MELOKIA
MEL
For two days, Jason had called and texted Mel and she hadn't responded to anything. She had to admit, she was a little disappointed when he didn't just barge into the apartment, unannounced, in a frantic state. Not that she was baiting him. Maybe he just wasn't as predictable as she thought he was.
In her defense, she had been busy. After her night with Jason, Mel's mind ran wild and she felt energized again. She spent an entire day apartment hunting, found a rental she liked, and even put down a deposit. It wouldn't be ready to move into yet for awhile, but she was thrilled at the progress she was making.
She thought so much about Jason. Not a minute went by when he wasn't on her mind. It was weird. So weird. Just this time last week she was pining over Taylor. It didn't make any sense. Then she thought about it some more. Maybe she wasn't exactly pining over Taylor. Maybe Jason had been right--a thought she'd been thinking constantly since he'd said it--maybe she'd been pining over who she and Taylor used to be. Not who they were now.
Mel remembered the first night she ever met Jason. It was her favorite memory and she revisited it constantly. All the signs were there. All of them. The way she seemed to take a hit upon first sight of him. The way she'd turned around and hid in the hallway after she saw him--embarrassing as that was. He'd smiled at her and she knew she was finished. He had her. Right in the moment when their eyes met, he'd had her. Who knew she would meet the love of her life right there in her dead husband's living room?
Wait, her what?
Mel was stunned by the thought. It wasn't possible. It just wasn't. It hadn't even been enough time, it was crazy. Mel and Taylor had only been broken up, what, two months? And she was already smitten with another man? It had to be the hormones. And the loneliness. It HAD to be. Maybe if she just called Taylor--maybe if she saw him--she would be in her right mind again.
Except that smitten didn't seem to be a strong enough word for how she felt. Attracted, maybe? No. Not even close. In a desperate attempt to straighten her feelings out, she let the past few years flash before her eyes. She loved Taylor. She knew she did. There was absolutely nothing that happened with Jason, besides sex, that would cause her to be so dysfunctional all of a sudden. Seriously.
Except for that first night when he'd kissed her for the first time--more fireworks had gone off during that kiss than anything she'd ever felt before. Except for when he defended her against Taylor that night for making her cry and he called her his girl. Except for when he taught her who she was. Except for the way he showed her how to feel her way through life instead of just living it. Except for how nothing she did ever seemed to phase him, like they were instantly in sync at all times. Except for when he told her that they'd come into each other's lives for a reason.
Except for an exchange she recalled the morning after they first met. He'd said to her, "You can't let your past or what your future might hold dictate your right now. If you feel it, do it. It's the only way you'll ever truly know." She'd asked him what. And he'd responded with, "Everything."
She stared across the room at the wall, eyes wide. He was--he was her everything. She did love him. Not just as a friend, but sincerely and truly--loved him. She was in love with Jason Kamealoha. She had been all this time. All this...time...
So it had been only two months since she'd left Taylor. It was apparent that love just didn't wait.
It couldn't wait.
-----------------------
Mel swore she wasn't stalking him. Well, maybe just a little. And she felt a little nervous barging in on what she felt like was his personal "man" time, but she couldn't wait any longer. She was ready to burst and she needed to say what she needed to say before she had second thoughts.
Even though she knew she wouldn't.
After all, he HAD checked in on Foursquare, so...it wasn't technically stalking, anyway...oh, who cared?
She walked into the gym and she halted for a moment. The atmosphere wasn't what she expected. She expected a typical gym, with machines and weights and treadmills. Instead, she was greeted by a boxing ring and various sizes of punching bags. Heavy metal music blared in the speakers and several men littered the gym, engrossed in their own workouts.
She was in no-woman's land.
Nervously she approached the desk as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed He-Man type smacked his gum and smiled at her. "Well, well, then. What can I do for YOU?" he asked in a thick Boston accent.
"Um, I'm looking for someone."
His smile widened. "Looks like you found me."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "NOT you."
"You sure you're in the right place, doll? I mean, look around..."
"He's here."
"He who?"
"Jason."
He-Man grinned again and smacked his gum for a moment before spoke. "Ah. Jason. Shoulda known. The man all the other men come here to try to look like."
Mel smiled and was oddly at ease all of a sudden. "Your spokesmodel, huh?"
He shrugged. "Of sorts. He's good people."
"So where is he?"
"Who's askin'?"
"Mel."
He-Man's expression changed. "Oh." Then he tossed his head off to the side. "Hey! Donnie! Where's Hollywood?"
"Hittin' a bag!" A distant voice responded.
"Tell him he's got company!"
"Company?"
"Yeah, company! Stop being a putz and just do your job, huh?" Then he looked sheepishly at Mel. "It's hard to find good help these days, yanno?"
Mel nodded.
The distant voice came back. "He says who is it?"
He-Man smiled at Mel for a moment and then turned his head again. "Melokia."
"What? No shit?"
"No shit, just do ya' job!"
"Hold on, I gotta see this!"
Suddenly, Mel was pissed. Annoyed. Her blood began to boil. "Melo--Melowhat? What the fuck are you talking about?" A dark-haired guy in a white t-shirt and a backwards ball cap approached to gawk at her. She nodded toward him. "The fuck are YOU looking at?"
"Whoa..." Hat Guy said. "So you're the one..."
Mel looked hard at Hat Guy then back at He-Man. "The fuck is he talking about?"
"Don't worry, he's harmless," He-Man said. "We're all men in here, we talk about our bodies. Look around, body building is what we do. Anyway, sometimes tattoos come up and Hollywood's got some impressive ones. But YOU are the only tattoo he won't talk about."
Confused and frustrated, Mel shifted her weight impatiently. "Yanno what, this is stupid. I'll fucking find him myself."
She shoved her way past Hat Guy as both he and He-Man called their objections out to her. "Hey, gorgeous, you can't just barge in on a training session like that--"
She stopped and whipped her head around. "Do not EVER call me gorgeous. Only HE calls me that."
-----------------------------------------------------------
JASON
Jason knew he should have been lifting that day. Actually, there were a lot of things he'd slacked off on recently that he needed to pick back up on before it was too late. But after the past couple of days, he had aggressions that desperately needed to come out and lifting weights just wouldn't cut it. So he took it out on the punching bag in front of him with a vengeance. The trainer holding the bag looked a little nervous and Jason had only nearly missed his head a couple of times. He would have been a little more sorry if his brain hadn't been so damn clouded.
