Memories! Ch. 02

Physically, Mac seemed to be doing well. She was exercising moderately, cutting back on her overtime, and had even found four new food groups...two of which could actually be considered improvements.

Emotionally, she was a "basket case".

Concerned for her well being, Harm had taken to dropping by two or three times each week.

If she expected him, as she had tonight, her "supermom" facade was firmly in place. But other nights, when he wasn't expected, he inevitably found her sitting alone in a darkened apartment, her eyes swollen, her face pale and haggard.

"The admiral had Tiner typing up his request for terminal leave yesterday." he blurted out.

Mac inhaled sharply, her face frozen in disbelief.

"He's leaving the Navy...leaving JAG?" She was thunderstruck.

"Mac." he said gently, "He hasn't really been there for weeks. He's just been going through the motions. He comes in late, sits alone in his office for a few hours, then goes home again. He delegates everything...doesn't care about the results. Requesting terminal leave is just a formality...he's already gone."

Harm paused, uneasy with the words he was about to say. "Sarah, I don't know what went wrong between the two of you...and I don't want to know...but this can't be right. Sometimes loving means forgiving...even starting all over again...but when it's worth saving, you just don't give up...you can't.

He took a deep breath, then continued. "This baby needs a father, but more than that...you need AJ. Call him, Sarah. Don't let this thing go so far that neither of you can ever call it back. Whatever is wrong... work it out. He's worth it... you both are."

"Sarah?"

Pulling up in front of her apartment, he turned to face his friend.

She wasn't breathing. Her face had turned a bright crimson, and tears streamed in huge turbulent runnels down the pale ravages of her cheeks.

"Hey...hey...I'm sorry." he gasped, realizing the incredible wounds his words had inflicted upon her.

Wordlessly, he drew her into his arms until her sobs subsided and her breathing had returned to normal.

"If you're in this much pain, you have to do something about it." he said softly.

"Call him, Sarah...call him."

Harm walked Mac to her door, then, placing a kiss on her forehead he asked: "Are you going to be okay?"

Sarah nodded, wiping her nose on her shirtsleeve. "I never seem to have a hankie when I need one." she smiled weakly. "Some commanding officer!"

"I'm gonna go now." he said, touching her face. "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Sure," she smiled again. "Harm?"

He turned to face her. "Yeah?"

"I'll call him....thanks."

Then, just as Sarah was unlocking her door, a sharp pain knifed through her body.

"Harm!" she screamed as she dropped to her knees. "Help me!"

Afraid to move her, Harm rushed into her apartment and dialed 911. "Send an ambulance, fast!" he ordered, and after rattling off her address, he quickly returned to her side.

Her skin had gone from pale to deathly white. Blood had begun to pool beneath her, and her body shook uncontrollably.

"Sarah...can you talk to me? What's happening? Oh, God...Sarah?"

But Sarah was beyond hearing. Her eyes had closed, and she was breathing shallowly, her arms banded protectively around her abdomen.

"Harm..." she whispered, her lips pale and taut. "Call AJ."

1900 HOURS
Good Samaritan Hospital
Quantico, Virginia

"I'm going in there and see my wife!" he shouted. "You'd better stand aside, mister...or you're in for a world of grief!"

Convinced that he meant it, the young intern raised his hands and backed away.

AJ ran through the emergency room, searching from one curtain to the next. "Sarah!" he called..."Sarah?"

"AJ...I'm here."

Aj whipped open the second curtain on the left, his breath catching in his throat. She looked like a casualty of war.

Gently, he brushed the sweat-plastered hair from her forehead. "Sarah...Darlin'...it's going to be okay...it's gonna be okay."

"Somebody get a doctor in here!" he ordered. "I want to..."

Quickly, a nurse hurried into the enclosure, pushing a portable sonogram machine on a cart before her.

"Sir...you're going to have to step outside."

"Like hell I will!"

Sarah's hand reached out, covered with blood, and grasped his wrist. "AJ." she said, her voice faint and far away. "Stay with me...Don't let them hurt the baby."

AJ enclosed her small hand in his as the hospital staff began cutting away her clothing. There was blood everywhere...so much blood.

Then the doctor was beside her, running the sonogram across her distended abdomen, her face a mask of pain.

"Looks like we have a 'premature separation' here, Mrs. Chegwidden."

"What exactly is that, doctor?" AJ demanded.

"Well, it means that the placenta has partially separated from the uterine wall."

"Well...what are you going to do about it?" AJ barked.

The doctor took AJ over to the side of the enclosure. "Normally, at eight months, we'd deliver the baby by emergency c-section. As long as we get in quickly enough, we can be reasonably certain of success."

"Well. What are you waiting for then?"

"Mr. Chegwidden. Your wife has lost an enormous amount of blood. She's in no condition for surgery. We could lose her if we go in now. We may have to make a choice."

"NO!" Sarah shouted.

AJ paled.

"AJ!" Sarah screamed as another pain knifed through her trembling body. "Don't let them hurt the baby! Promise me! Promise me!"

Sarah turned her head and grasped the doctor's lab coat. "Doctor. I want you to save this baby no matter what." she rasped through clenched teeth.

"Relax, Mrs. Chegwidden...let us take care of everything. Trust me. We know what's best." he smiled condescendingly.

