Generation 2, Chapter 23 - In the Nick of Time

Adam intended only to use his father's painkillers to get him thru the day with his son but as time went by he found he was using them to, get thru the days leading up to Brian's wedding. He knew something was wrong but he didn't want to disappoint his brother by not being a part of the wedding.

"Adam are you alright?" Peter asked coming up behind him.

"Yeah Dad," Adam said rubbing his shoulder "I must have slept wrong, my shoulder hurts."

"You look a little pale," Peter peered at him in concern. "Are you experiencing any abdominal pain?"

Shaking his head Adam moved towards the door "I'd tell you if I were" he mumbled.

Staring after his son Peter sighed. He felt arms wrap around him "What's wrong?" Jean asked.

"I don't know. Maybe nothing," Peter said turning towards her. "I just have a feeling Adam's hiding something from me."

Looking at Peter she asked "What makes you think that?"

Shrugging "he's in pain and denying it. He's so pale and listless lately," Peter explained.

"Has anything shown up on his exams?"

"That's another thing, he's rescheduled the last couple of checkups because of the wedding." Peter stopped as Jean put her hands to his face to calm him. "I think something's wrong and he's not telling me."

Biting her lip Jean said "you may be right. I..." she hesitated "I ... this may have nothing to do with what's going on but ..... I noticed that your old painkillers were missing from the medicine cabinet. Did you throw them out?"

"What?" Peter asked blankly "Oh I forgot all about those Did I still have some left?"

"Yes," Jean sighted. "I meant to throw them out but never got around to it."

"You think Adam's taking them don't you?" Peter asked.

Nodding she said "it makes sense doesn't it? If he's in pain and afraid to admit it he would take them. He doesn't want to disappoint Brian or his son again."

"That stupid idiot," Peter fumed "wait until I get my hands on him."

Grabbing his hand Jean restrained him "Peter don't, not today. Let him have this, let him be there for his brother."

"But ..."

"I know, I do. It's dangerous but it's obvious this means a lot to him." Looking into Peter's eyes she continued "don't you think he knows the risk he's taking?"

"Yes and he obviously isn't thinking straight," Peter grumbled.

"Maybe," Jean argued "but try to understand that he feels like a catastrophe waiting to happen and he's afraid of disappointing the ones he loves. Can't we let him have this?"

"I want to say no, the sooner we find out what's wrong the better," Peter looked at her and relented. "I know what your telling me. Adam's been depressed over the time he's missed with his son and family. None of it's been his fault and I wish there was something that could be done to help him. We'll give him the day but at the first sign of trouble I'm taking Adam to the hospital. The thing that worries me the most is we don't know how long he's been masking the pain."

During the wedding Peter watched over Adam like a hawk, anxious he might miss something. As the day progressed and Adam appeared to be ok, Peter's worry lessened allowing him to enjoy Brian's wedding

The morning after the wedding, Adam woke up to the feeling his insides were exploding. Trying to sit up he succeeded in rolling off the bed to the floor. As he fell he knocked over the night stand and his alarm clock went flying and crashed into the wall.

Peter woke with a jerk at the sound of something crashing, he got up to investigate it. Coming into Adam's room he found Adam lying on the floor moaning. Rushing to his side Peter felt for his pulse, weak and rapid, he was barely conscious. "Son?" Peter asked "son can you hear me?"

"Dad?" Adam croaked.

"Can you tell me where it hurts?" Peter asked as he carefully turned Adam over so he could check for abdominal tenderness. Stopping when Adam cried out in pain as he pressed down on his side. "How long have you been in pain?"

Biting his lip to keep from screaming Adam concentrated on answering "couple of, couple of weeks," he managed.

"You've been taking my old painkillers haven't you?" Peter asked trying to get as much information from Adam before he passed out. Adam nodded. "How's the pain in the shoulder?"

"Worse," Adam panted.

Peter swore under his breath. He should have taken Adam to the hospital sooner, when he first mentioned the shoulder pain. He's probably been bleeding internally since yesterday, god how could he have been so stupid? He should never have let himself be talked into letting Adam get thru the wedding.

After several hours, Peter was allowed into Adam's room. He sat in a chair beside Adam's bed waiting for Adam to open his eyes. Adam stirred in his sleep, moaning. Reaching out Peter held Adam's hand and gently wiped the hair from his son's forehead. His heart ached at what he had to tell him. How would he take the knowledge of losing a child, even one that never had a chance to live?

Leaning back in the uncomfortable chair, Peter drifted off to sleep. Awakening a couple of hours later to find Adam awake and staring at him. "Good morning," Adam said in a hoarse whisper.

Glancing at his watch Peter yawned "more like evening," he mumbled.

 

"Whatever," Adam said looking away.

"Why son, why'd you do it?" Peter asked leaning forward.

