Unexpected
Part Three
By Cimerene
cimerene@gci.net



A KW/JC/MG fic. My thanx and gratitude for Cathy and Debbie who Beta Read and corrected grammar! (I'm slightly grammar deficient.. shhh don't let any of my old college professors know that!!) This story is rated Pg. (really, not like the last chapter, trust me!!)

Kerry walked out of the lounge wondering which patient to take next. As she walked up the receptionist area she heard the shouting first, followed closely by banging and screaming. She deliberately walked over to chairs where a two man gang war had erupted. Grabbing her clutch, she proceeded to slam it from side to side on the chairs and floor in front of her. Willing the sound alone to stop some of the ruckus, she walked up to two obvious gang members, who were screaming invectives at each other, all the while throwing an occasional punch in the others direction.

"Amira, call security," She yelled, then used her cane to separate the two angry men. She deflected a knife with her cane out of the hand of the taller, and received for her efforts a spewing spit in retaliation. She was relieved as Malucci suddenly grabbed him from behind and slammed the man into a wall nearby. Still using her cane she further deflected a punch from the second one, who was still struggling to attack the one that Malucci had pinned to the wall.   

"Settle down!" She yelled at him. She saw the first as it came towards her face and dodged, but wasn't quite able to move fast enough as the punch he aimed at the spiky haired gang member hit her squarely in the face. Her last thought as she slumped towards the floor was that this was not her day!

Several hours later. 

Kerry glared John, he was still upset at her refusal to take an xray.   

"Its just a concussion, you should watch for any dizziness, vomiting, blurry vision." He hastily broke off as Kerry glared at him. 

"I'm a doctor, JOHN, I think I know what to look for in a concussion patient." Kerry snapped at him.

John glanced at the shiner that was rapidly developing on her eye. "Well, I'll be home in a couple of hours, so you'll have someone with you in case."

"In case what?" Kerry acidly said to him. "In case I get in the middle of another gang fight again?" 

She ignored the look John gave her. She did not need this right now. She was behind in all of her work, and she had no intentions of going home and taking it easy; however, the buzzing in her head was rapidly making thinking impossible.

"I'm writing you a script for Codeine 3," John told her, watching as she ignored the hand that held the script. "Kerry take it! You know that it will help ease the pain. I talked to Dave. He said he would drive you home. He's almost off shift now anyway!" 

Kerry took the script reluctantly. "Fine." Kerry stood up swiftly, for one brief moment she clutched onto John's arm, dizziness briefly overwhelming her. 

"I still think you need a head CT." He told her quietly his concern evident upon his face. 

"John, I'm fine!" Kerry snapped at him as she hastily took her hand away from his shoulder. She was not in the mood for this; her whole morning was shot to hell. "Just fine and dandy. My day's ruined, my glasses are splinters in the middle of the receptionist area, and now I have a baby sitter for the ride home." She glared at John, knowing that none of this was his fault, yet seemingly unable to keep herself from taking her frustrations out on him.

No sooner had she uttered these words than Dave entered the room, followed closely by Mark. "You ok?" Mark asked as seconds later Dave trailed his words with "You ok, chief?"

"Just peachy!" She glared from John to Mark then back to Dave. Taking in their concerned faces, she deliberately tried to shake off her rotten mood. "I could do without this headache though!" she motioned everyone out of the room. Moving slowly she edged out of the room, irritated at how her day had started and upset over everything that had happened. 

"Dr. Malucci," her strident voiced echoed eerily down the hallway. "Looks like you get the pleasure of driving me home!"

Completely ignoring both John and Mark, she walked slowly but determinedly towards the lounge for her coat and purse. 

Kerry lay on the couch tired and exhausted. She was listening to one of her favorite relaxation albums. The strains of Danny Elfman's "Music For A Darkened Theatre" filled the air. She glanced over at the Codeine 3 she'd picked up at the pharmacy.   She glared at the bottle. Pure spite was the only thing that stopped her from taking the medication. Her irritation with John was stupid and childish, but she didn't really care at this point. She kept her eyes closed as she heard John opening the door. She heard him hang up his coat, then his sure footsteps on the way up the brief flight of stairs. She could plainly hear him place his satchel on a nearby chair. She waited as inevitably his soft footsteps came closer to the couch.

"How are we feeling?" His voice soft and gentle to her ears. "Do you need anything?" He watched as she lowered the washcloth from her head. 