Desperate for clarity, he had grown increasingly aggressive with the bag when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye that surprised him. As he glanced around the gym, all eyes were on her as Mel stood in wait for him in tight, pastel mini dress and a fitted, black leather jacket that appeared to be more fashion than utility.
"Hey, uh, let's take five, okay?" Jason said to the trainer, who glanced behind him at Mel and then walked away briskly.
Snatching a towel from the side of the empty boxing ring next to him, he wiped his face and slid it around his neck as Mel approached him hesitantly. He rested himself against the edge of the ring and crossed his arms over his chest. "What's this all about?"
"I'm sorry," she said, nervously, as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "I, um, I shouldn't have just barged in on you like this."
His expression was stern. "Is everything okay?"
"Tell me about Melokia," she said quietly.
Annoyed, he sighed and nodded toward the front. "They say something?"
Mel nodded. "What's Melokia? Why are they saying you won't talk about it? Acting like it's some kind of holy grail or something?"
"Because it's the most painful tattoo I've ever gotten."
He watched her eyes glance over his body. "Well--what is it?"
Sighing again, he turned his arm over, palm up, to show her his inner bicep. Approaching him, she leaned in to get a closer look at the small print. "What does it mean?"
Searching her eyes for a moment, he responded, "Melody in Hawaiian."
A small gasp escaped from her and her eyes widened as she took a step backward from him.
Defeated, he crossed his arms back over his chest. "That right there is why I never wanted you to know about it."
Fidgeting, Mel glanced down at her hands, then back up at Jason. "Jason--look, I know that over these past few years, I've been difficult to be around...I guess...and I've made decisions that I thought were right at the time. I've been selfish, hard-headed, and unfair. Unfair to you. I don't want to be unfair to you anymore."
Jason ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "Mel, honestly--I don't really know how much more of this I can take."
"Let me finish," she said quietly. And then she continued, speaking slowly and carefully. "I've been unfair to myself, too. The things I've done, the decisions I've made--I fought so hard to turn my life into what I thought it was supposed to be--what I'd convinced myself that the only way was. What I was meant for. You know?"
"You followed me all the way to the gym to tell me this?"
"I lied, Jason. I lied to everyone. To myself. To you. I mean, I didn't know it then, but I know it now. You--you go through life and things happen. Fate comes in--or what you think is fate--and you choose to take that path because that's where you think you're supposed to be. And I fought. I fought SO HARD, harder than I've ever fought in my life, to make my life what it was supposed to be. How I thought fate intended it. And then--and then a curveball or two gets thrown into the mix--"
"Mel, I don't really need all this flowery bullshit. Just say what you gotta say and get it over with so I can get back to my workout."
She appeared taken aback by his tone and at this point, he didn't care. He had finally grown tired of everything being dragged out for so long, he was just ready to take the beating and get it over with.
"What's the matter with you?" she asked him, finally.
Not really caring to open this can of worms, he grew agitated at the confrontation. "A few days ago, when you asked me to come out with you--that night was perfect. Everything was perfect--too good to be true and I should have known it would be. And I allowed myself to just go with it, no holds barred, as always, despite feeling that something just wasn't quite right. The entire night, something was off. I figured it out when I asked you a couple of very important questions and you dodged them both. For two days, you've dodged my calls and ignored my texts. And then you show up out of nowhere? What the hell do you expect me to think?"
"Jason--"
"But I guess, in a way, these two days without you have been a blessing in disguise because it HAS given me time to think. It's like--I finally shake you--I finally get to the point where I might be okay, and then, goddammit, I just keep coming right back for more. I take beating after beating after beating and, honestly, there's just so much a man can take before he reaches his breaking point. So just go ahead, skip all the extra bullshit and say what you came here to say, so that I can FINALLY move on with my life."
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She stared into his eyes as if she thought he might tear her head off. After a moment, she blinked her eyes. "Um, I--uh, I--I came here to--Jason, I--"
"Any day now," he pressed.
"I'm in love with you," she blurted quickly.
Now it was Jason's turn to be stunned. This was absolutely not the way he expected this to go. He instantly felt horrible about the things he had just said to her, a preemptive defense mechanism against the rejection he just knew was coming. But--but this...?
Wiping the sweat from his lip, he said, "I don't think you know what you're saying right now."
"I've never been more serious about anything in my life," she responded quietly. "But it--it looks like I might be too late."
He felt his body start to fidget, unable to keep still. He had no idea what to say. These were words he'd longed to hear from her for several years now and now that he had--well, shit, what did he do now? "Is this...is this for real?"
"I am head over heels, madly, crazy in love with you. You weren't supposed to happen. You weren't supposed to come into my life and change it so drastically the way you did. You weren't supposed to make me happy and you weren't supposed to make me miss you. You weren't supposed to make me feel safe, you weren't supposed to make me feel at ease, and you weren't supposed to make me feel like the only woman in the world. You weren't supposed to smile at me the way you do and you weren't supposed to look at me the way you look at me. You weren't supposed to let me be myself. You weren't supposed to let me be free. But most of all--" Her voice cracked under the pressure of her emotions. "--you were never supposed to let me go. Never. I love YOU. YOU. And I'm sorry that I've been SO blind, but for the first time in my life, my eyes are finally open. I can see. And--and the truth is, I saw forever in your eyes the moment I rounded the corner that first night. That's why I hid. Because I knew. Because I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that I could never be without you, but I was blind and I was stupid and I was WRONG. It's you, Jason. It's been you this whole time. It's why I fought to keep you. And it's why I let you go. And it's why I need you now. It always comes back to us. You know it does."
Jason was speechless. He studied her eyes hard and he was speechless.
"Jason," she pleaded quietly. "I'm standing here, openly offering you my heart. Freely and completely. I belong to you, I'm yours. I'm YOUR Melokia. Please don't tell me I'm too late."
Finally, he spoke. "I dreamed about this day. This very moment and now that I'm in it--I don't know what the fuck to do."
"Give in. Trust me. All I ever wanted was for someone to trust me. I promise I'm not a bad person."
Searching her face one more time, he said, "I play for keeps. I don't play stupid games, going back and forth, leaving and coming back. It's not my style and I won't tolerate it. We have problems, we deal with it. We don't bounce around all over the world running away from each other. You pack your bags and you leave me one time, it's over. You either love me or you don't. Understood?"
