explained. She slowly tried lifting Hilary's arm. "Let me know when that hurts." "Oh, now." Hilary responded almost immediately. "All right. It will hurt a bit because you haven't been able to move the arm at all. Probably next week we will start doing some exercises to loosen the wounds a bit and get them used to movement." Mary explained. "Once those are fairly healed then we can start the more intense exercises to work the muscle back into lifting your arm." "Mary." Hilary settled back into her previous conversation, "Why is it that after nearly four years of trying to get pregnant, I actually do during the two worst times of my life?" "God's idea of a practical joke." Mary replied with a smile. Hilary smiled wanly, "Well, I'm not laughing." "Actually, I think it is because you were trying to have a baby for all the wrong reasons. Once the reason became more right, you were able to conceive." "That makes sense." Doctor Jamison walked into the room interrupting the ladies as they spoke. "Good Morning, Hilary. How are we feeling today?" "A little better." She answered. He lay the chart he was carrying down on the table and sat on the edge of the bed. "Now, I am going to just check your shoulder here," he said as she felt his hands on her skin. She closed her eyes to a memory the feel of his hands invoked. She felt Mary take her other hand, "I'm right here, dear." "You all right?" the man asked, having noticed her stiffen slightly. "Yes, I'm sorry." "That's okay." He answered, "Now you are going to feel me pressing a bit on the skin surrounding the wounds, I'm just making sure there is no spreading infection. If you feel me touch your breast, that's all I am doing." She nodded slightly. "Okay." He finished his examination with a look at the cut on her chest. "That seems to be healing just fine. I'll probably take the stitches in the lower half of that out in a week or so." He explained. When he was done, he moved to the opposite side of the bed, so Mary could re-dress the wounds. "Everything looks good. The injuries on your shoulder seem to be healing themselves well." Dr. Jamison summarized, "I don't anticipate any problems and there doesn't seem to be any infection. Until we can get those healed further we won't know about the muscles. I'm still going to have your arm bound to your side here at the top," he pointed, "that will keep the cuts healing properly. Likely in the next week, we can just keep the arm in a sling." "What about the baby?" she asked. He smiled, "That is a stubborn kid." Mary laughed, "definitely a Singer," she remarked. Hilary chuckled, "We are a stubborn lot aren't we?" "I just got some tests back this morning and everything is fine. The natural antibodies have actually adjusted for the baby and seem to be protecting the fetus." He explained. "Had you not been as far along as you were, it may have been considered an infection and your body would have aborted it." "So--" Hilary asked, to reiterate for herself. "So you are two months pregnant, actually farther along than I initially thought, and everything is proceeding normally." "That's wonderful news." Hilary said, smiling. "I think so." The man said as he stood, "Now I have other patients to see. I'll drop by tomorrow to see how you are doing." "Thank you." She said as he left the room. "So, tell Jeff." Mary said having shut the door behind the leaving doctor and returning to Hilary's side. "I will. I just didn't want to get his hopes up and have them dashed." Hilary explained, "He doesn't need anything else to worry about." "Hilary, he will worry anyway." The woman said as she bent to retrieve something from the cart. "You know that husband of yours." "Yes, there are times I want to strangle him because of that tendency of his to worry half of the time over nothing." Mary laughed at her comment then lay a box next to her. "Here, I brought you something. I thought you might be wanting to get out of that dreadful hospital gown." She helped as Hilary lifted the lid and pulled the gown with matching bed coat out of the box. "Oh, Mary, it's lovely. Thank you." "Here, let me help you put it on." Mary said as she helped Hilary stand. In the cafeteria, Scott and Jeff talked as they ate their breakfast. "I'm sure everyone is beginning to realize the flu excuse is a cover." Jeff commented. "Actually yes." Scott answered. He hesitated a bit. "I take it you don't know." "Know what?" "It was in the paper Wednesday. I didn't think you'd told the press and I certainly know neither Maple or I did." "Damn." Jeff said harshly as he set his coffee cup down angrily. "Was everything in the paper?" "Well it didn't come out and say it in so many words, but yes it was obvious what reporter meant." "I'm surprised no one has bothered us here." "That's because I've stopped it at the station. Gertie has been instructed what to tell anyone that calls and no one is to be told exactly what room she's in here." Scott explained. "Thank you Scott." "Well, I knew neither of you needed to deal with the public on top of everything else. Bullshitting the public is what I do best." Scott said with a grin, "Figured I could really load it on in this case." Jeff laughed, "We appreciate it." "Do you think Hilary would mind visitors. Betty and the others have asked and I said I'd make sure it was okay with you." "Well, give her a couple more days to get more active. If I know Hilary, she won't want anyone to see her until she can make herself presentable." "Understood completely." Scott said with a grin, and looked at his watch, "Well, Mickey says its time for me to get back to the station." Both men stood, "Give Hil a hug for me and tell her it's way too quiet at the station without her." Jeff laughed, "I think I'll let you tell her that. I'd rather your goose be cooked than mine." He followed Scott to the door and thanked him, then went upstairs. To be continued.... Biz Bizarra@infinet.com