"I have a headache from Hell, but other than that, and being sick to my stomach, I'm feeling good as new." She told him quietly.

"How long has it been since you've taken anything?" He asked her seriously.

"Don't doctor me, John, I'm quite able to remember to take my medication on my own!" she snapped at him, then lay back down. 

She was tired and frustrated. She felt stupid for trying to break up a gang fight. The first part of warfare was to let Security handle the fights. Her job was administration. Her head banged, she could feel John gently stroking her head. In spite of her mood and general discontent with life she had to admit that his touch felt good. Finally deciding to take her medication after all she sat up and was reaching for the codeine bottle when..….  

Her stomach let her know in no uncertain terms what it thought of her sudden movement.  

Grabbing her cane she pushed awkwardly past John, just barely making it to the bathroom toilet and promptly loosing the contents of her stomach. John silently followed, supporting her and waiting patiently while she cursed the commode, the fact she had thrown up in the first place and life in general.

He waited in silence to see if she was going to head back towards the couch or if she would need to stay here longer. He watched her straighten, rinse her mouth out with a cup by the sink, and then spit several times to rid herself of the terrible taste in her mouth. 

"Feeling better?" He asked her quietly. He watched her suddenly look in the mirror and meet his eyes. 

"Not particularly." She looked back into the mirror, she looked like hell. Suddenly the day's events caught up with her and she turned suddenly and collapsed in John's arms.   

"I'm sorry," she sniffed suddenly. "I'm a bad tempered shrew." 

John held her close for several moments not sure what to say or do. "You're fine, if you can't be bad tempered when you have a concussion, when can you?" He smiled teasingly towards her.

"Brat!" For the first time since they had made love, she let herself relish in the feel of his young warm body. A wave of nausea over came her briefly she fought to contain it. Turning from him abruptly she lost the battle. Helplessly she cursed the toiled  bowl, the heavens, and her concussion for making her sick.

"We need to get you back in for tests," he told her quietly. "I know you don't want to go, but I don't want to worry. So for once, can you not argue with me?" He watched her intently, his face serious and scared.

Kerry waited for yet another wave of nausea to stop, then she straightened and grabbed her cane. Slowly she moved out of the bathroom and towards the staircase. 

"You're right, I need you to take me back to County." She told him suddenly, then reaching for her purse and coat, she limped down the stairs.

Approximately one hour later!

As John left the small examination room, Kerry felt a brief surge of guilt. It was hard to look at John and not see the little boy sometimes. His emotions had always shown on his face, right now his face showed anger and hurt. But Kerry had decided that since she was the patient, she had, had enough! Enough of him second-guessing Luka; she'd watched him interrupt Luka four times in the last 10 minutes asking about worst case scenarios. She was grateful that Luka was taking this so well. The fourth time John had interrupted Luka, she finally lost what little self-control over her temper that she had left. Kicking him out of the room was the nicest thing she could think of.

"Kerry, I just heard." Mark said as he entered the room. Kerry noticed that he didn't ask, didn't knock, just barged in. She sighed; her life was getting a bit too complicated these days. So many unexpected things kept happening to her. She sighed.  

"Mark, I'm not done taking my tests, so could you please leave, I'll let everyone know what the results are as soon as Luka's done with them!" she let her pent up frustration's show in her voice, almost snapping the words out. 

Luka smiled as he filled in his chart. Doctors never made good patients. He watched as Mark hastily backed out of the room. 

"I just wanted you to know that I'm here for you." Mark backed a few more inches out of the room when he noticed her glare. "If you need me that is."

Hallway

"Get the hell out of here!" John replayed Kerry's words and each time he replayed them in his head, they sounded more upset and angry. He had only been trying to help. A concussion was nothing to play around with. She could have internal bleeding or even a Subdural hematoma. He hoped he was wrong, but she seemed much paler than he'd expect from a concussion. Her bouts of nausea confused and worried him. He thought back to how she had told him off, he knew Kerry's nerves were always something to be careful of.  

Kerry's temper had a habit of going from Zero to warp 9 and lately it had been even more erratic than normal. He blamed it on the stress of living with him. He didn't think that he should be blamed and humiliated because he was trying to help. He sat there fuming in the hallway, watching as Mark entered Kerry's room. Why was it OK for Mark to go in there? John thought suddenly? He fumed for several more moments before watching Mark scurry out of the room he hastily hid a smile. Obviously Mark wasn't wanted in there either.