Quietly, she nodded.
He took her face in his hands and looked down at her. "When love is true, you never leave," he said softly. "And I love you. SO much. I promise you, you will never be alone." Then he smiled and let his hand find her stomach. "This little guy and I--we gotta take care of our little mama."
She smiled as tears filled her eyes. "I'll be good to you, I promise. I'll never leave you. You'll never regret--"
"Stop trying to sell me on you. Just let a man recover from his own shock, won't you?"
"So, um, are you finished with your meetings and stuff?"
His eyes darted around before he answered her. "No, actually, I have one more."
"Really? When?"
Sweeping her off her feet, he scooped her up in his arms and she giggled at the sudden action. Grinning, he began to carry her. "Right now. With you."
Her eyes widened as he headed for the locker room doors. "WHAT?"
"Hey, Hollywood!" He-Man hollered from the front. "Hey, no funny business in there! No broads allowed!"
Ignoring him, Jason carried Mel into the locker room and nodded toward the door at the couple of guys that meandered around. "Scram," he commanded.
Locking the door behind the men, he carried her over to the counter and sat her down, resting his hands on either side of her and leaning in closer. "I always wanted to do this."
She looked around them. "In the locker room?"
"It's one of my fantasies."
Mel's eyes widened. "Is this actually gonna happen?" she squeaked out.
He kissed her lips and then he smiled. "You're goddamn right it is. Just give me two seconds in the shower, don't go anywhere."
Glancing at the showers and back at him, she shook her head. "I can't wait that long." Throwing her arms around his neck, she pulled him aggressively against her and shoved her tongue down his throat.
-------------------
Jason sat in a chair in the waiting area as Mel signed in for her appointment. He couldn't focus on the magazine. Just a few days prior, his dreams came true. And they seemed to come true again and again every single day after. He had no idea how to be domestic. He'd never even lived with a woman. So while some parts of this newfound relationship scared him to death, the rest just seemed so easy.
He glanced up from his magazine when he heard the tone in Mel's voice change at the reception desk. "Honey, do you have a staring problem?" she said to someone behind the desk.
Jason's eyes widened and he put the magazine down and stood up. This could be bad. As he walked up to the desk, Mel was saying, "I realize that he's gorgeous, but do you really need to make it so damn obvious?"
From behind the desk, several pairs of shocked eyes were directed at Mel. Jason sighed and leaned over on the desk, his face close to Mel's, and asked quietly, "Honey, what are you doing? What's all this about?"
"She's staring at you. And being incredibly rude."
"Well don't you think maybe you're being just as rude by pointing it out?"
Mel took in a deep breath and glared at him. But she didn't object. Then he raised his eyebrows and subtly nodded toward the women behind the desk.
Glaring at him once more, she took a deep breath and held her head high as she faced the women. "I, um, I apologize. For my...sudden outburst. I am pregnant--obviously--and sometimes my filter is a little...off..."
"Just sometimes?" Jason muttered as he glanced around behind them.
"Oh just can it," she hissed at him. "I did what you wanted me to do!"
He led her back to where he was sitting and sat her down beside him, forcing her to look at him. "What was that all about?" he whispered.
"Exactly what I called her out on. It's pretty cut and dry."
"But why do that to that poor girl?"
"Because it was rude!" she whispered back. "Because she was ogling my man, RIGHT in front of me. Like, 'Oh, ha ha, she's pregnant, but he wouldn't have to deal with that with me!' "
He jerked his head back in disbelief. "Are you serious? I mean, are you hearing yourself right now?"
"I'm a woman, I know how they think!"
"Mel whether she was thinking that or not is not the point. You don't--you don't have to feel like you have to fight to keep me. Okay?"
"It's not--"
"It is. I've seen you do this before. And that's not me. It's not--it's not us. Okay? Hell, if I had a problem with every man that looked at you, I'd be in prison right now."
"But, Jason--"
"No. I am yours. Just yours. And I know you've been through it and I know there'll probably be some--well, some things we'll need to deal with--and if I have to tell you several times a day, every day of the week, I will. But this right here?" he said, signaling toward the reception desk. "That's not us. You're with me. You're safe, you're secure. Okay?"
Mel looked up at him and nodded. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
Jason smiled as he sat back in his chair. "Don't apologize to ME."
Mel sat back in hers, as well. "She was still rude," she pouted.
He took her hand and raised it to his lips. "Pick your battles, dear. Pick your battles."
--------------------
When her doctor came into the room, a short, bald man with glasses, Mel was all smiles. Jason stood next to the exam table as he introduced himself to the couple. "Well, then, Miss Banks," he said as he turned the pages in his chart. "It's been awhile since I've seen you. It appears you've missed a couple of appointments."
Mel glanced nervously down at her feet that hung off the side of the table. "Um, I admit, I haven't been the most well-behaved."
Jason narrowed his eyes at the doctor's accusatory tone, his hackles already starting to raise. "She's here now, though," he said.
"That, she is. So, how are things?"
Mel looked confused. "Um, things?"
"Yes. Things. How are things?"
"Things as in..."
"How's pregnancy been treating you?"
Mel's eyes widened in realization. "Oh! Pregnancy. Um, pregnancy's been...I don't know, how is it supposed to be?"
The doctor chuckled. "How has your body been reacting?"
"My body hates me, that much I can tell you. As you know, I didn't even know I was pregnant until you told me. Um...at first all I wanted was pudding. Any pudding, any flavor, I couldn't get enough of it. Right now it's fruit. I can't drink enough water, I pee all the time, I have to go bra shopping, and my boobs hurt. I randomly throw up, just, whenever. That comes and goes. Sometimes I can go days without getting sick, sometimes I can spend the entire day puking. And I haven't even started on the hormones yet."
"Are you taking any vitamins?"
Mel glanced at Jason sheepishly. "Um, I hadn't been. Until recently."
"Okay..." The doctor went through his chart again. "How are you emotionally?"
"Um...it's, uh, it's been a whirlwind..."
"How so?"
Mel glanced uneasily at Jason before she spoke. "Um, the baby's father and I--before I knew I was pregnant--we went through some things. We're, uh, we're no longer together...and, um--so I was dealing with that to begin with. And then all the emotions and mood swings and everything started piling on top--I'll be honest, there were many days where I just didn't even want to get out of the bed. And I didn't."
The doctor looked up at Jason and smiled. "But you've got quite a support system now, huh?"
