“Second Chances”
A JAG Fan-Fic
By Sheri Mitchell
Rated: R
Taking his eyes briefly from the road,
Cdr. Harmon Rabb glanced at the woman stretched languidly in the passenger seat
of his car. He had only been dating her
for a month, but what a month! They
hadn’t even slept together yet, but he already knew that when the time was
right, it was going to be one of the most incredible experiences of his life.
They had just spent a thoroughly
enjoyable day together exploring the hiking trails in Rock Creek Park. The fresh air, exercise and her unbridled
joy at the colorful flitting birds and small furry creatures skittering ahead
of them had made this day one of the best he’d had in a long time.
Her head resting against the back of
the seat, she beamed him another of those bright smiles he’d seen so often
lately. He liked to see her smile. It reminded him that there was more to life
than courtrooms, investigations and military discipline. She was good for him that way, adding a
balance to his life he hadn’t even known was missing.
He returned her smile with one of
his own. “You look so contented.”
“I am,” she admitted, stretching her
lithe form in a way that had him taking his eyes off the road a whole lot
longer than he should have. “It’s all
that fresh air. It makes me
sleepy. I guess I’m not used to it,
stuck in a stuffy office all day.”
“I know the feeling,” he admitted.
When he signed on with the navy, he
certainly hadn’t planned on piloting a desk or navigating a complex legal
brief, but fate hadn’t given him a lot of choice, so he rolled with the punches
and managed to land on his feet. At
least fate had proved it wasn’t entirely cruel and had finally seen fit to put
him with a woman who made him feel like he was soaring at angels-30 even when
he was behind a desk.
Mac had been bugging him for ages to
quit being a hermit and remember that he was a healthy single male. She’d been subtle about it at first, but
became increasingly more blunt when he refused to get the hint. He’d finally taken her advice and ever
since, he had been wishing he’d done it ages ago.
Of course, neither of them counted
on him ending up with the woman who occupied his passenger seat. That part was a bit of a surprise, but like
most things that were truly meant to be, it just sort of happened one day and
now it felt like the most natural thing in world.
“Thanks for a wonderful day,
Harm.”
They were approaching an
intersection and when the light turned yellow, he brought the car smoothly to a
stop and used the break from driving to turn more fully toward her. “Thank you,” he countered. “I had a great time too.”
“Maybe the memory of it will keep us
from going nuts in the office all week,” she said with a smile.
He lifted a hand and gently cupped
her cheek, then let his hand slide to the back of her neck, pulling her toward
him for a quick but satisfying kiss.
“Come on, Mac, it’s not that bad.
Besides, if it really gets you down, we can always slip out to one of
the local parks for a quickie on our lunch hour.”
He fired her a grin to let her know
he was kidding, trying for a play on words, but her next comment floored him.
“Green light.”
He stared at her. What the...? Was she suggesting....?”
“Harm, the light’s green.” She gestured out the windshield.
Still confused, he followed her wave
and realized she was referring to the traffic signal in front of them. It had turned green and the traffic was
beginning to flow around them. A soft
honk from behind goaded him into action.
Still off balance, he turned forward in his seat and put the car in
gear. Beside him, Mac was
laughing. She’d done that on purpose!
He was about to give her hell for it
but a blur of motion on the right caught the corner of his eye. His aviator reflexes kicked in before he was
even aware of it and he hit the brakes, narrowly avoiding the big pickup truck
that whipped through the red light.
The small car in the oncoming lane
wasn’t so lucky. Harm heard the loud
crash and the gut wrenching scream of twisting metal, but the pickup was moving
so fast, the actual impact was nothing but a blur.
Both he and Mac responded instinctively. He slammed his car out of gear and flicked
off the engine before leaping out. Mac
was a step ahead of him but he closed the distance with a single long stride
and they both arrived at the mangled vehicles the same time. Mac went straight to the driver’s door of
the truck, so Harm headed for the car.
The truck had broadsided the smaller
vehicle, impacting squarely on the driver’s door. Clamping down on the rising dread inside him, he tried to see in
through the spider’s web of broken glass that had once been the
windshield. All he could see was a
glimpse of red clothing. He assessed
things instantly and realized he wasn’t going to have much better luck from the
passenger side. The impact had shoved
the car through the intersection, sandwiching it against the light standard on
the far corner. Getting to the driver
was going to take one hell of a lot of work.
He rounded the car anyway, hoping to
at least get a look inside and see if the emergency crews were going to be performing
a rescue...or a body recovery. The
light pole had caved in the passenger door, but the impact was a little farther
forward. He might be able to see in
from the side window of the back seat.
