Val

There was blood all over Skinny's tank top and as I looked right into her frightened eyes, I could see moisture glistening there. Suddenly her face tightened with pain again and she pressed her hand against the floor board, closing her eyes against it, taking deep agonizing breaths. Her free hand felt small and slender in mine and I stroked it with my thumb.

"You're going to be fine, Skinny."

Tears were forming in her eyes and she squeezed my hand back. "Just lie still, Val. Jarod is calling for an ambulance as we speak."

Only now the haze lifted from my eyes and I realized that my voice was slurring and that the blood on her hands and body wasn't hers, but mine. I remembered her brother raising the gun and I remembered the manic gleam in his eyes all too clearly as he had noticed that in her helpless grasping of the gun, his sister had pulled its barrel to point right at her chest. In a split second I had seen the realization in his eyes that his revenge was a mere pulling of the trigger away. I would have bolted for anyone, but I wouldn't have pulled the gun away from her and deliberately into my direction for anyone else than who I only now realized was the dearest friend I'd ever had. We had been lucky that he had hesitated for a moment, so that the bullet had hit me instead of my pregnant best friend. The shock had taken most of the pain away and now that I was recovering and able to think clearly again, it hit me full force.

"Oh, bugger…" I managed between clenched teeth and looked down on myself only to find that Parker was pressing a large piece of fabric against my ribcage. It looked suspiciously like Jarod's shirt which, for some obscure reason, I found hilarious. Chuckling made the pain explode.

"I didn't think I would ever have to tell a gunshot victim to not laugh," Parker said breathlessly, close to hysterical laughter herself.

"Where's Baxter?" I murmured. "Why do you have to kneel over me and make sure I don't bleed to death?" I had never been seriously injured or ill and it scared me half to death that I could not raise my voice above a hoarse whisper. Skinny – not so skinny anymore – could hear me anyway as she was basically on top of me.

"He's busy restraining Lyle and Dr Summers. I can't wait for Lyle to be on trial for everything he's done. Thinking about it, it might be even better than his being dead."

I felt suddenly dizzy as I saw just how much blood Skinny was covered in. It being on her clothes must mean that I had lost that much blood and I could barely keep my eyes open now that I thought about it.

"I swear to god you cannot die on me!" she snapped at me.

Then everything went black.

Miss Parker

The blood kept gushing out of the nasty bullet wound Lyle had inflicted on my best friend and now even my knees felt soaked. We both were in such desperate need of a hospital that I found myself shivering with fear, anxiously listening for the sirens of the ambulance that was hopefully soon to come.

I looked down at Val whose eyes had rolled back into her head and gradually closed. She looked as white as a sheet. Although my arm and back hurt and I could already feel another contraction building up, I wouldn't have left my position for anything in the world. Even if the baby decided to make its appearance right now, I thought stupidly.

"I've called for an ambulance. They'll be here in a moment. Let me take over." Jarod gently placed his hand on my arm but I shook my head, close to hysteria now.

"I won't let my friend die!"

"I'm a doctor, remember?" he told me patiently then removed my already stiff arm from Val's upper body and bend over her to examine the wound. "It looks reasonably clean," he stated thoughtfully.

"Clean?" I spat. "I look like fucking Carrie!"

"Carrie? The girl from Sex and the City?" he gave me a puzzled look and I rolled my eyes. "I thought the one who had a thing for artificial blood was Lady Gaga."

"Stephen King! You can't honestly try to tell me you haven't discovered Stephen King in all those years!" I noticed that my voice had cracked towards the end of the sentence and was glad that Jarod let the whole thing slip without trying to determine my mental state any further.

"She's unconscious," he said unnecessarily and adjusted his shirt to press it back onto the wound. "You should sit down."

He was right. It was a relief to finally get off my knees and lean against the wall for support.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" I mumbled.

"This might not be the right time to discuss this," Jarod smirked anyway.

"It is always the right time," I explained, my voice fading with exhaustion. "Charly's going to look just like you. I've seen him."Although what I was saying had to sound utterly incomprehensible to him, Jarod smiled.