Mel smiled and squeezed Jason's hand. "I do, yes."
Jason wanted to be flattered, but he eyed the doctor again. Was this a jab at him? More importantly, was it a jab at her? Then he glanced at Mel, who was all smiles all of a sudden. He decided to pull it together.
"How have you been this past week?"
"Better. I think? Maybe? I still don't know who I am from one minute to the next sometimes. I'm back and forth about my body image. I still cry a lot, but--I don't know, I think I'm starting to feel better."
The doctor smiled and nodded. "Good, good. Well, then, according to the chart here, you should be in your twelfth week by now, right? Why don't we see if we can hear anything today?"
"Hear anything?" Mel asked.
"Of course. If you hadn't missed your last appointment, you could have heard your baby's heartbeat weeks ago."
Mel glanced over at Jason and she smiled at him. He smiled back at her. He couldn't admit it, but he was kind of excited himself. If you asked him two weeks ago if he ever thought he'd raise a child anytime soon, the answer would have been a resounding "Hell, no." But the fact that it was Mel's child made him love it almost instantly. He'd found himself daydreaming over the past few days of teaching him to surf, chasing him across the beach, wrestling with him in the grass. It wasn't his kid, but did that matter? Absolutely not. At this point, the fact that it was Mel's kid instantly made him his, and now he was just as happy about his existence as she was.
After Mel had peed in a cup, which proved to be no problem, and after checking her blood pressure and her weight, the doctor informed her that she was a little underweight for where she should be at that time. "It's not too bad," the doctor told her. "But you should gain a little more weight. Not too much, but you do need a little extra."
Finally, he had her lay back and lift her shirt as he turned the monitor on and turned out the lights. "I didn't think we'd be seeing anything today," Mel said.
The doctor smiled. "Looks like today's your lucky day."
Mel smiled over at Jason again as the doctor spread the jelly over her stomach and began to move the wand around. As the baby appeared on the black and white screen, neither one of them could tear their eyes away. It was the most surreal thing he'd ever seen.
After a moment or two, Mel looked at the doctor. "When do we get to hear his heartbeat?"
"His?"
"I'm convinced it's a boy."
A slight smile briefly flashed across the doctor's face. "Just a moment."
As the doctor clicked a few buttons and dragged a few lines on the screen, Jason didn't feel quite right. Something was off. He looked at the doctor's face, trying to read his expression, but found nothing useful to appease the knot that was forming in his stomach.
"Miss Banks, when's the last time you had any pregnancy symptoms?"
Instantly, Jason broke a sweat.
"What?" Mel asked. "I'm pregnant, I have them all the time. Like I told you before."
"Recently?"
"Yes, just this morning I threw up. My boobs still hurt..."
"Any signs of bleeding?" he asked as he continued to move the wand around her stomach.
"Um, not really...I spotted a few days ago, but nothing major..."
"And this didn't concern you?"
Jason prayed that Mel couldn't feel how his hand was now sweating into hers.
"I've read about lots of women spotting, or even having full periods, while they're pregnant. I just didn't think it was a big deal."
"I see..."
Finally, she glanced up at Jason and he could see the frantic look in her eyes. Then she looked at the doctor. "Why are you asking me all this? Why haven't we heard the heartbeat yet?"
The doctor looked up at Jason and then at Mel. "Because there isn't one."
Jason's heart raced and he instinctively went into protector mode. "That's impossible. Do it again."
"I've been all over her stomach, at every angle..."
"Well then your equipment's broken or something. Turn up the volume. You're not doing it right, something. It's there, I know it is."
"Sir, I'm sorry. The baby is measuring three weeks behind and there's no heartbeat."
"That's impossible!" Jason argued. "Why is her body still acting like it's pregnant? Why is she still having symptoms? I'm telling you, you're WRONG!"
"It is possible," the doctor said slowly, "for a woman to still have pregnancy symptoms even after--uh--"
The room was silent as the black and white screen glowed at them in the darkness. Jason felt Mel's hand listlessly drop from his as she stared at the screen. Then she said in a quiet, monotone voice, "Are you telling me that I'm laying here looking at my dead child?"
Jason was ready to murder this doctor.
"Miss Banks, I'm terribly sorry--"
"Turn it off," Jason said, menacingly. When the doctor didn't move fast enough, he repeated, loudly, "Turn it off!"
Quickly, the doctor turned off the monitor and flipped on the lights. Jason looked at Mel, whose face still faced the monitor and whose expression hadn't changed. His heart broke as he realized that she'd shut down. Completely shut down.
"I'll, um, give you a moment--" the doctor said.
"No," Mel spoke up quietly. "Get it out of me."
"Well, um, there are some options we need to go over in order to make that happen."
"This isn't my first miscarriage. I know my options. Get it out of me."
"Perhaps I should let you discuss this--"
"GET IT OUT OF ME, GODDAMMIT!"
"Miss Banks--"
"DO WHAT SHE SAYS!" Jason barked at the doctor. "Schedule whatever you need to schedule. Today. But goddammit, just do what she tells you to do!"
"Very well, then."
When the doctor left the room, Jason pulled Mel's shirt down and scooped her up off of the exam table. Sitting in a chair with her, he held her in his lap and hugged her close to his chest. It took a moment before she reacted, but she finally burst into the worst fit of gut-wrenching tears he had ever heard come from her. Her fists balled up and listlessly hit against his chest as she sobbed and he was surprised by his own tears as he rocked her.
Knocking lightly, the doctor stepped back into the room. Sniffing back the tears that escaped him, he whispered to Mel, "Hey, gorgeous. The doctor's here. Okay?"
It took a moment before she found herself in a state where she could pay attention and she slowly stood from where she was, a death grip still on Jason's hand.
"I, um, have a D&C scheduled for this afternoon," the doctor said quietly. "I'm sure I don't have to go over the details with you."
Mel shook her head and wiped her nose.
"Um, given the, uh, development of the, uh, fetus, they're needing to know if any funeral arran--"
"No," she said adamantly.
Her answer took Jason by surprise. "Mel--are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
Stunned for a moment, Jason nodded and looked up at the doctor. "Okay. Whatever she says."
The doctor nodded. "Very well then. You should probably go ahead and make your way to the hospital. They're waiting for you there. I'm sorry for your loss."
When the doctor left the room once more, Jason stood and looked at Mel for a moment. Looking up at him, her eyes hardened. "Let's get this over with."