Ducking around the pole, he stepped carefully over debris until he could
reach the window.
The moment he got there, his stomach
ground into a boil mass of nausea.
There was a body slumped in the back seat – a very small body. But even as Harm struggled to hang onto his
lunch, the small form moved slightly.
Harm took all of one second to assess the damage to the window then stuck his hand through a small
hole in the glass and yanked outward, pulling away the damaged but nearly
intact safety glass. He felt a sharp
edge bite into the palm of his left hand but ignored it.
The window was partially covered by
the pole, but he managed to clear an opening large enough to reach one arm
through. He groped for the child and
finally found a small denim clad leg.
He gave it a slight shake. “Hey
there, you okay?”
He had to take his arm back out of
the hole in order to see in. When he
peered through the small opening, his heart soared as a small round face
appeared from beneath a mop of dark hair.
The child very slowly lifted his head and Harm realized it was a boy. He hadn’t even known that until now.
Two huge blue eyes stared at him,
round and wide with fear. Harm gave the
kid the biggest smile he could muster.
“Take it easy and don’t move around too much. Help is coming.”
Despite his warning, the kid slowly
sat up. Harm started to tell him again
to keep still but although he moved slowly and stiffly, it didn’t appear the
boy was seriously hurt. Thank God for
safety belts and booster seats.
“What happened?” came a tiny voice.
“You were in an accident,” Harm said
gently, “but you’re going to be okay.”
“Where...where’s my mom? Is Mom okay?”
Harm’s gut seized all over
again. “She’s still up front. Someone’s coming to help. It will be all right.”
The boy immediately released his
seatbelt and made a move toward the seatback in front of him.
“No!” Harm reached through the window far enough to catch the kid’s arm
and restrain him. “Stay in your seat.”
“But Mommy...”
“Someone’s going to help her,” he
said again. “Just take it easy.”
There was no way Harm wanted the kid
crawling into the front seat and getting a look at his mother. There had been no signs of movement, no
sounds of life from the front of the car.
“What’s your name?” he asked, hoping
to distract the boy.
“Aaron,” came the tiny reply.
“Hi, Aaron. I’m Harm.
Just sit tight, okay. Someone’s
going to get you out of there real soon.”
“Okay, but...make them hurry. I’m scared.”
Now that the kid was sitting up,
Harm could touch him without reaching in so far he couldn’t see what he was
doing. He reached through the window
again and caught the boy’s hand. The
sirens were growing louder. The
emergency crews would be there in seconds and then Harm could make good on his
promise.
He sensed a movement beside him and
glanced over as Mac squatted down beside him.
She glanced into the car then fired him a wide-eyed look. He gave her a warning look in return,
silently urging her to follow his lead.
“Aaron, this is my friend Mac.”
Mac, bless her, caught on instantly,
giving the kid a bright smile as though nothing was wrong. “Hi there, Aaron.”
“Hi.”
“You’re kind of in a fix at the
moment, aren’t you?” She went on
quickly before he could answer. “Don’t
worry, though, we’ll have you out of there in no time.”
Aaron nodded, but his grip on Harm’s
hand tightened. “And my mom too?”
Harm and Mac exchanged another look
but when she turned back to the boy, all trace of concern slipped from her
expression. “And your mom too.”
A few seconds later, a swarm of
emergency personnel descended on the vehicle.
Harm gave the boy’s hand a squeeze then moved back out of the way to let
the crews do their job. As they moved
to the curb, he glanced at Mac. “How’s
the driver?”
“Hardly a scratch on him, but he’s
going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow,” she replied, her voice laced
with utter disgust.
Harm had to suppress the urge to
find the guy and make sure he hurt from more than a simple hangover.
~~~~~~~~
Nearly ten minutes later, one of the
firefighters came over to them. Before the
man could even open his mouth, Harm asked the question foremost on his
mind. “How’s the mother?”
“Alive,” the man replied, “but
that’s about all I can say for her at the moment. Is your name Harm?”
“Yes,” he replied, confused.
“The kid is asking for you. We’re going to need to use a saw and the
jaws of life to get him out and he’s pretty scared. I know it’s a lot to ask, but would you mind sitting with him
while we do the extrication? We’ll
cover you both with a blanket to protect against sparks and debris.”
“I know the drill,” Harm replied
quickly, “and I’d be happy to stay with him if it will help.”
As he started away behind the
firefighter, he felt Mac’s hand grip his arm and turned back briefly. She had a smile on her face that said she thought
he was doing something wonderful. He
wasn’t doing anything more than anyone else would do, but he covered her hand
with his and gave it a quick squeeze before heading back over to the car.
