Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - Wait... -- The Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman Fan Exchange

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Date Posted: 13:55:26 12/27/02 Fri
Author: dqfan
Subject: Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - Wait...
In reply to: dqfan 's message, "Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - Wait..." on 14:06:02 12/22/02 Sun

Studs Memorial Hospital had been relatively quiet for a Saturday night, Sully remembered thinking. Oh sure, there had been the usual assortment of appendectomies, tonsillectomies, and tracheotomies�but nothing he couldn't handle.

Just a little while longer and then his once a week hospital rotation, needed to keep his admitting privileges valid, would be over. Piece of cake, he beamed, munching on the closest thing to cake - a twinkie from the nearest vending machine - that he could find.

That single solitary twinkie was the last bit of normalcy Sully could remember now as he approached Nick Hathaway in the hall, the Sheriff's Deputy seated by his side.

Nick's head was in his hands, his shoulders hunched, his entire body seemingly curled in on itself with grief. It was Andy who saw Sully first.

"Nick�" Andy's touch to Nick's arm was gentle but Nick shot out of his chair like a cannon nonetheless.

"Is she?" Nick saw the serious expression on Sully's face and feared the worst.

"She's still alive�" Sully reassured him. "But we're having difficulty stabilizing her."

At that moment, Shane and Val appeared. Ribs wrapped, Shane had otherwise been given a clean bill of health. Rest and recuperation were all he needed now but in view of the circumstances, neither seemed likely. So, as protectively as possible, Val kept one hand on Shane's arm at all times. It was doubtful she would have the strength to actually catch him should he fall, but Shane appreciated her vow to do just that.

"Where's Teddy?" Shane knew the rules. As close as Nick and Randy were, Teddy was her next of kin. His consent would be needed if there were any surgery to be done.

"I've got men out looking for him now�" Andy sighed. He'd been on his cell phone virtually non-stop since they'd arrived and the only information he was sure of was that Teddy was out canvassing.

"Canvassing? For votes?" Shane repeated incredulously. Teddy's re-election campaign hadn't even officially begun yet.

"No�uh�not for votes," Andy mumbled, not wanting to enrage Nick any further.

"For signatures�" Andy explained curtly.

"Signatures?" Val was at a loss as well.

"His petition�" Andy continued as quietly as possible. "American Citizens for the Cloning of Elvis�"

Furious, Nick seethed with determination and grabbed Andy by the scruff of his collar. "You find him now or they'll need to clone you, too! You got me?"

Diplomatically, Shane came between the two men, catching Andy's gaze with a solemn, and very severe, look. "Go find him�now�Andy�.now�"

"Yes, Sir�" Andy snatched his cell phone from a nearby chair and took off like the wind.

"Why are you having trouble stabilizing her, Doc?" Shane asked, needing all the facts.

Sully opened his mouth as if he were about to speak and then stopped. Hospital protocol dictated he speak only to the next of kin. But, then, when had he ever cared about protocol?

"Nick�Maybe we should talk privately?" Sully whispered, pulling Nick out of earshot from Shane and Val.

"Randy suffered a subdural hematoma to the brain when her head hit the steering wheel in the fall," he recounted. "We've relieved some of the pressure but we'll need to operate to stabilize the area permanently."

"So, operate�" Nick instructed swiftly. "Teddy will agree. I know he will. He'd do anything to save her�"

"The procedure might save her, yes�" Sully nodded. "But, the stress on the fetus could be too great, Nick�"

Nick had been trying to follow along with everything Sully was telling him, overriding all his emotions, and using all of his cop's training to stay focused on every single word. But, there was only one word that mattered now�

"Fetus?" Even when Nick said it himself it sounded foreign.

"She didn't tell you?" Instantly, Sully wondered if he'd gone too far, assumed too much. It was one thing to share Randy's medical information with Nick if they were in a committed relationship, but if Randy didn't trust Nick enough to share such important news, then maybe Sully should have paid more attention to hospital protocol after all?

Nick's mind reeled as Sully's words echoed in his brain like a foghorn on a stormy night.
"She didn't tell you�"

Not again� Randy hadn't told him about Nicole and it had broken his heart. Still, for both their sakes, Nick had just begun to try to make peace with that. But now� Now, here was Sully, telling him that Randy was pregnant again. That she hadn't told him, again. Why? How? How could she do that to him? Again!

"She's pregnant?" Nick questioned, stunned.

"About eight weeks, I'd say, according to the blood test�" Sully reported nervously. "She may not even have known herself�" he offered, hoping to provide Nick with the consolation he so obviously needed.

"Don't do that�" Nick objected strenuously.

"I was just trying to help, Nick�" Sully misunderstood entirely.

"No�" Nick snapped, having lost his patience hours ago. "Don't talk about her in the past tense�"

"I'm sorry�" Sully mumbled, feeling woefully inadequate as a physician at the moment. "I didn't mean to�"

"Do the operation," Nick ordered somberly. "I'll take full responsibility."

"Nick, are you sure?" Sully insisted. "We could keep Randy alive on life support for the duration of her pregnancy. You'd have your baby, at least�"

"Our daughter�Nicole�she died�a few hours after she was born," Nick was lost in the past. "She 'd be eight years old now�"

"Then, maybe you should think about this for a few more minutes?" Sully advised cautiously.