MEL
For two days, Jason had called and texted Mel and she hadn't responded to anything. She had to admit, she was a little disappointed when he didn't just barge into the apartment, unannounced, in a frantic state. Not that she was baiting him. Maybe he just wasn't as predictable as she thought he was.
In her defense, she had been busy. After her night with Jason, Mel's mind ran wild and she felt energized again. She spent an entire day apartment hunting, found a rental she liked, and even put down a deposit. It wouldn't be ready to move into yet for awhile, but she was thrilled at the progress she was making.
She thought so much about Jason. Not a minute went by when he wasn't on her mind. It was weird. So weird. Just this time last week she was pining over Taylor. It didn't make any sense. Then she thought about it some more. Maybe she wasn't exactly pining over Taylor. Maybe Jason had been right--a thought she'd been thinking constantly since he'd said it--maybe she'd been pining over who she and Taylor used to be. Not who they were now.
Mel remembered the first night she ever met Jason. It was her favorite memory and she revisited it constantly. All the signs were there. All of them. The way she seemed to take a hit upon first sight of him. The way she'd turned around and hid in the hallway after she saw him--embarrassing as that was. He'd smiled at her and she knew she was finished. He had her. Right in the moment when their eyes met, he'd had her. Who knew she would meet the love of her life right there in her dead husband's living room?
Wait, her what?
Mel was stunned by the thought. It wasn't possible. It just wasn't. It hadn't even been enough time, it was crazy. Mel and Taylor had only been broken up, what, two months? And she was already smitten with another man? It had to be the hormones. And the loneliness. It HAD to be. Maybe if she just called Taylor--maybe if she saw him--she would be in her right mind again.
Except that smitten didn't seem to be a strong enough word for how she felt. Attracted, maybe? No. Not even close. In a desperate attempt to straighten her feelings out, she let the past few years flash before her eyes. She loved Taylor. She knew she did. There was absolutely nothing that happened with Jason, besides sex, that would cause her to be so dysfunctional all of a sudden. Seriously.
Except for that first night when he'd kissed her for the first time--more fireworks had gone off during that kiss than anything she'd ever felt before. Except for when he defended her against Taylor that night for making her cry and he called her his girl. Except for when he taught her who she was. Except for the way he showed her how to feel her way through life instead of just living it. Except for how nothing she did ever seemed to phase him, like they were instantly in sync at all times. Except for when he told her that they'd come into each other's lives for a reason.
Except for an exchange she recalled the morning after they first met. He'd said to her, "You can't let your past or what your future might hold dictate your right now. If you feel it, do it. It's the only way you'll ever truly know." She'd asked him what. And he'd responded with, "Everything."
She stared across the room at the wall, eyes wide. He was--he was her everything. She did love him. Not just as a friend, but sincerely and truly--loved him. She was in love with Jason Kamealoha. She had been all this time. All this...time...
So it had been only two months since she'd left Taylor. It was apparent that love just didn't wait.
It couldn't wait.
-----------------------
Mel swore she wasn't stalking him. Well, maybe just a little. And she felt a little nervous barging in on what she felt like was his personal "man" time, but she couldn't wait any longer. She was ready to burst and she needed to say what she needed to say before she had second thoughts.
Even though she knew she wouldn't.
After all, he HAD checked in on Foursquare, so...it wasn't technically stalking, anyway...oh, who cared?
She walked into the gym and she halted for a moment. The atmosphere wasn't what she expected. She expected a typical gym, with machines and weights and treadmills. Instead, she was greeted by a boxing ring and various sizes of punching bags. Heavy metal music blared in the speakers and several men littered the gym, engrossed in their own workouts.
She was in no-woman's land.
Nervously she approached the desk as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed He-Man type smacked his gum and smiled at her. "Well, well, then. What can I do for YOU?" he asked in a thick Boston accent.
"Um, I'm looking for someone."
His smile widened. "Looks like you found me."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "NOT you."
"You sure you're in the right place, doll? I mean, look around..."
"He's here."
"He who?"
"Jason."
He-Man grinned again and smacked his gum for a moment before spoke. "Ah. Jason. Shoulda known. The man all the other men come here to try to look like."
Mel smiled and was oddly at ease all of a sudden. "Your spokesmodel, huh?"
He shrugged. "Of sorts. He's good people."
"So where is he?"
"Who's askin'?"
"Mel."
He-Man's expression changed. "Oh." Then he tossed his head off to the side. "Hey! Donnie! Where's Hollywood?"
"Hittin' a bag!" A distant voice responded.
"Tell him he's got company!"
"Company?"
"Yeah, company! Stop being a putz and just do your job, huh?" Then he looked sheepishly at Mel. "It's hard to find good help these days, yanno?"
Mel nodded.
The distant voice came back. "He says who is it?"
He-Man smiled at Mel for a moment and then turned his head again. "Melokia."
"What? No shit?"
"No shit, just do ya' job!"
"Hold on, I gotta see this!"
Suddenly, Mel was pissed. Annoyed. Her blood began to boil. "Melo--Melowhat? What the fuck are you talking about?" A dark-haired guy in a white t-shirt and a backwards ball cap approached to gawk at her. She nodded toward him. "The fuck are YOU looking at?"
"Whoa..." Hat Guy said. "So you're the one..."
Mel looked hard at Hat Guy then back at He-Man. "The fuck is he talking about?"
"Don't worry, he's harmless," He-Man said. "We're all men in here, we talk about our bodies. Look around, body building is what we do. Anyway, sometimes tattoos come up and Hollywood's got some impressive ones. But YOU are the only tattoo he won't talk about."
Confused and frustrated, Mel shifted her weight impatiently. "Yanno what, this is stupid. I'll fucking find him myself."
She shoved her way past Hat Guy as both he and He-Man called their objections out to her. "Hey, gorgeous, you can't just barge in on a training session like that--"
She stopped and whipped her head around. "Do not EVER call me gorgeous. Only HE calls me that."
-----------------------------------------------------------
JASON
Jason knew he should have been lifting that day. Actually, there were a lot of things he'd slacked off on recently that he needed to pick back up on before it was too late. But after the past couple of days, he had aggressions that desperately needed to come out and lifting weights just wouldn't cut it. So he took it out on the punching bag in front of him with a vengeance. The trainer holding the bag looked a little nervous and Jason had only nearly missed his head a couple of times. He would have been a little more sorry if his brain hadn't been so damn clouded.