As he approached the vehicle, he
could see several people on the far side, diligently working to free Aaron’s
mother from the wreckage. Two men
gently eased a limp form from the car and slid her onto a spine board. Harm got only an impression of dark blond
hair before she was surrounded by a flurry of EMTs.
Returning to his earlier post at the
car’s back window, he brushed away enough glass and debris so he could kneel
down and peer inside. Aaron’s tiny hand
shot out and Harm reached for it quickly.
“Hey there, champ, I heard they’re going to use a giant can opener to
open up the car and get you out. That
sounds exciting. Mind if I stay here
and watch?”
Aaron shook his head. “I don’t mind, but it’s not exciting, it’s
scary.”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of,”
Harm said gently. “Do you think I’d
want to come this close if there was?”
The slightly bent logic worked on
Aaron’s young mind. “No.”
“Then trust me when I say it’s safe,
but it is going to be loud, at least for part of the time.”
Harm was right about that. Once the firefighters had draped a large
yellow blanket over him and another over Aaron, the cutting began. At the first roar of the saw, Aaron’s hand
tightened on Harm’s in a grip that was almost painful. Harm squeezed back, wishing he could
reassure the boy with more than touch, but the noise made talking impossible.
As soon as the saw finished, Harm
started asking Aaron questions to take his mind off what was going on around
them. He asked about school, sports,
friends, anything he could think of. He
started to run out of ideas long before the extrication was complete. Searching his mind, he latched onto a
thought.
“Hey, Aaron, did I tell you I’m in
the navy?”
The kid shook his head, his eyes
lighting with a gleam of curiosity.
“I am, and I have an idea. We’ll have to check with your parents to
make sure it’s okay, but if they say it is, how would you like a tour of a real
navy ship?”
To Harm’s surprise, Aaron’s chin
dropped to his chest. “I only have one
parent. There’s just me and my
mom. My dad’s gone.”
Harm ached to ask what ‘gone’ meant
but he didn’t want to stir up any unpleasant memories. Whatever the reason, Aaron’s father
obviously wasn’t a part of his life and Harm knew all too well what that felt
like. “Then we’ll have to ask your mom,
just as soon as she’s done with the doctors.”
Harm prayed she would be in good
enough shape to hear and respond to a question, but he had to give the boy some
hope, at least until they knew more.
“Where is she?” Aaron asked quietly.
“She’s gone to the hospital,” Harm
replied just as an ambulance screamed off into the gathering twilight. “You get to ride in an ambulance too. Won’t that be a lot of fun?”
Aaron shook his head. “No it won’t.”
“Sure it will,” Harm insisted. “I’ve been in an ambulance and it’s lots of
fun.”
Aaron looked unconvinced. “When you were a kid?”
“Uh-huh. I wasn’t much bigger than you.
How old are you?”
“I’m seven, but I’ll be eight in
four months.” Aaron’s chest puffed out
slightly and Harm knew instantly this was yet another kid who couldn’t wait to
grow up.
“Then I was even younger than
you. I fell out of a tree when I was
six. My mom thought I split my head
open but all I got was a few stitches.
I did get to ride in an ambulance, though.” Harm could still vividly recall the ride, but he didn’t tell
Aaron that the most memorable part of the whole experience was how much the
needle stung when they froze his scalp so they could suture it up.
A sudden loud screech of rending
metal ripped through the confines of the car.
Aaron jumped and grabbed Harm’s hand with both of his, terror adding
enormous strength to the small hands.
Harm gripped a little tighter too.
“It’s okay,” he shouted over the noise.
“They’re just taking the roof off the car. You’ll be out of there in a few seconds!”
True to his word, a moment later,
someone took the protective blankets away, revealing the roof of the car peeled
back like the lid of a giant can. The
instant Aaron saw the sky, he leapt to his feet on the seat and launched
himself at Harm. Despite the shock,
Harm managed to catch him, holding him tight as small arms locked around his
neck. He knew Aaron shouldn’t be moving
around so much, but nothing short of a crowbar was going to pry the kid loose.
Arms wrapped around the trembling
child, Harm turned from the car. Mac
was instantly at his side, stroking Aaron’s back with one hand while the other
one rested gently on Harm’s.
“I think he’s okay,” Harm told her,
“just scared.”
She nodded but escorted them to the
EMTs waiting near the back of the second ambulance. Harm tried to hand Aaron over to one of the medics, but the boy’s
stranglehold tightened even further.
“No!” he cried. “Don’t let go!”
Harm shot a helpless look at Mac and
then at the EMT. The medic nodded
instantly. “Why don’t you climb in and
have a seat. I can look him over on
your lap, if he’ll let me.”