"She threw you out, too, huh?" John said as he glanced at the door. 

Mark's guilt was eating him alive. He almost wished that he had someone to talk to, but he knew that he couldn't confide in Elizabeth. She would never understand what had happened that night, and if she didn't outright kill him, then Mark was sure she would end their relationship. For the millionth time since that night, Mark vowed to him self, "I will never get drunk again!"

Back in Kerry's exam room

Kerry turned her attention to Luka, for the moment totally ignoring the two men who sat impatiently outside the door. She tried to pay attention to Luka as he administered the necessary motor skill tests. So far, everything appeared to be fine, but her nausea was not abating. Indeed, She'd already thrown up twice since she had arrived. Once on poor Luka, which, of course, didn't endear her to him. He just jumped back quickly, then gave her a basin. She nearly threw him out of the room when he remarked that it didn't really matter so much now, as she had already emptied her stomach, but just in case there was anything left, she should be prepared.

Kerry would have felt embarrassed, but she was too busy slowly dying from her headache. She made herself pay attention to her test results; they were starting to perplex both her and Luka. She submitted to one last test, hoping that this one would turn out negative just like all the rest. She sighed as tried to figure out possible diagnoses, maybe it was just a case of the stomach flu as they had already ruled out internal bleeding. But the stomach flu combined with her concussion made perfect sense! NO wonder she was feeling lousy. She leaned back against the gurney, irritated at the hardness, but grateful for the small foam pillow. She looked over at Luka who was completing his notes. "Try to get some rest." 

"Kerry. I have to ask is there any chance of you being pregnant?"  Luka's soft voice hesitantly asked her. 

Pregnant, the words reverberated around her, hastily Kerry reviewed the events that had occurred one fateful evening several months ago. She'd definitely had her period since then, so that was ruled out. True both periods since that night had been very light, more spotting than flowing, but still. "There might be, but I seriously doubt it." She reluctantly admitted.

"Ok, then we'll take precautions with the X-rays just in case." Luka said as he walked towards the door. "Since we've already drawn blood, I'll just make sure the lab has enough for a pregnancy test too. I'll let you know what the test results are as soon as I get them back from the lab," he paused before he left the room. "Do you want me to let either of them in here?" He asked her softly. 

"NO!" Her voice took on a decisive tone of voice. The last people on earth she wanted to see was either of the men who were waiting in the hallway. 

"OK. And, Kerry? Try to rest!"

Kerry smiled at him briefly. "Thank you Luka."

She watched as his handsome face took on a brief half smile, so uncharacteristic of him. Most of the time he went around so sour and depressed she thought to herself. It was nice seeing him smile for a change.

An xray and some blood tests results later.

Mark and John watched as Yosh brought the X-ray results that Luka had requested. As one, they moved closer to the light box until they were both standing behind it. 

Luka stood back and watched the two doctors for a few minutes. Knowing that they had both been thrown out of Kerry's room he let a small smile appear on his face. He had known they wouldn't be able to resist looking at the X-rays. 

"So, will you tell me what you two have decided? Luka asked quietly, his thick accent giving his words a deeper meaning than they were expecting. Mark looked sheepish, then actually pretended he was merely perusing the X-rays. Luka watched as Mark turned away, then unable to resist, turned back again. John unashamedly stood there and examined the X-rays.

"Nothing," John finally admitted. "She looks fine to me." 

"Dr. Kovac, the lab results you were waiting for are back." Yosh told him. He handed him a clipboard with several papers attached to it, then left on another errand.

Luka glanced down; his eyes widened then narrowed as he read the results. He nodded to the two gentleman, then went into Kerry's room, firmly shutting the door behind him and leaving John and Mark to ponder what was going on.

Kerry sat up from where she was resting, her nausea finally abating slightly. Luka's tall form and the fact that he was standing directly in the light made her wince as she had to tilt her head up to look at him. She kneaded it for a short while as she waited for him to speak. When he kept standing there, silent, Kerry finally spoke.

"Well? It can't be internal bleeding; it has to be something else. Other than the nausea and a blood pressure spike. I feel fine." 

Luka smiled gently at her. "Kerry you are fine." He paused, then looked down at the clipboard, and then back to her, waiting for her to interrupt. 

"I'm nauseous due entirely to the concussion? I somehow find that very hard to believe!" She told him.   

"Kerry." Luka told her quietly. "You are fine, you also quite pregnant!"

End of part 3

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