Desperate for clarity, he had grown increasingly aggressive with the bag when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye that surprised him. As he glanced around the gym, all eyes were on her as Mel stood in wait for him in tight, pastel mini dress and a fitted, black leather jacket that appeared to be more fashion than utility.
"Hey, uh, let's take five, okay?" Jason said to the trainer, who glanced behind him at Mel and then walked away briskly.
Snatching a towel from the side of the empty boxing ring next to him, he wiped his face and slid it around his neck as Mel approached him hesitantly. He rested himself against the edge of the ring and crossed his arms over his chest. "What's this all about?"
"I'm sorry," she said, nervously, as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "I, um, I shouldn't have just barged in on you like this."
His expression was stern. "Is everything okay?"
"Tell me about Melokia," she said quietly.
Annoyed, he sighed and nodded toward the front. "They say something?"
Mel nodded. "What's Melokia? Why are they saying you won't talk about it? Acting like it's some kind of holy grail or something?"
"Because it's the most painful tattoo I've ever gotten."
He watched her eyes glance over his body. "Well--what is it?"
Sighing again, he turned his arm over, palm up, to show her his inner bicep. Approaching him, she leaned in to get a closer look at the small print. "What does it mean?"
Searching her eyes for a moment, he responded, "Melody in Hawaiian."
A small gasp escaped from her and her eyes widened as she took a step backward from him.
Defeated, he crossed his arms back over his chest. "That right there is why I never wanted you to know about it."
Fidgeting, Mel glanced down at her hands, then back up at Jason. "Jason--look, I know that over these past few years, I've been difficult to be around...I guess...and I've made decisions that I thought were right at the time. I've been selfish, hard-headed, and unfair. Unfair to you. I don't want to be unfair to you anymore."
Jason ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "Mel, honestly--I don't really know how much more of this I can take."
"Let me finish," she said quietly. And then she continued, speaking slowly and carefully. "I've been unfair to myself, too. The things I've done, the decisions I've made--I fought so hard to turn my life into what I thought it was supposed to be--what I'd convinced myself that the only way was. What I was meant for. You know?"
"You followed me all the way to the gym to tell me this?"
"I lied, Jason. I lied to everyone. To myself. To you. I mean, I didn't know it then, but I know it now. You--you go through life and things happen. Fate comes in--or what you think is fate--and you choose to take that path because that's where you think you're supposed to be. And I fought. I fought SO HARD, harder than I've ever fought in my life, to make my life what it was supposed to be. How I thought fate intended it. And then--and then a curveball or two gets thrown into the mix--"
"Mel, I don't really need all this flowery bullshit. Just say what you gotta say and get it over with so I can get back to my workout."
She appeared taken aback by his tone and at this point, he didn't care. He had finally grown tired of everything being dragged out for so long, he was just ready to take the beating and get it over with.
"What's the matter with you?" she asked him, finally.
Not really caring to open this can of worms, he grew agitated at the confrontation. "A few days ago, when you asked me to come out with you--that night was perfect. Everything was perfect--too good to be true and I should have known it would be. And I allowed myself to just go with it, no holds barred, as always, despite feeling that something just wasn't quite right. The entire night, something was off. I figured it out when I asked you a couple of very important questions and you dodged them both. For two days, you've dodged my calls and ignored my texts. And then you show up out of nowhere? What the hell do you expect me to think?"
"Jason--"
"But I guess, in a way, these two days without you have been a blessing in disguise because it HAS given me time to think. It's like--I finally shake you--I finally get to the point where I might be okay, and then, goddammit, I just keep coming right back for more. I take beating after beating after beating and, honestly, there's just so much a man can take before he reaches his breaking point. So just go ahead, skip all the extra bullshit and say what you came here to say, so that I can FINALLY move on with my life."
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She stared into his eyes as if she thought he might tear her head off. After a moment, she blinked her eyes. "Um, I--uh, I--I came here to--Jason, I--"
"Any day now," he pressed.
"I'm in love with you," she blurted quickly.
Now it was Jason's turn to be stunned. This was absolutely not the way he expected this to go. He instantly felt horrible about the things he had just said to her, a preemptive defense mechanism against the rejection he just knew was coming. But--but this...?
Wiping the sweat from his lip, he said, "I don't think you know what you're saying right now."
"I've never been more serious about anything in my life," she responded quietly. "But it--it looks like I might be too late."
He felt his body start to fidget, unable to keep still. He had no idea what to say. These were words he'd longed to hear from her for several years now and now that he had--well, shit, what did he do now? "Is this...is this for real?"
"I am head over heels, madly, crazy in love with you. You weren't supposed to happen. You weren't supposed to come into my life and change it so drastically the way you did. You weren't supposed to make me happy and you weren't supposed to make me miss you. You weren't supposed to make me feel safe, you weren't supposed to make me feel at ease, and you weren't supposed to make me feel like the only woman in the world. You weren't supposed to smile at me the way you do and you weren't supposed to look at me the way you look at me. You weren't supposed to let me be myself. You weren't supposed to let me be free. But most of all--" Her voice cracked under the pressure of her emotions. "--you were never supposed to let me go. Never. I love YOU. YOU. And I'm sorry that I've been SO blind, but for the first time in my life, my eyes are finally open. I can see. And--and the truth is, I saw forever in your eyes the moment I rounded the corner that first night. That's why I hid. Because I knew. Because I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that I could never be without you, but I was blind and I was stupid and I was WRONG. It's you, Jason. It's been you this whole time. It's why I fought to keep you. And it's why I let you go. And it's why I need you now. It always comes back to us. You know it does."
Jason was speechless. He studied her eyes hard and he was speechless.
"Jason," she pleaded quietly. "I'm standing here, openly offering you my heart. Freely and completely. I belong to you, I'm yours. I'm YOUR Melokia. Please don't tell me I'm too late."
Finally, he spoke. "I dreamed about this day. This very moment and now that I'm in it--I don't know what the fuck to do."
"Give in. Trust me. All I ever wanted was for someone to trust me. I promise I'm not a bad person."
Searching her face one more time, he said, "I play for keeps. I don't play stupid games, going back and forth, leaving and coming back. It's not my style and I won't tolerate it. We have problems, we deal with it. We don't bounce around all over the world running away from each other. You pack your bags and you leave me one time, it's over. You either love me or you don't. Understood?"