Climbing into the ambulance, Harm
sat down on the hard bench, turning Aaron to sit in his lap. Aaron allowed himself to be turned around,
but instantly switched his grip back to Harm’s hand. “Don’t let him touch me!
I want Mommy!”
Harm folded his arms a little
tighter around Aaron’s small thin frame.
“It’s okay. Everything will be
all right. He just wants to look at you
and make sure you’re not hurt, then we’ll take that ride we talked about.”
Aaron shook his head violently. “He’s gonna poke me!”
Harm heaved a sigh, doubly thankful
he hadn’t told Aaron about the needle he got as a kid. He glanced at the EMT. “Does he need any injections or an IV?”
“I doubt it,” the medic
replied. Then a small grin slid onto
his round face. “He looks pretty
healthy to me.”
Harm grinned down at Aaron. “There, you see? No pokes, I promise. He
just wants to check you over. Do you
hurt anywhere?”
Aaron shook his head, his face still
buried against Harm’s chest. With
Harm’s help, the medic managed to give Aaron a cursory going over. “He seems okay, but he will need to go to
the hospital.”
“No!” Aaron wailed.
Harm fired a pleading glance at Mac. He didn’t have a clue how to deal with a
terrified child. Mac stepped up into
the ambulance and sat down beside them.
She rubbed Aaron’s back with a slow, gentle hand. “It’s okay, Aaron. Everyone here is trying to help you. Just go with the ambulance driver and he’ll—”
“No! I don’t want to go alone!”
His head shot up and a huge pair of blue eyes locked onto Harm like a
missile guidance system. “Come with
me.”
Harm caught Mac’s eye over the top
of Aaron’s head. “Would you mind? I know this isn’t exactly what we had
planned for tonight.”
She gave him another one of those
smiles. “Of course I don’t mind. I’ll follow in your car.”
He heaved another sigh. “Thanks, Mac. The keys are in it.”
~~~~~~
Mac followed the ambulance to the
hospital, hurrying inside as soon as she found a parking spot. Harm was just coming out of a treatment
room, his expression grim. She crossed
to him, noting how quickly he reached for her hand.
“How’s the boy?” she asked.
“Still scared. I finally convinced him to let the doctor
examine him, but I had to promise I’d be here when they were done. Mac, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do.
He feels like I’m all he’s got right now.”
She wrapped his hand in both of
hers. “It’s all right, I understand,
but where’s his father?”
His expression darkened even further
as he shook his head. “I don’t know if
he’s dead or if they’re divorced. Aaron
just said he was gone.”
Mac’s heart sank. “And the mother didn’t look like she was in
very good shape.”
“I know. Let’s see what we can find out about her. I’d like to have some good news for Aaron
when they’re done with him.”
Mac followed him to the information
desk. The nurse looked up as they
approached. “Can I help you?”
“I hope so,” Harm replied. “I was wondering if there’s any news on the
mother of the little boy I brought in?
I don’t know her name.”
She checked her records. “Jennifer Loring. I’m sorry, I don’t have any information on her yet but if you—”
“Wait a minute,” Harm said
suddenly. “Did you say her name is
Jennifer Loring? Is she from
Baltimore?”
The young woman checked her records
again. “That’s what her identification
said.”
Mac saw the look of shock on Harm’s
face when he turned to her. “I think I
know her.”
“What? From where?” she asked, shocked herself.
Still stunned, Harm moved slowly
away from the counter. Mac followed,
slipping an arm around his waist. In a
move that seemed completely unconscious, he dropped one arm across her
shoulders. “We...dated for a
while. It was back before my
accident. We were getting pretty
serious, or at least I thought so, but she...couldn’t handle me being away so
much. It was already starting to fall
apart when I had the ramp strike.”
There was a wistful sadness in his
voice and Mac heard what he wasn’t saying.
“She used the accident as an excuse to leave you.”
He shrugged. “After the accident, she didn’t need an
excuse. I was a mess.”
“Still, losing your girlfriend at
the same time you were recovering from something like that couldn’t have made
it any easier.” She couldn’t quite keep
the note of disgust from her voice.
“I don’t know,” he replied, “maybe
it did. I sort of went to ground for a
while to lick my wounds. I didn’t feel
like talking to anybody and not having a relationship to worry about was
probably for the best. We tried to get
back together after I got myself squared away and transferred to JAG, but by
then, we’d both changed too much. It
only lasted a couple of months.”
It didn’t surprise Mac at all that
Harm retreated within himself after his accident. She’d seem him do the same thing with far less provocation. He tended to back away from any emotionally
intense situation, which is why it had come as such a surprise when, out of the
blue, he’d asked her out a month ago.