That was when I burst into tears, but the sounds of the ambulance's arrival tuned out my sobs.

Jarod

"Parker?"

"Hmmmm…" Her eyes slowly flickered open and she smiled at me. "I feel like I was hit by a bus." Then her expression changed from mild humor to distress. "How's the baby? How's Val?" She made an attempt to sit up but I gently eased her back into her pillows then swallowed, well aware of the fact that I was about to lie to my wife:

"The baby's fine for now. The ultrasound determined that the little guy is fairly well developed and they managed to slow the contractions down." Her gaze wandered to the several monitors she was hooked up to and we both watched the baby's vital signs on the screen for a moment. The little heart was beating fast.

"Thank god," she murmured. "How about Val?"

"She is in the ICU. I was right, though, the bullet went clean through. She has lost a lot of blood, but she will be fine. She will just have to take it easy for a while. Also," I said and got up although she was still holding on to my hand. "There is someone who would like to see you."

I opened the door and gestured for my daughter to enter the hospital room. She followed my invitation reluctantly at first but when she saw her mother, her face lit up.

"Mommy!" She ran towards the bed and climbed on top of it.

"Careful, baby." I told her sternly, but she seemed well past caring.

Parker, though still lying down, stretched out her arms and pulled Sammy into her embrace as far as the IV-line in her arm would allow. For a moment she held on to her as if she was a lifeline and I could tell from the deep breath she was taking, that she was fighting tears. Since her eyes were closed, I allowed my face to relax for a moment, well aware that it would convey the emotions I was struggling to hide from her. When she opened her eyes again, I had plastered on a smile that I really hoped was convincing.

"Mommy, you've become so big," Sammy said in awe and Parker snorted, but her soft voice betrayed her attitude: "Go rub it in." She buried her nose in our daughter's hair and inhaled the familiar scent then gave me a tearful smile over her shoulder.

"I could hear you, Mommy," Sammy said solemnly. "I heard you in my head when you comforted Donald and when you told Lyle that you needed to go to the hospital!"

"I know, baby. I could hear my Mommy, too, when I was your age." Parker placed a soft kiss on her daughter's cheek and smiled but I could see that she was tiring quickly which came as no surprise since she was on heavy medication. I hated to leave her alone in the room but knew that she needed her rest. Especially since labor had progressed so far that she would have to give birth soon. She managed not to let Sammy notice while she was still holding her, but I could see on the monitor that another contraction was building up. Shifting uncomfortably in her bed, she kissed Sammy's head.

"Little one, will you do something for me and walk over to the ICU with daddy and check on Val?" Her voice was tight, her free hand clenched into a fist. Sammy nodded dutifully.

"Shall we buy flowers for her?"

"You should do that." Parker hugged her goodbye and leaned back into her pillows, panting slightly, as I ushered Sammy towards the door.

"I'll be back," I mouthed and she reacted with an exhausted but thankful nod.

Miss Parker

As the door closed behind Jarod and Sam, I allowed myself a low moan. Although labor had been slowed down a bit, there was no doubt that the little boy I had begun to refer to as Charly would be born today. I breathed through the contraction until it subsided then took a sip of the water Jarod had left for me. As long as he would be okay, I would be, too. There was a soft knock at the door and I weakly called for them to come in.

"Here comes your labor coach!" Christine's head popped round the door frame and she walked in, smiling excitedly.

"I don't need a labor coach." I replied stubbornly.

Christine refilled my glass with water, gave it to me and pulled up a chair. She looked as if she was here to stay. "I was really worried, pal." Her voice was way softer than usual and I felt a bit touched. "I'm glad you're back."

"You should be worried now." I made an attempt to return to our usual banter. "My back is killing me."

Christine patted my hand and watched as I drank. Only when she had replaced the glass on the bedside table, she spoke again.

"I have a confession to make, pal."

"This might not be the right time," I said. "If you are psychotic or have killed anyone please tell me when I have my little boy in my arms because then I might not kill you."

I softened as soon as I realized that Christine did look guilty. "What is it, woman?" I snarled good-naturedly. "I am too big to kill anyone anyway."