Quietly, she nodded.
He took her face in his hands and looked down at her. "When love is true, you never leave," he said softly. "And I love you. SO much. I promise you, you will never be alone." Then he smiled and let his hand find her stomach. "This little guy and I--we gotta take care of our little mama."
She smiled as tears filled her eyes. "I'll be good to you, I promise. I'll never leave you. You'll never regret--"
"Stop trying to sell me on you. Just let a man recover from his own shock, won't you?"
"So, um, are you finished with your meetings and stuff?"
His eyes darted around before he answered her. "No, actually, I have one more."
"Really? When?"
Sweeping her off her feet, he scooped her up in his arms and she giggled at the sudden action. Grinning, he began to carry her. "Right now. With you."
Her eyes widened as he headed for the locker room doors. "WHAT?"
"Hey, Hollywood!" He-Man hollered from the front. "Hey, no funny business in there! No broads allowed!"
Ignoring him, Jason carried Mel into the locker room and nodded toward the door at the couple of guys that meandered around. "Scram," he commanded.
Locking the door behind the men, he carried her over to the counter and sat her down, resting his hands on either side of her and leaning in closer. "I always wanted to do this."
She looked around them. "In the locker room?"
"It's one of my fantasies."
Mel's eyes widened. "Is this actually gonna happen?" she squeaked out.
He kissed her lips and then he smiled. "You're goddamn right it is. Just give me two seconds in the shower, don't go anywhere."
Glancing at the showers and back at him, she shook her head. "I can't wait that long." Throwing her arms around his neck, she pulled him aggressively against her and shoved her tongue down his throat.
-------------------
Jason sat in a chair in the waiting area as Mel signed in for her appointment. He couldn't focus on the magazine. Just a few days prior, his dreams came true. And they seemed to come true again and again every single day after. He had no idea how to be domestic. He'd never even lived with a woman. So while some parts of this newfound relationship scared him to death, the rest just seemed so easy.
He glanced up from his magazine when he heard the tone in Mel's voice change at the reception desk. "Honey, do you have a staring problem?" she said to someone behind the desk.
Jason's eyes widened and he put the magazine down and stood up. This could be bad. As he walked up to the desk, Mel was saying, "I realize that he's gorgeous, but do you really need to make it so damn obvious?"
From behind the desk, several pairs of shocked eyes were directed at Mel. Jason sighed and leaned over on the desk, his face close to Mel's, and asked quietly, "Honey, what are you doing? What's all this about?"
"She's staring at you. And being incredibly rude."
"Well don't you think maybe you're being just as rude by pointing it out?"
Mel took in a deep breath and glared at him. But she didn't object. Then he raised his eyebrows and subtly nodded toward the women behind the desk.
Glaring at him once more, she took a deep breath and held her head high as she faced the women. "I, um, I apologize. For my...sudden outburst. I am pregnant--obviously--and sometimes my filter is a little...off..."
"Just sometimes?" Jason muttered as he glanced around behind them.
"Oh just can it," she hissed at him. "I did what you wanted me to do!"
He led her back to where he was sitting and sat her down beside him, forcing her to look at him. "What was that all about?" he whispered.
"Exactly what I called her out on. It's pretty cut and dry."
"But why do that to that poor girl?"
"Because it was rude!" she whispered back. "Because she was ogling my man, RIGHT in front of me. Like, 'Oh, ha ha, she's pregnant, but he wouldn't have to deal with that with me!' "
He jerked his head back in disbelief. "Are you serious? I mean, are you hearing yourself right now?"
"I'm a woman, I know how they think!"
"Mel whether she was thinking that or not is not the point. You don't--you don't have to feel like you have to fight to keep me. Okay?"
"It's not--"
"It is. I've seen you do this before. And that's not me. It's not--it's not us. Okay? Hell, if I had a problem with every man that looked at you, I'd be in prison right now."
"But, Jason--"
"No. I am yours. Just yours. And I know you've been through it and I know there'll probably be some--well, some things we'll need to deal with--and if I have to tell you several times a day, every day of the week, I will. But this right here?" he said, signaling toward the reception desk. "That's not us. You're with me. You're safe, you're secure. Okay?"
Mel looked up at him and nodded. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
Jason smiled as he sat back in his chair. "Don't apologize to ME."
Mel sat back in hers, as well. "She was still rude," she pouted.
He took her hand and raised it to his lips. "Pick your battles, dear. Pick your battles."
--------------------
When her doctor came into the room, a short, bald man with glasses, Mel was all smiles. Jason stood next to the exam table as he introduced himself to the couple. "Well, then, Miss Banks," he said as he turned the pages in his chart. "It's been awhile since I've seen you. It appears you've missed a couple of appointments."
Mel glanced nervously down at her feet that hung off the side of the table. "Um, I admit, I haven't been the most well-behaved."
Jason narrowed his eyes at the doctor's accusatory tone, his hackles already starting to raise. "She's here now, though," he said.
"That, she is. So, how are things?"
Mel looked confused. "Um, things?"
"Yes. Things. How are things?"
"Things as in..."
"How's pregnancy been treating you?"
Mel's eyes widened in realization. "Oh! Pregnancy. Um, pregnancy's been...I don't know, how is it supposed to be?"
The doctor chuckled. "How has your body been reacting?"
"My body hates me, that much I can tell you. As you know, I didn't even know I was pregnant until you told me. Um...at first all I wanted was pudding. Any pudding, any flavor, I couldn't get enough of it. Right now it's fruit. I can't drink enough water, I pee all the time, I have to go bra shopping, and my boobs hurt. I randomly throw up, just, whenever. That comes and goes. Sometimes I can go days without getting sick, sometimes I can spend the entire day puking. And I haven't even started on the hormones yet."
"Are you taking any vitamins?"
Mel glanced at Jason sheepishly. "Um, I hadn't been. Until recently."
"Okay..." The doctor went through his chart again. "How are you emotionally?"
"Um...it's, uh, it's been a whirlwind..."
"How so?"
Mel glanced uneasily at Jason before she spoke. "Um, the baby's father and I--before I knew I was pregnant--we went through some things. We're, uh, we're no longer together...and, um--so I was dealing with that to begin with. And then all the emotions and mood swings and everything started piling on top--I'll be honest, there were many days where I just didn't even want to get out of the bed. And I didn't."
The doctor looked up at Jason and smiled. "But you've got quite a support system now, huh?"