After everything that had passed between them over the years, she’d
almost thought it was some kind of joke, but he managed to convince her he was
serious. Once he had, it took her all
of ten seconds to say yes and they hadn’t looked back since.
She also knew Harm well enough to
know this whole thing had to be hitting him pretty hard. Not only would Aaron be pushing Harm’s very
sensitive fatherless boy buttons, but now he also had to deal with the memories
of another painful time in his life.
She dearly wished there was something more she could do to help him, but
in so many ways, she still felt like they were nothing more than friends. Their relationship was still so new, so
fragile.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the
approach of a very weary looking doctor.
“I understand you were asking about Jennifer Loring. Are you family?”
“No,” Harm admitted. “We witnessed the accident and I sort of
helped out her son, but I didn’t find out who she was until just now. It turns out she’s...an old friend of mine.”
The doctor nodded. “I see.
Well, I wish I had better news for you, but Ms. Loring isn’t doing very
well. Can you tell us how to contact
her family?”
Harm winced at the news. “Her parents used to live in Greensboro, but
that was years ago. I’ll give you their
names but if you don’t have any luck finding them, let me know. I’m with the Navy JAG corps and if you can’t
find them, we can.”
Mac waited while they went to the
counter and the doctor took down some information. They talked for a moment and when Harm came back, he looked even
more shaken. He shot an involuntary
glance at the treatment room where Aaron was waiting. “They don’t think she’s going to make it. They’re hoping she’ll hang on until some of
the family can get here to be with him when they tell him.”
Mac’s heart gave a painful
squeeze. “The poor kid.”
Harm nodded but Mac could see the
faraway look in his eyes. “You know how
he’s going to feel, don’t you?”
“No,” he said roughly, “I
don’t. When they came to tell us about
my dad, I at least had my mom there for me.”
~~~~~~
The hospital was able to locate
Jennifer Loring’s parents. They still
lived in Greensboro and when they were informed about the accident, they said
they would be leaving immediately, but it was a long drive. Mac accompanied Harm when he went back into
the treatment room to see Aaron. The
moment they stepped into the room, the boy leapt off the examining table and
launched himself at Harm. “You were
gone so long! I thought you weren’t
coming back!”
In one smooth motion, Harm caught
him and lifted him back onto the table.
“I’m sorry I took so long, but I promised you I’d come back and I always
keep my promises.”
“I want to see my mom,” Aaron
declared.
“Not right now, sport. The doctors are still checking her out.”
“How long will it be till I can see
her?”
Harm shot Mac a glance, but the look
in his eyes said he knew she didn’t have any answers either. He turned back to Aaron. “It shouldn’t be too long now.”
“Is she going to be okay?” Aaron
asked. “The car sure was smashed up.”
“Yeah, it was,” Harm replied sadly,
avoiding an answer to the boy’s question.
Mac stepped forward to bail him
out. “Are you hungry?”
“Sort of,” Aaron admitted. “Mostly I’m thirsty.”
Harm and Mac received permission to
take Aaron down to the cafeteria. They
bought him a sandwich, a carton of milk and a bowl of green Jell-o. Aaron surprised her by voluntarily letting
go of Harm’s hand and carrying his milk to the table. She was getting worried about the way the boy was clinging so
hard to Harm. It wasn’t going to make
it any easier when they finally had to say goodbye.
They chatted a little at the table
but mostly concentrated on eating. Harm
insisted that Mac have something as well but it wasn’t until he reminded her
that she realized they hadn’t had dinner either. She wasn’t overly hungry, but stuffing down a dry sandwich
somehow seemed easier than arguing with Harm when he was in full-blown protector
mode. His sometimes overly developed
sense of responsibility for those around him was one of the things she loved
most about him.
Aaron only ate half his sandwich but
he finished off the milk in record time.
Mac noticed his eyelids beginning to droop and was about to say
something to Harm, but he was already on it.
Rising to his feet, he scooped the boy out of his chair. “Come on, champ. Let’s see if we can find you a rack for the night before you do a
nosedive into your Jell-o.”
Wrapping his arms around Harm’s neck
and his legs around his middle, Aaron rested his head on the wide shoulder and
was nearly asleep by the time they returned to Emergency. After a little cajoling, Harm managed to
convince the doctor to admit Aaron for the night. They took him upstairs to the pediatric ward and got him settled
down in a room with green and yellow teddy bears festooned on the walls and
ceiling.
The poor kid was so wiped he could
hardly keep his eyes open but he still fussed when Harm tried to leave. She watched from the far side of the room as
the tall, dark figure bent over the smaller one in the bed. He stroked the boy’s slightly unruly mop of
dark hair and whispered something she couldn’t hear. It had the desired effect, though. Aaron nodded his head and Harm gave him one of those signature
grins of his.
