Jackie looked up at him, really taking him in. He was so much older, less troubled. He looked to be stable, kinder. She then realized she knew nothing about his life. "I want to know you again, Steven. We have never been friends. We've been tolerant of each other and then in a relationship, but we've never been just friends." She said.
"You want to be friends with me?" He asked, confused.
"Yes. I believe it's the perfect thing to get us past, well the past. I'm not going back to New York. I can't, not with Dash being gone. So I'm moving back here, I'm going to buy a house and move the store. I'm going to raise my daughter here, with my family." She said.
"That's the greatest idea I've ever heard." He told her.
Over the next two weeks Jackie and Steven spent everyday together. Jackie went to Grooves where she got to see Angie and William again. She Also met Steven's girlfriend and cat. They did everything, they spent their evening looking for a house and finally found a cottage on the out skirts of town, then Steven and the rest of the gang helped her set up housekeeping.
Jackie's doctor had decided to go ahead and take the baby at the end of the week, so they were hurrying to finish the nursery. The rest of the gang had left and Jackie and Steven were sitting in her floor eating pizza.
Steven looked around the room taking in the work they had done. "It looks amazing in here." He said.
Jackie nodded her head looking around. "But we have a way to go before we sleep." She told him. She placed the crust of her pizza on the box and raised her hands. "Here help me up." She said.
Steven stood and moved to stand in front of her. He grabbed her hands and pulled while she pushed up with a grunt. Jackie stumbled, almost falling over. Steven grabbed her waist and pulled her to him, steading her. Jackie laughed and looked up to Steven, meeting his smoldering gaze. Suddenly Jackie became intensely aware of their proximity. Nearly ever inch of their bodies where touching. Steven had one hand on Jackie's waist and the other was tangled in the hair on her shoulder. They stood intertwined with one another, their breath hitched, coming in heated waves of familiarity. Their bodies knew this stance, it was imprinted into their souls. It didn't matter that ten years had past or how many people laid next to them, no one truly knew their souls like each other.
This revaluation became increasingly more apparent the longer they stood there. Steven could not believe he had lived so long without her, how had he done it?
Steven was just about to close the divide between them when Jackie suddenly doubled over and let out an agonizing scream.
"Jackie?" Steven asked, fear eclipsing every other emotion. "Jackie, what is it? Jackie, what's wrong?" He repeated.
When she didn't answer he picked her up and ran to the car.
Steven drove as fast as he could while Jackie stayed hunched over holding her belly.
She had never been so scared in her life, not even after she woke up after the accident. She was terrified of losing her daughter. She had been the one thing keeping Jackie together.
Steven looked over at Jackie who met his worried eyes. Jackie's screamed for him to hurry, she was unable to voice it but he knew.
Once they arrived at the hospital Steven parked in the door then hoped out and ran inside. He yelled at the front desk attendant for help then ran back to car to get Jackie. Steven watched as two nurses and a doctor lifted Jackie out if the car and run inside. "Move this!" One of the nurses shouted, pointing to the Camino then she run inside to join the others.
Steven stood there a moment longer unable to move. He got back in the car and leaned over to shut the passenger door. When he sat back up he realized her was coated in a warm, wet substance. He touched his blue jean button down and when he turned his fingers over into the light he saw it was blood. It was so dark that he hadn't even noticed Jackie was bleeding. He turned the car over and went to park it.
Once he parked he ran back in and the nurse ran out to get him. He followed her through double doors and up an elevator before they came to a rooms where there where a few other families waiting. The nurse informed him that he would have to wait until the doctor came to get him to see Jackie.
Steven watched the nurse leave as he stood there helplessly. He sat down a moment, in a chair nearby. He leaned over putting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He sat there replaying what had happened, then suddenly he was praying. He didn't even believe in God, but there he was praying for Jackie and the baby.
After Steven was finish he looked around the room, he walked over to a phone station by the door and picked up the receiver to call Eric and Donna.
The phone rung three times before a groggy Eric answered. "Hello?" He asked.
"Eric?" Steven asked, his voice coming out strangled.
"Hyde?" Eric asked, his voice thick with worry. He hadn't heard Steven this upset since after Jackie left and Eric got a call from Steven from jail. "Hyde is that you? Are you okay?" He asked.
Steven wasn't sure what to say, so he just started with what happened. "...Then the nurse told me to sit here and do nothing." He explained.
Eric told Hyde that they would get someone to come over to stay with the kids and him and Donna would be right there. True to his word, Eric and Donna walked into the waiting room an hour later.
Donna had been telling herself Jackie would be fine until she walked in and saw Steven covered in blood. She couldn't keep her tears in any longer. Steven went over what had happened again and Eric asked if the doctor had been in. Just as he asked the doctor walked up to them looking somber. Steven jumped up and Donna tried to prepare for the worst.
"Burkhart family?" The doctor asked?
"Yes!" Steven and Donna said in unison,
The doctor took a seat next to Steven and lean in. "Okay, I'm Dr. Willis, the attending emergency OB. I worked on Jackie." He told them.
"Is she okay? What happened?" Donna asked.
Dr. Willis shook his head. "Yes. Jackie suffered what is called placenta abruptio which means the placenta breaks away from the wall of the uterus too early, before the baby is born. It's a good thing you took action as fast as you did. Placenta abruptio is in often cases fatal to both the mother and the baby." He explained.
"How did it happen?" Eric asked.
"Well no one really know what causes it, however, we are certain it has something to do with her accident." He told. "But everything is okay now. Jackie is resting, she'll most likely sleep for the rest of the night. She's lost a lot of blood and the baby is doing incredibly well, she seems to be very strong. If someone would like to stay the night with Jackie feel free, but just one person." He said.
"Can we see the baby? Has Jackie named her?" Donna asked.
"Yes, she's in the nursery feel free to go buy, the ladies there will show you her. As for her name there is not one yet, Jackie is out cold." He repeated.
Once Dr. Willis had left, Donna and Eric went to the nursery and Steven decided to stay the night with Jackie. When he got to her room he went in and saw her sleeping in the bed. He hated seeing her like this and there had been way too much of it lately.