Shrugged Adam continued to stare at the far corner of the room unable to meet his father's caring gaze.

"You could have died, do you know that?" Peter asked his frustration, hurt and anger mixed in his voice as he spoke.

"I'm sorry," Adam said focusing on the dark corner. He knew this conversation was coming and he would have done anything to avoid it. Adam spent what felt like hours watching his dad sleep in the chair beside him trying to prepare what he was going to say. Now that his dad was awake, Adam had no idea what to say. What could he say? That he put his life in danger because he wanted to spend the day with his son. That Brian's wedding was more important than his life? It all sounded so stupid now.

Peter sighed so loud Adam glanced in his direction curious. "Son I understand, believe me I do. Why do you think I put off seeing the doctor when I was so sick? I knew something was wrong but I wanted to pretend there wasn't. We all do stupid things when faced with the alternative of disappointing the people we love."

"I just wanted to give Heath what he wanted, my time and attention. I was going to tell you,  then there was the wedding. I didn't want to disappoint Brian or have him postpone the wedding again on account of me." Adam struggled to sit up, finding it difficult to move.

Peter reached out to assist him asking "didn't you think your son and brother would have understood?"

"Yes, no .... I don't know. I didn't want to disappoint them. It seems like every time I promise to do something, something comes along and makes it impossible." Adam looked down into his lap picking at the blanket.

"Don't you think Brian and Heath would rather be disappointed than have you dead?" Adam's head jerked up as his father's words hit home.

"It wasn't that bad was it?" Adam asked fear gripping his heart. For the first time he noticed the heart monitor, the tubes and needles. Then he noticed the tired, strained look on his father's face and he had his answer whispering "I'm sorry."

"I know," Peter said gently holding Adam's hand in both of this. "If I hadn't heard you fall it may have been too late to save you." Peter took a deep breath before continuing "you were bleeding internally ..."

"From what?" Adam interrupted "I was in pain but I don't remember getting hurt."

"You remember I said the aliens didn't allow enough time for you to adjust to the modifications they made?"

"Yeah I remember but what does that have to do with it?" he asked in confusion.

"Do you know what an ectopic pregnancy is?" Peter asked

Thinking for a moment Adam nodded "that's where an egg implants in the fallopian tubes instead of the uterus. But I thought that wasn't a possibility since I don't have either."

"Well I was wrong," Peter smiled at Adam's look of shock. "You have the alien equivalent to a uterus where the embryo should have been. Since the aliens hadn't waited long enough there were small holes in the wall that allowed an egg to slip thru and it lodged in your abdomen. When it burst it caused internal damage resulting in severe blood loss."

"I lost the baby didn't I?" Adam asked his voice full of sadness.

"Yes I'm sorry," Peter confirmed "there was no way to save it once it attached to the abdominal wall." Squeezing Adam's hand he looked into his son's dark eyes "son there's something else and I'm not sure you'll like the decision I made."

Wetting his lips with a mouth gone dry Adam asked unsure whether he wanted to know or not "what else? What decision?"

"You were having twins. I'm not sure if that was what the aliens intended or not but the twin to the one that was lost is still in the uterus equivalent." Patting Adam's hand Peter continued "The embryo was stressed out and struggling but it's doing better now. It appears that it sensed something was wrong and was doing it's best to help you."

"What? I don't understand," Adam blurted out looking at his father surprise and shock mixed on his face.

Pushing Adam down to the bed Peter told him "I doubt you would have survived as long as you had if it weren't for it's help. The aliens have remarkable regenerative powers and the embryo was tapping into that and endangering itself to save you. Up until I learned this I was all for terminating it." Peter stopped to look at Adam to gauge how he was taking what he was saying.   "I didn't have the heart after learning how it was struggling to save your life at the cost of it's own."

"Was that the decision you thought I might not like?" Adam asked putting a hand to his stomach.

"Yes, I thought you might have wanted to end both pregnancies." Sighing Peter said "I didn't make the decision on my own." This was what concerned Peter the most. He wasn't sure how Adam would react knowing he involved his young son. "Heath was really worried about you and upset about the alien baby that hurt his dad. I had to tell him what was happening. I explained that it wasn't the baby's fault that it wasn't where it was supposed to be. Heath being his stubborn self insisted it was a bad alien out to hurt you. So I told him about the other baby that was trying to help you." Looking into Adam's face Peter smiled "You know what he said? Heath told me it was ok to help the good alien baby because that was what his daddy would want."

***

For the remainder of the pregnancy Adam was  on bed rest.  He delivered a baby girl six and half weeks early. After much deliberation Adam named his little girl Irissa May Van Winkle.

Coming home from the hospital Heath insisted on holding his baby sister.  With Irissa in his arms Heath whispered to her "thank you for saving our daddy's life and for being a good alien baby."

 

Brian's Wedding Pictures