Leaning closer, Harm ruffled the
boy’s hair again then kissed his forehead.
The move surprised her a bit, but it also filled her with warmth. She couldn’t help giving him a tender smile
of her own as he finally left the bed and came over.
“I’m not even going to tell you what
I had to promise to get him to go to sleep,” he said quietly.
She laughed softly. “He’s a master negotiator, isn’t he?”
“Naw, he just puts on that puppy-dog
face when he’s trying to get something he wants.”
“So do you,” she teased, pulling
open the door.
She was waiting for him to fire some
kind of comeback at her but he never got the chance. The doctor met them in the corridor, his face a mask of
worry. “The boy’s mother has taken a
turn for the worse. I’m afraid she
won’t last until her parents arrive.”
“Is she conscious?” Harm asked
quickly.
“Barely.”
Mac could literally feel the tension
coiling through his big body. “Can I
see her?”
“I suppose so, but only for a
moment,” the doctor replied.
He led the way back down the
corridor and up to the ICU ward on the floor above pediatrics. He escorted them to the wide double doors
leading into the ward. “She’s in bed
three. Don’t stay too long.”
“I won’t.” Harm gave the doctor a nod as the older man started back down the
hall, then turned to her. “This is
something I need to do alone.”
“I know,” she said softly, “but I’ll
be right here when you’re done.”
A small smile touched his lips. “Sounds like something I said to Aaron.”
She smiled back. “That’s because friends look out for
friends.”
He pulled her to him for a quick but
tantalizing kiss. “You’re more than
just a friend, Mac.”
Before she could respond to that, he
yanked the door open and disappeared inside.
Despite his assurances that he wouldn’t
stay long, Harm didn’t return for almost fifteen minutes. When he did, his face was a sickly gray and
his eyes were filled with a haunted look that had Mac moving toward him the
instant she saw him.
“How did it go?” she asked softly.
“She...” He had to swallow – hard.
Mac handed him the cup of lukewarm coffee she’d gotten from the
dispenser. He tossed it down in one
swallow like he wished it was something a lot stronger than coffee. “She was pretty out of it,” he finished, his
voice rough and raw. “Seeing me only
got her more confused at first but I...I helped her sort it out. I told her about the accident and told her
Aaron is okay.”
“Are you?” Mac asked quickly. He continued to stare at the floor,
oblivious to everything around him. She
put a hand on his wrist. “Harm?”
His head sprang up. “What?”
“I asked if you’re all right, but I
think I have my answer.”
“No, I’m okay,” he said
unconvincingly. “Seeing her like that
just shook me up a little is all.”
“Uh-huh,” she muttered, always
amazed at his gift for understatement.
She slid her arm through his and tried to lead him away. “Come on, there’s nothing more we can do
here tonight.”
He shook his head. “I’m going to stay a little longer, just
until we hear...” His voice trailed off,
but the glance he threw over his shoulder toward the ICU ward finished the
thought for him.
Mac nodded. “All right, but let’s go back to the
cafeteria and find some decent coffee.”
~~~~~~
The news they were waiting for – and
dreading – came twenty minutes later.
Jennifer went into cardiac arrest and nothing the doctors tried could
bring her out of it. Harm stared into
the steaming refill Mac had only recently placed in front of him but his
thoughts were with Aaron. How were they
going tell that poor kid his mother was dead?
She was all he had and now she was gone.
He couldn’t help the memories that
flooded through him of the day they came to tell them about his dad. Despite her own grief, his mother took him
into her arms and held him tight. Her
reassuring presence gave him the one faint glimmer of hope that he would get
through that terrible time. Who was
going to be there for Aaron?
The answer to that was blatantly
simple, but how was he supposed to explain to Mac that he intended to stay with
the boy for as long as he needed him?
Tomorrow was Sunday and they’d made plans to spend it together, just
relaxing and recharging their batteries for another grueling week.
Mac slid into the chair beside him
and slipped an arm across his shoulders. It was only then that he realized she’d been talking to him. He dragged himself out of his thoughts and
turned to her, only to lose himself in the infinite sadness in her dark eyes.
“Come on,” she whispered. “Let’s go home. They’re not going to tell Aaron until he wakes up tomorrow. We’ll make sure we’re back here before
then.”
Her understanding and compassion hit
him in a deeper place than he’d ever thought possible and he suddenly found
himself embarrassingly close to tears.
Blinking frantically and swallowing several times, he gave a quick nod
and shoved to his feet.
