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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 18, 2008 22:48:00 GMT -5
Zach nodded slowly. What he really wanted to do was take her back upstairs and show her how much he felt for her. But now was not the time. She needed the test done, and she needed the rest and care she could get in the hospital. "All right," he said. "We can apparate there, to just outside the building. You've never been there, so you'd better apparate along with me."
He was still holding her, so he didn't let go as he concentrated heavily on St. Mungo's. After a couple of seconds, they both apparated, reappearing in front of the hospital. "Are you OK?" he asked her.
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Oct 18, 2008 22:58:00 GMT -5
"Please try not to make a habit of asking me that," Susie said. "I will let you know if I am not okay." Susie was a contradiction sometimes. She did tell people when something was wrong or when she needed help, but very rarely did she ever let them help her.
She didn't trust Zach right now to help her.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 18, 2008 23:06:35 GMT -5
Zachary had already noticed this odd little quirk of hers, but he was still perplexed by it. He was trying to let her know that he cared about her well-being, and since this was a sensation he was still unused to having, he didn't yet know any other way to express it.
"OK," he replied simply. He was silently relieved that he had managed to get her away from Thatcher and Tanya, and most of all, Justin. If things had gone as they should have, this is how it would have been... Just the two of them going to the hospital together to find out the truth. No interference from anyone else. Having the rest of the family involved complicated things considerably and he was still working out how to deal with it.
He took her hand in his and led her inside to the front reception desk. "Hello?" He said to the witch behind the desk. "I need to know where to go for... pregnancy issues."
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Post by Danielle Thomas on Oct 18, 2008 23:25:38 GMT -5
The nurse looked up and between them, her eyes lingering on Suzette as if judging what kind of pregnancy issues. Since she could see no bump, she nodded.
"Down the hall and to your left," she pointed. "You'll run into a woman, Dr. Thomas, and she'll take care of you. Come back if you have any problems or can't find her."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 18, 2008 23:39:08 GMT -5
Zachary nodded. Thanking the witch, he gave Susie's hand a quick squeeze before leading her down the halllway in the direction indicated. They turned left as directed and entered a large ward. Zach stopped and looked around for a moment before approaching a pretty brunette who seemed to be in charge. "Hello, are you Dr. Thomas?" he asked. "The reception witch directed me to speak with you."
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Post by Danielle Thomas on Oct 18, 2008 23:47:28 GMT -5
"That would be me," Danny said with a pleasant smile. She had a file in her hands, and she closed it and set it down to give them her full attention. She wasn't normally in this ward, but she loved the children, and never minded when they needed her here.
"How can I help you both?" She asked, making absolutely no assumptions about them. When the woman asked if they did paternity tests, she nodded. "Of course we do. Follow me and I'll show you into a room and I'll be right in, all right?"
She still passed no judgement... she was here to help, not to condemn. "Here we are. Make yourselves comfortable and I'll be right back."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 19, 2008 0:16:35 GMT -5
"Thank you," Zachary said. He let go of Susie's hand, knowing that she probably didn't want him to help her onto the little cot. She could be very independent when she wanted to be. It was one of the things he loved about her.
Silently, he settled on a little chair by the bed and waited for her to get comfortable.
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Oct 19, 2008 0:32:04 GMT -5
The doctor hadn't told her to change into a hospital gown or anything, and there didn't appear to be one nearby, so she didn't worry about it, and got onto the bed. She didn't lay back yet, too nervous to.
"I like her," she said.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 19, 2008 0:45:41 GMT -5
Zachary glanced back in the direction where Dr. Thomas had gone. "Yes, I agree," he said. "She seems quite capable and discreet." In another situation, he might have remarked about how lovely the girl was, a fact which had not escaped his notice. But she held no genuine interest for him except for the fact that she could help answer the question that was most prominent on his mind.
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Oct 19, 2008 0:56:56 GMT -5
Suzie nodded, folding her hands in her lap as she agreed with him. She took a deep breath. "This test kind of scares me," she admitted at length. "You would think, using magic, there'd be some other way to do this."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 19, 2008 1:31:24 GMT -5
Zachary nodded. "I was rather hoping there would be an easier way to do it, using magic. When Tanya started talking about needles, I got a little scared myself. But hopefully it won't take long, and we'll know the answer."
He hesitated, looking at her. There were still a lot of things he needed to tell her, of the things he had done and the kind of man he'd been before he met her. There was also the matter of what had happened just before he left; the reason why Taylor had so easily chased him away.
"Susie... when we first met, what was your impression of me?" he began slowly.
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Oct 19, 2008 1:38:19 GMT -5
Susie was quiet, not answering right away. "I wasn't sure what to make of you. You were kind and charming, but you also kind of struck me as a smooth womanizing bachelor."