Mac's grip tightened. "Doctor." she said, mustering her strength. "Do you know what I do for a living?"

"No, Ma'am. I don't." he said, patting her hand.

"Well, I'm a lawyer, doctor, and if I find out that you deliberately made a decision to save me at the expense of my baby...I'll sue your ass into the NEXT millenium! Do you understand me now?"

"Mr. Chegwidden?" The doctor looked pleadingly at AJ for help.

"Sarah...do you know what your saying?" he whispered. "Darlin'...don't do this."

"AJ...help me." she pleaded. "Please...I need you to support me...back me up."

AJ could only stare, his world flying apart in all directions. Then, his voice raw, cracking with unbridled emotion, he turned to the doctor.

"You heard what the lady said... What are you waiting for?"

The doctor hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Are you sure of this? It's going to be risky...we're going to have to call all over the area for more units of her blood type...I'll need to have you sign a waiver."

"Just give me the damn thing and hurry up!" AJ growled, forcing himself into action. "How much blood do you need?"

"The way she's bleeding, I'd want to have a dozen units on hand at least, but..."

"You got a 'helo' pad in this place?"

"Yes, in the back parking lot."

"Well light it up...you've got 'incoming!"

Then, whipping out his cel phone he barked, "Get me Bethesda Naval Hospital!"

AJ shot off a few quick orders, then walked back to where Sarah lay, the nurses prepping her for surgery.

"Thank you, my love," she whispered as they wheeled her through the curtain and on toward the double doors at the end of the hall. "I love you, AJ."

AJ stood still, a pillar of stone in a whirling stream of humanity. Then, mustering the last of his reserves, he turned and strode out into the waiting room.

2300 HOURS
Good Samaritan Hospital
Quantico, Virginia

Matthew Mackenzie Chegwidden was born at 9:45 pm EST. Weighing in at 5 lbs-3 ounces, everyone had told AJ that his dark-eyed angel was the best looking baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, his temporary home while his doctor made sure there were no lasting effects of his traumatic birth.

AJ himself had only seen "Little Mac" as he was being wheeled out of surgery in his "isolette". Instead, he'd relied on Harm and Bud for frequent reports as he waited for news of his wife's condition in the surgical unit.

It had taken 15 minutes for the blood supplies to arrive at the Good Samaritan 'helo' pad. The staff was amazed. They'd asked if they could keep AJ's phone number on file for future use.

AJ had been grim. "Just save my wife and child," he'd said, his eyes gray and tortured, "...and you can do anything you want."

Mac had made it through surgery, but it had been "touch and go" at best. Now, more than an hour after the birth of their son, AJ sat, unapproachable, in the waiting area, staring at the door to the recovery room.

Finally, her doctor appeared and began to address him.

"Admiral," he began, now realizing AJ's rank. "I think she's out of the woods."

AJ's knees gave way, and he dropped heavily into the chair behind him, struggling futilely to maintain his composure.

"When can I see her?"

"Well, with most people, I'd ask them to wait until she came out of the anesthesia..." he paused, the look on AJ's face obliterating any such possibility, "...but under the circumstances, Sir, please, go right in. Let her rest, though...she's going to need a lot of that for a while."

AJ quickly crossed the room and began to push his way through the double doors.

"Sir?" the doctor called after him. "About what your wife said...you know...suing me and all. She really didn't mean it, did she?"

"Son...be grateful you won't have to find out."

AJ found Sarah lost in a maze of tubes and monitors, her eyes sunken and dark-rimmed. Her pallor, though evident, had improved considerably, and the many monitors attached to her body attested to her relative well being.

AJ held her hand in his, and there, in the solitude of the recovery room, he allowed his tears to flow unimpeded down the strong contours of his face.

"AJ?" Mac rasped, her voice small and weak in the mechanical clatter of the room.

"AJ...how 's the baby?" she asked, her hand tracing the wet pathways down his cheeks.

Gratefully, AJ pressed her hand to his lips. "He's fine, Darlin'. He's big, and strong, and he looks just like his mother. They're keeping him in ICU just for tonight...to be sure. You scared the hell out of that doctor!"

She smiled in relief. "Thank God." she whispered, her voice like a prayer. "Thank God."

"Darlin'? When you leave here...come home with me...please. We can make it work...I can change...I swear. Anything's better than what I've gone through the past six weeks."

"Oh, AJ...I was so wrong. I never should have asked you to leave. You had every right to ask for more of a commitment from me, to expect me to give you and 'Little Mac' my highest priority. It took almost losing everything for me to finally realize that. I need to change too. Forgive me, my love.

"Darlin', let's start over...a new beginning."

"You know," he began, "the first day I met you, in the Rose Garden at the White House, you touched my heart in a way that no one ever could. I never dared to dream that I'd be lucky enough to have you in my life."

Silently, she touched his hand as the tears flowed from her tired eyes.

"We were both lucky, AJ...more than lucky...it's a miracle."

Then Sarah closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep, restful sleep, a tiny smile playing at the corners of her pale lips.

AJ looked on, keeping watch over his beloved.

"Yes, Darlin" he whispered...you really are a miracle..."

- THE END -

* * * * *

Dedications:

To "N." -- AJ's biggest fan. This one's for you. I can't wait to read your first story.
And
To "J." -- Thanks for helping to keep my stories "readable".