"Nothing to think about�" Violently, Nick shook his head. "I choose Randy."

"Go do your job, Doc�" Nick insisted. "Please�"

Sully nodded, giving Nick a supportive pat on the back. "Be sure and eat something," he pleaded.

Then, giving Nick's current state of adrenaline some thought, Sully added a cautionary warning�

"But, stay away from the Twinkies�"

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sunny turned up the volume on her car radio and floored the gas. At this rate, her latest paint job at the boarding house would be bone-dry before she could return with another matching can of Teaberry Twilight.

"Why do paints always have two names," she pondered uselessly, wondering if maybe a career in paint-naming could prove lucrative?

"Sonoran Sunset�" she considered blithely, taking her eyes off the road a moment to change the radio station. "Sunny's Sonoran Sunset�" she chuckled as she turned the knob.

Wisely remembering her high beams while she was at it, Sunny flicked them on just in time to see a shadow up ahead, directly in her path.

Slamming on her brakes, Sunny ricocheted forward, clutching the steering wheel for dear life. Her long blonde hair tumbled around her face as the car came to a screeching stop. Petrified, she held her breath and listened for moaning of any kind.

The silence that greeted her was even worse, she feared, peering through her tousled bangs. A deer, maybe, she winced, lifting her head to look about. Whatever it was, she must have killed it.

Only the epithets that followed convinced her otherwise�

"Woman, you have GOT to be THE WORST driver on the face of the Earth!" Rob ranted, furious, as he got back on his feet after rolling out of the way of Sunny's car.

"I know you hate me, but for God's sake, I didn't know you wanted to KILL me!" he screamed, brushing the dust and dirt from his best leather pants.

"Ohmigod, Rob, are you all right?" Momentarily forgetting their disagreements, Sunny raced from the car and threw her arms around him instantly. "I didn't see you� I didn't see anything but a flash of light�"

"Funny�" Rob snapped. "Same thing happened to me�white light�long tunnel�"

Much as Rob had every reason to be angry with her, he could see how shaken Sunny was by their fateful encounter. She was trembling, clutching him tightly as she quivered.

Happily, Rob was alive enough to enjoy the luxury of her body against his, so he finished teasingly, "Groupies and Grammy Awards passing before my eyes�"

Instantly, Sunny pulled back from their embrace, realizing that Rob was perfectly fine and his old infuriating self.

Recovering quickly, Sunny couched her relief in exasperation, accusation, and retaliation.

"What the HELL are you doing walking out here alone in the dark?" she raged, punching his chest hard with the palm of her hand.

Suddenly, the road became flooded with light as police cars zoomed by with sirens blaring.

"This used to be such a quiet little town�" Rob mused sardonically. "Person can't even take an evening stroll any more�"

"Stroll�" Sunny was growing more incensed by the minute. "Since when do you STROLL?"

Rob took a step back from her menacing approach. "You're not going to hit me again, are you? Because I can flag down one of these cops and�"

With impeccable timing, a police car pulled over at just that instant. "You folks okay?" The officer asked from his car window.

Fearing Rob's next quip might land them both in jail, Sunny covered his open mouth with her hand and waved. "We're just fine, Officer."

"Glad to hear it," he answered curtly. "Got enough trouble tonight."

Hearing the concern in the officer's voice, Rob's demeanor quickly turned serious. "What's wrong?" he asked, curious.

"Car wreck, up the road, just a piece. A real beauty�" he replied, shaking his head.

"The wreck?" Sunny quizzed, chilled by his choice of words.

"The wreck, the car, and the driver�" he explained sadly, shifting his car into gear.

Then, as he drove away, the officer added the parting details that would change Rob and Sunny's lives forever.

"Mayor's daughter went over Heartbreak Hill in a Camaro�"

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Replies:

Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - More non-life-threatening fluff! -- CCCook, 19:56:02 12/27/02 Fri
Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - Meanwhile, back at the hospital... -- DQ&SB, 11:39:13 12/29/02 Sun
- Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - Meanwhile, back at the hospital... -- dqfan, 18:23:43 12/29/02 Sun
  - Re: Studs, Texas -book two- Garnett Family Ranch, Late Saturday Night. -- Sue, 22:32:10 12/29/02 Sun
    - Re: Studs, Texas -book two- Studs Trek II: The Wrath of Lucy -- CCCook, 14:22:51 12/30/02 Mon
      - Re: Studs, Texas -book two- Still at the Hospital -- dqfan, 16:46:14 12/31/02 Tue
        Re: Studs, Texas -book two- Still at the Hospital -- dqfan, 08:40:51 01/02/03 Thu
        Re: Studs, Texas -book two- Still NOT at the hospital -- CCCook, 15:50:23 01/02/03 Thu
        Re: Studs, Texas -book two- and even more angst if you can handle it. -- Sue, 01:13:21 01/04/03 Sat
        Re: Studs, Texas -book two- Back at the hospital -- dqfan, 08:23:03 01/14/03 Tue
        Re: Studs, Texas -book two- An unexpected visitor and a quiet chat -- Sue, 21:17:42 01/15/03 Wed