Well, it was an honest answer, at least, and there must have been a reason he asked. "But you were intriguing and I was drawn to you."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 19, 2008 1:53:46 GMT -5
Zachary nodded. "Well, your first impression was right," he said. "I have been a womanizer in the past. In fact, I've done a lot of things in my past that I'm not proud of. And I just feel like... you need to know the truth about me, and you can decide what you want to do. Since Tanya and Thatcher aren't here, we can do the test privately, and even if it turns out to be mine... I don't want you to feel like you have no say in what's going to happen. I... I'm willing to... marry you, if you want to be with me. Or I'll let you go. Whatever you want. But you should know the truth about me before you make that decision. We can lie to my sister and brother, if that's what you want."
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Oct 19, 2008 2:03:52 GMT -5
Susie sighed. She wanted someone who would fight for her, and as much as she hated to admit it, Taylor would fight for her. Zachary was willing to let her go. Granted, she didn't want to feel like she was being held prisoner, but she wanted to feel... wanted.
"Whatever the answer is... I won't keep you from your own child, but it's probably best if I go back to Taylor."
She wanted a man who wanted to marry her... not one who would be willing.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 19, 2008 2:18:56 GMT -5
Zachary closed his eyes. That wasn't the answer he'd hoped she would give. He wanted her, but somehow he couldn't quite communicate that to her. This kind of situation--love, marriage, and commitment--all of it was just completely foreign to him. For a man with a past like his, it was harder than ever to admit to feelings like love. He hadn't yet told her that he loved her, and he wasn't sure he could force the words from his lips. And admitting that he wanted to marry her felt like a total betrayal of everything he'd ever been. He could almost imagine the other two members of the "unholy trinity" laughing at him for going and getting married.
He always knew all the right words to say when trying to get a woman into his bed. But getting her hand in marriage was a completely foreign concept to him, and he had no idea how to go about it.
"I don't want you to go back to him," he said. "But if that's your decision, I won't stop you. But let me make my case first."
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Oct 19, 2008 2:22:24 GMT -5
"You already have made your case, Zach," she said softly, trying hard not to cry again. She truly hated being pregnant if it made her cry so easily all the time.
She was going to explain to him that his willingness to let her go was his case, but couldn't bring herself to do it, so she waved him on. "But go ahead. Say what you will."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 19, 2008 11:27:56 GMT -5
In Zachary's mind, the mere fact that he was willing to marry her signified a huge change for him. Perhaps he had phrased it wrong in telling her that he was "willing" to marry her, instead of telling her that he "wanted" to marry her, but he didn't see the difference at this point. To him, "marry" was the key word, because it had never seriously slipped past his lips without a negative qualifier. Yet he was aware of the helplessness she had felt back at the house. He'd felt it, too. The idea that people wholly unconnected to the situation, like Thatcher and Tanya, thought it appropriate to make the decisions concerning their lives without giving them a say in the matter, was just as frustrating to him as it was to her.
"Until I met you, Susie, I never stayed in one place for more than two months at a time," Zachary explained. "I'd been all over the country, just passing through in search of... I guess I didn't even know what I was really searching for. You were right when you thought I was a womanizer... but I was more than that. I was also a gambler, and an occasional con artist. I wandered from game to game, and from one scam to another. When I got to California, I had Taylor in my sights. I'd run into a former associate of his in Vegas, and he told me all about Taylor's wealth and power. And I decided to take him down. I don't know why, really... It's not like I really needed the money. I could always win it at the tables, and of course, I already come from wealth and power, as you've seen. But I was bored and needed a challenge. So I started out trying to pull a scam on him that would have caused him to lose a very large sum of money, and also to lose some of his reputation in the wizarding world. I could explain the details, but... it's complicated. At any rate, part of the plan... involved you. That was why I began working for your father, to get close to you. But then something happened... I fell for you."
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Oct 19, 2008 13:24:15 GMT -5
"You were *using* me to scam my fiance?" She asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "No, please explain the details to me. I can handle complicated."
Forget that fact that he said he fell for her... what reached her ears and what registered in her mind were not happy thoughts. She was too hurt to really listen to him. It was much easier to say you were angry than to admit you were hurt.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 19, 2008 18:11:17 GMT -5
Zachary sighed and looked away from her. "I wasn't using you exactly," he said. "I thought you might have additional information that I could use, and I wanted to stick close to you to see if you were a weakness to him. But, Susie... Sleeping with you was never part of my plan. In fact, after we started to get close, I abandoned my plan altogether. I stayed for you. I should have left... then none of this would have happened. But right from the beginning, you caught my attention the way no other woman ever did. You were the reason I never pulled off the con on Taylor... I couldn't do it to you."
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Oct 20, 2008 0:29:27 GMT -5
Suzie shook her head, unsure of what really to say to him. She was angry and hurt and alltogether untrusting, but he was saying things she wanted to hear, wasn't he?
"Zach, if there was no baby, and I hadn't come back for you... you wouldn't have come back for me, would you? You wouldn't have fought for me."
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