Mel smiled and squeezed Jason's hand. "I do, yes."
Jason wanted to be flattered, but he eyed the doctor again. Was this a jab at him? More importantly, was it a jab at her? Then he glanced at Mel, who was all smiles all of a sudden. He decided to pull it together.
"How have you been this past week?"
"Better. I think? Maybe? I still don't know who I am from one minute to the next sometimes. I'm back and forth about my body image. I still cry a lot, but--I don't know, I think I'm starting to feel better."
The doctor smiled and nodded. "Good, good. Well, then, according to the chart here, you should be in your twelfth week by now, right? Why don't we see if we can hear anything today?"
"Hear anything?" Mel asked.
"Of course. If you hadn't missed your last appointment, you could have heard your baby's heartbeat weeks ago."
Mel glanced over at Jason and she smiled at him. He smiled back at her. He couldn't admit it, but he was kind of excited himself. If you asked him two weeks ago if he ever thought he'd raise a child anytime soon, the answer would have been a resounding "Hell, no." But the fact that it was Mel's child made him love it almost instantly. He'd found himself daydreaming over the past few days of teaching him to surf, chasing him across the beach, wrestling with him in the grass. It wasn't his kid, but did that matter? Absolutely not. At this point, the fact that it was Mel's kid instantly made him his, and now he was just as happy about his existence as she was.
After Mel had peed in a cup, which proved to be no problem, and after checking her blood pressure and her weight, the doctor informed her that she was a little underweight for where she should be at that time. "It's not too bad," the doctor told her. "But you should gain a little more weight. Not too much, but you do need a little extra."
Finally, he had her lay back and lift her shirt as he turned the monitor on and turned out the lights. "I didn't think we'd be seeing anything today," Mel said.
The doctor smiled. "Looks like today's your lucky day."
Mel smiled over at Jason again as the doctor spread the jelly over her stomach and began to move the wand around. As the baby appeared on the black and white screen, neither one of them could tear their eyes away. It was the most surreal thing he'd ever seen.
After a moment or two, Mel looked at the doctor. "When do we get to hear his heartbeat?"
"His?"
"I'm convinced it's a boy."
A slight smile briefly flashed across the doctor's face. "Just a moment."
As the doctor clicked a few buttons and dragged a few lines on the screen, Jason didn't feel quite right. Something was off. He looked at the doctor's face, trying to read his expression, but found nothing useful to appease the knot that was forming in his stomach.
"Miss Banks, when's the last time you had any pregnancy symptoms?"
Instantly, Jason broke a sweat.
"What?" Mel asked. "I'm pregnant, I have them all the time. Like I told you before."
"Recently?"
"Yes, just this morning I threw up. My boobs still hurt..."
"Any signs of bleeding?" he asked as he continued to move the wand around her stomach.
"Um, not really...I spotted a few days ago, but nothing major..."
"And this didn't concern you?"
Jason prayed that Mel couldn't feel how his hand was now sweating into hers.
"I've read about lots of women spotting, or even having full periods, while they're pregnant. I just didn't think it was a big deal."
"I see..."
Finally, she glanced up at Jason and he could see the frantic look in her eyes. Then she looked at the doctor. "Why are you asking me all this? Why haven't we heard the heartbeat yet?"
The doctor looked up at Jason and then at Mel. "Because there isn't one."
Jason's heart raced and he instinctively went into protector mode. "That's impossible. Do it again."
"I've been all over her stomach, at every angle..."
"Well then your equipment's broken or something. Turn up the volume. You're not doing it right, something. It's there, I know it is."
"Sir, I'm sorry. The baby is measuring three weeks behind and there's no heartbeat."
"That's impossible!" Jason argued. "Why is her body still acting like it's pregnant? Why is she still having symptoms? I'm telling you, you're WRONG!"
"It is possible," the doctor said slowly, "for a woman to still have pregnancy symptoms even after--uh--"
The room was silent as the black and white screen glowed at them in the darkness. Jason felt Mel's hand listlessly drop from his as she stared at the screen. Then she said in a quiet, monotone voice, "Are you telling me that I'm laying here looking at my dead child?"
Jason was ready to murder this doctor.
"Miss Banks, I'm terribly sorry--"
"Turn it off," Jason said, menacingly. When the doctor didn't move fast enough, he repeated, loudly, "Turn it off!"
Quickly, the doctor turned off the monitor and flipped on the lights. Jason looked at Mel, whose face still faced the monitor and whose expression hadn't changed. His heart broke as he realized that she'd shut down. Completely shut down.
"I'll, um, give you a moment--" the doctor said.
"No," Mel spoke up quietly. "Get it out of me."
"Well, um, there are some options we need to go over in order to make that happen."
"This isn't my first miscarriage. I know my options. Get it out of me."
"Perhaps I should let you discuss this--"
"GET IT OUT OF ME, GODDAMMIT!"
"Miss Banks--"
"DO WHAT SHE SAYS!" Jason barked at the doctor. "Schedule whatever you need to schedule. Today. But goddammit, just do what she tells you to do!"
"Very well, then."
When the doctor left the room, Jason pulled Mel's shirt down and scooped her up off of the exam table. Sitting in a chair with her, he held her in his lap and hugged her close to his chest. It took a moment before she reacted, but she finally burst into the worst fit of gut-wrenching tears he had ever heard come from her. Her fists balled up and listlessly hit against his chest as she sobbed and he was surprised by his own tears as he rocked her.
Knocking lightly, the doctor stepped back into the room. Sniffing back the tears that escaped him, he whispered to Mel, "Hey, gorgeous. The doctor's here. Okay?"
It took a moment before she found herself in a state where she could pay attention and she slowly stood from where she was, a death grip still on Jason's hand.
"I, um, have a D&C scheduled for this afternoon," the doctor said quietly. "I'm sure I don't have to go over the details with you."
Mel shook her head and wiped her nose.
"Um, given the, uh, development of the, uh, fetus, they're needing to know if any funeral arran--"
"No," she said adamantly.
Her answer took Jason by surprise. "Mel--are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
Stunned for a moment, Jason nodded and looked up at the doctor. "Okay. Whatever she says."
The doctor nodded. "Very well then. You should probably go ahead and make your way to the hospital. They're waiting for you there. I'm sorry for your loss."
When the doctor left the room once more, Jason stood and looked at Mel for a moment. Looking up at him, her eyes hardened. "Let's get this over with."