"I haven't been completely honest with you, Michelle."

I swallowed as she called me by my first time. This couldn't be good.

"I feel like I have been betraying you lately and I don't know whether you can forgive me…"

I felt my heart tighten and waited anxiously for what horrible revelation she was about to make when suddenly I felt wetness covering my legs. I gave a soft yelp, snapping Christine out of her ramblings.

"Christine! My water just broke." And the contractions were closer together than I had imagined.

"Oh my god! I'll get the doctor, hold on, pal!" Christine had fled the room before I could ask her to resume the sentence she had started earlier.

Jarod

In the light of the recent events and the last time Parker had given birth, Dr Burton had convinced me to keep the truth from her until it was absolutely necessary to tell her. The growth hormone had accelerated the baby's growth a lot but hadn't been injected often enough to equal its development during the ninth month. Instead, the baby was still premature and would have to be placed in an incubator. It was still too small to live independently and there was a good chance that its lungs wouldn't be developed well enough. Having gone on untreated for several hours there was no way to fully stop Parker's labor and she would have to give birth now. Since we didn't want her to get to upset, we pretended that everything was normal but I had a hard time hiding how scared I was for the baby.

This time, Miss Parker had not demanded I left the room, but was holding on tightly to my hand instead while my other arm was slung around her shoulder to steady her. She wasn't one to complain much about the pain, so except for several pained moans she was eerily silent during the whole process. Her face, however, gave away the severeness of the pain she must be in. The intervals between contractions were short enough and Dr Burton had already announced that it wouldn't be long now when she turned her head towards me.

"You… are a liar Jarod." Her voice was low and not much above a whisper, but it sent chills down my spine. "It's far too early for him." Her face looked as if she was going to cry for a second, but then the next contraction began and she seemed to focus inward.

"You are almost there, Miss Parker. You're doing very well!" Dr Burton told her encouragingly and she squeezed my hand hard while she pushed. There was no need to tell her that she could do this and she had at no point said something to the extent that she wanted to give up. Actually, she took on labor very well.

"I'm so sorry." I told her as she was recovering from the contraction. "We didn't want to tell you so you wouldn't be upset."

She lifted her face up to mine and gave me a pleading stare. "I need the truth, Jarod. I can handle…" She grimaced with pain. "I can handle it. Is he going to live?"

"He has got be placed in an incubator. We're not sure about how well his lungs are developed."

My reply was anything but precise and even Miss Parker who looked a bit dazed by all the pain and medication realized that I was being evasive.

"So you have no idea." She blinked away her tears and focused on the doctor.

"Okay, Miss Parker. One last push."

She pushed and bit her lip after which a small amount of blood trickled down towards her chin. And then there was silence. Miss Parker's eyes were firmly closed and her hand gripped mine so hard that it went almost numb with pain. There was still no sound from the baby that Dr Burton now wrapped in a blanket. He looked worried, just like the pediatrician who took the little boy from him and carried him outside.

Dr Burton walked around to the other side of the bed and placed his hand on Miss Parker's shoulder which prompted her to open her eyes.

"Your son is alive, Miss Parker but he is very weak. My colleague, Dr Flannigan, is taking care of him right now. She is a specialist in her field and one of the best in this country. What we need you to do now is stay calm, okay?"

Miss Parker nodded and didn't resist when I pulled her into my arms and held her.

"What if Linda was right?" she whispered. "What if we were destined to lose him all this time?"

Sydney

Although usually hospitals never sleep, the hallways were not bristling with activity now. The lights were dimmed for the night as our solemn group solely occupied the waiting area. Jarod stood silently, as he had just revealed the truth to us. Christine was hiding her head in her hands, Sammy was asleep on the seat next to Charles Baxter who, for some reason, had stayed behind. The silence was almost deafening as we all looked at Jarod for words of explanation that he didn't seem to be able to speak.

He slowly dropped to the chair next to me and like the father I had never been, I pulled him into a tight embrace. We all remained motionless until the sky outside began to take on a lighter shade of blue and, eventually, a pale pink.

TBC