As they stepped out into the cool
night air, Harm glanced at his watch and realized it was already Sunday. “It’s a lot later than I thought it
was. Why don’t I drive you straight home. If you want to come back with me in the
morning, I’ll pick you up, but if you’d rather have the day to yourself, that’s
okay too.”
She shook her head. “Not a chance, flyboy, on either count. My car’s at your place so that’s where I’m
going and I’m definitely coming back with you in the morning.”
The day’s events were beginning to
catch up with him and he didn’t bother to argue. He just pulled her against his side as they walked to the car.
When they arrived at his apartment,
she insisted on coming inside. She said
it was only for a moment but as soon as they got in the door, she headed for
the fridge. “You didn’t eat anything at
the hospital. Do you want something
now?”
“No, I’m not hungry,” he tried.
“Harm, you have to eat, even if it’s
only a snack.”
Before he could protest further, she
opened the fridge and started pulling out vegetables. In short order, she presented him with a plate of cut veggies and
a bottle of water. “There, it’s only
rabbit food, but I think you’re part rabbit anyway.”
He chuckled and took the plate from
her. Carrying it to the sofa, he sat
down and made an attempt to eat enough to at least erase the worry lines from
her brow. She brought over his water,
along with a bottle for herself, and sat down beside him.
His mind was going in a hundred
directions at once, but Harm could also feel the fatigue beginning to pull at
him. He ate half the plateful then set
it aside. “I’m bushed, Mac, and you
must be too. Go home and get some
rest.”
As he got slowly to his feet, Mac
rose as well, picking up his plate.
“All right, but I’m just going to tidy up a bit first.”
He thought about arguing but decided
it wasn’t worth it. She started to walk
away but he caught her arm and pulled her close, kissing her deeply before whispering, “Thanks.”
She smiled up at him. “You’re welcome, now go get some sleep
before you do a nosedive into your veggies.”
He chuckled at her variation on the
line he’d used with Aaron. After another
quick kiss, he headed up the stairs to the bedroom.
He looked at the neatly made bed and
decided he couldn’t be bothered stripping down and climbing under the
covers. Instead, he pulled off his
shirt and stretched out on top of the comforter. Despite the jumble of thoughts that were chasing themselves
around in his mind, he immediately felt himself starting to drift.
He heard Mac come into the room and
felt her sit down beside him. Her
gentle fingertips brushed his forehead and he managed to peel one eye
open. Half asleep, he reached for
her. Her warm body fitted itself next
to his and the last thing he remembered was her soft kiss on his cheek before
he drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~~
Harm awoke a few short hours later,
Mac still in his arms. Her head resting
on his shoulder, she had one arm flung across his chest, as though trying to
embrace him even in sleep. He was still
dead tired mentally, but his body had received just enough of a recharge to
react swiftly and completely to the feel of her pressed so tightly against him.
He longed to kiss her awake slowly
and take all morning to finally show her just how much she meant to him, but
the nagging thoughts and memories of yesterday refused to yield to the desire
building within him. They warred with
each other for control over him and he finally had to clamp down on everything,
burying it deep beneath a discipline forged from years of military service.
Hoping he could extricate himself
without waking her, he gradually eased out from under her and rolled off the
bed, but he was only halfway to the bathroom and a much needed shower when her
soft voice filled the room. “Good
morning.”
He turned and found himself drawn
back to her, sitting down and leaning over her to give her the long, slow kiss
he’d want to earlier. She responded
instantly, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing him down as she
lengthened and deepened the kiss, taking it to a far more intimate level than
he’d planned on. An instant before he
descended completely into the flames, she drew back, stroking his cheek with
one warm palm. “You didn’t sleep very
long.”
“Long enough,” he replied softly.
“You’re probably eager to get back
to the hospital.” She sat up and swung
her legs over the edge of the bed. “Go
grab a shower while I throw together something for breakfast.”
He was eager to get back to the
hospital, but he was also eager for something else. She settled the argument raging within him by disappearing down
the stairs. Shaking his head, he rose
and started toward the shower.
Fifteen minutes later, he descended
into the living area to find a stack of toast and a steaming cup of coffee on
the table. “Dig in,” she told him. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to jump in the
shower.”
“Of course I don’t mind, but what
about your breakfast?”
“Already finished,” she said
brightly. She bounded up the stairs,
leaving him to his toast and coffee.
~~~~~~
They arrived at the hospital a short
time later and went straight to the pediatric ward. They were only halfway down the hall when they heard a loud,
wailing cry. Harm instantly recognized
the voice. Firing a quick look at Mac,
he broke into a run. She was right
beside him and they sailed together through the door to Aaron’s room. He was standing on the far side of the room,
struggling against the hold of an older woman kneeling in front of him. An older man stood nearby with the doctor.
