Saving Grace

And so they're falling...

"Could you tell me what happened to Dr Sharpe?"

"Not unless you're her legal guardian or a family member." She regurgitated the receptions script and Max felt himself close to breaking a sweat.

"Um...I'm her boss and very worried about her. Does that count?" he presses on.

"If unicorns were real maybe but unfortunately not. So if you'll excuse me, I have an ER to run." She said, finally setting down her clipboard and turning to walk away.

"But..."

"I'm sorry boss. If you want any information your gonna have to ask her yourself." And those were her last words to him before she stepped behind a curtain to tend to a patient.

Max's shoulders sagged in disappointment. He doubted Sharpe would speak to him about the situation given the current tension that exists in their relationship, but he was really eager to help her. Weirdly enough, he felt responsible for her. Perhaps it was because he helped her and was there during a very important moment in her life.

He felt like that moment connected them.

So as he trudged back to her room he felt useless at his lack of power to help her. He walked in with his head held down and missed the first signs of her waking up.

"Max?" she asked, groggy, and his head shot up. He zipped to her side, asking if she's OK.

"I've been better." She said, trying to sit up. She moved slowly as if she were either too physically weak to move or in a tremendous amount of pain, so he automatically feared the worst.

"What... what happened?" he asked tentatively, his eyes pleading for her not to shut him out.

She opened her mouth to respond but instead she breathed out, unsure whether or not she was ready to talk about it. Her hands moved to her stomach mechanically and she sighed once again.

"I'm fine. We both are."

This time, it was Max who sighed out but in relief rather than dread.

"Are you sure?" he asked and she shook her head, still rubbing her belly like her hands had the power to protect the little life inside it from the outside world. She looked up at him, teary eyed.

"We're alright, but for a moment, for a split second, we weren't." she whispered, her voice shaky with fear. Max's eyes softened.

"And in that moment, all I could think was... was...."

Would it be so bad if it happened?

She was out of her mind, clearly. Her anxiety about having to raise a child all by herself triggered some form of twisted cowardice within her.

Helen felt ashamed. She didn't deserve this baby. She wasn't ready for it. But this was her last chance. It was literally now or never.

"That doesn't matter anymore." Max comforted softly.

"What matters now is that you're both OK. And how you move forward from here so that you're both safe." He said and though he couldn't possibly have known exactly what she was feeling or thinking, his words managed to comfort her.

Max was right. What she thought or didn't think didn't matter then. What mattered was that she had a baby to protect. And for the sake of that baby, she couldn't afford to let herself be drowned in a sea of self pity and guilt. She needed to get herself together and focus. Her life was about to change, drastically, and though she'd prepared for it before, this time was different.

This time she didn't have the love of her life standing behind her to catch her if she slipped. She didn't have someone to lean on.

All she had was herself and...