Sobbing bitterly, Aaron tried again
to break free from the woman’s grasp.
He spotted Harm an instant later and with a savage yank, pulled out of
her grip and flew across the room.
Instinctively, Harm dropped to his knees, catching the boy as he slammed
into his chest. Two thin arms flung
around his neck, nearly strangling him.
“They said my mommy’s dead, that
she’s never coming back, but you said I could see her!”
Harm squeezed Aaron tight, wishing
he’d never made that promise. “I know I
did, champ, but she was just too sick.
She didn’t want to leave you.
She told me to tell you she loves you very much and she’s very sorry she
has to leave.”
“I don’t want her to go,” Aaron
wailed.
“Nobody does, son, but it couldn’t
be helped.” Holding him tight, Harm
rose to his feet. Aaron clung to him,
sobbing so hard his small body shook.
His heart breaking for the kid, there was nothing Harm could do but hold
him, pressing his face to the boy’s soft hair so that no one would see the
tears he couldn’t hold back any longer.
After what seemed an eternity, Aaron
cried himself into an exhausted sleep.
Harm very reluctantly relinquished him to a waiting nurse, taking a
moment to get himself squared away before turning to the others in the
room. Mac had tears in her eyes and he
longed to reach for her, but the slightly hostile stares from the older couple
dragged his attention away.
He shot a quick glance toward Aaron
as the nurse tucked him into bed then turned back to the others. “Maybe we should talk outside.”
They both nodded, following him and
Mac out into the corridor. The doctor
came out as well, but with a sympathetic look, he left them alone. As soon as he was gone, Harm turned to the
couple. “You must be Jennifer’s
parents. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” the older man replied,
“but you are...?”
“I’m Cdr. Harmon Rabb and this is
Lt. Col. Sarah MacKenzie. We’re with
the US Navy JAG Corps. I’m also an old
friend of Jennifer’s. We witnessed the
accident yesterday but I didn’t realize Jen was involved until later. I haven’t even seen her in years.”
“Why does Aaron seem so attached to
you?” the woman asked.
That wasn’t going to be easy to
explain. “He was trapped in the car for
a few minutes. He was pretty scared and
I was the first person to get to him. I
guess he’s just holding onto something familiar.”
“Well, I suppose we should thank
you, then,” Aaron’s grandfather said.
“You didn’t have to go to all the trouble of coming back this morning.”
That was probably even harder to
explain. “I knew it was going to be
tough on him, finding out his mother was gone.”
Mac took a step forward. “I’m sorry if this sounds indelicate
but...where is Aaron’s father?”
The older man’s expression
darkened. “I have no idea. He and Jennifer were...no longer together
when Aaron was born. She never said much
about it, but we both got the feeling he ran out the minute she told him she
was pregnant.”
Mrs. Loring’s chin jutted out
slightly and her eyes narrowed in a way that bothered Harm on a deeper level
than he cared to examine. “She was
young and unmarried. We tried to
convince her to give up the baby but she refused. Now that I’ve seen him, I admit he a very handsome boy, but—”
“Excuse me?” Harm blurted. “You haven’t seen him until now?”
The woman’s expression turned
indignant. “His birth caused something
of a rift between us and Jennifer. She
chose to raise him in Baltimore.”
“It’s not that far from Greensboro,”
he said harshly. Mac’s gentle hand on
his arm stopped him from saying any more.
She shot him a warning glance then
turned back to the Lorings. “Is Aaron
going to be going back with you?”
“I suppose so,” Mr. Loring
sighed. “It sounds like he doesn’t have
anywhere else to go.”
“Yes he does,” Harm replied before
he could stop himself.
Three pairs of eyes zeroed in on
him. He met each set briefly, pausing
the longest on Mac’s. “He can stay with
me.”
“Absolutely not!” Mr. Loring
snorted. “He barely knows you.”
“And he doesn’t know you at
all!” This time he ignored Mac’s hand
and her warning look.
The older man took a step
forward. “I sincerely hope you aren’t
going to make things difficult.”
“Oh, I’m going to make them
difficult all right. If I have to, I’ll
sue you for custody of Aaron.”
Mac yanked on his arm hard this
time. “Harm!”
He ignored her again, focusing on
the couple in front of him. “I will do
it, and I’ll win.”
“Why?” Mr. Loring sneered, “because
you’re some hotshot attorney?”
A firm resolve settled deep into
Harm’s soul. “No,” he replied, his tone
cold and hard. “I’ll win because I’m
his father.”
This
is part 1 of a 3 part story