Legal Prejudice 2 - Weather The Storms

Chapter 40

Four days later Allie was feeling almost normal, but she was still on the intravenous antibiotics which both Jeremy and Tom told her were essential to make sure the infection caused by the appendicitis was completely gone and wouldn't recur. Although she was restless being confined to a hospital room, Daniel brought the children every night, and Jeremy was having a quiet week so he was able to spend time keeping her company. The second time they came to see Allie, Rose announced, "Me and Emmie were good Uncle Jemmy, Daddy tell him!" He disappeared and came back with a toy medical set each for them which kept them both busy for the rest of the visit. Allie told him the next day what a great Dad he was going to be and he admitted he was nervous, "Apart from Rose and Emmie I've never had much to do with babies and children. Guys like Dan and Michael just make it look so easy." Allie felt a pang remembering how much Emmie and Rose loved Michael, but she put her arms around him and told Jeremy, "You are both going to be amazing."

Jeremy came up after Daniel had left to head to court. Allie' hair was still a little damp after having a shower but he noticed she'd started to reclaim her healthy glow. She smiled as he came in with a latte for them both from the cafeteria and he said, "Hey, don't tell Tom but it's not Decaff." Allie laughed, "What a rebel." He grinned back, "Apparently Dan is in court all day and won't have time to get back at lunchtime, so I wondered if you are up for a lunch date in the cafeteria? It'll be like when they move prisoners to an open prison to prepare them for release. I'll disconnect you from the IV and we can take a leisurely stroll." Allie looked excited and he laughed, "I'm not suggesting a trip to The Ritz Allie, it's just the cafeteria." She shook her head, "I don't bloody care. You have no idea how the thought of getting out of this room is beyond exciting right now."

He came to get her at twelve and she took his arm wearing hospital socks and they walked slowly. They attracted a few looks, which neither particularly noticed and he brought her food over. They'd almost finished eating and were chatting about the children. Allie was making Jeremy laugh with stories of Rose's tantrums. She told him, "l swear Jeremy, if tantrums were an Olympic sport Rose would be a Gold medal winner." Allie spotted a tall, well-built woman dressed in full corporate wear looking over at them intently. Jeremy followed her gaze and groaned, "Oh Shit Allie, she's coming over." Allie looked at him puzzled and he hissed, "It's my ex-wife. She must be here for a meeting. She's on the board of one of the other hospitals in the Group." Allie looked up in interest as she approached. She was almost as tall as Jeremy who was six-two and, as Allie would later tell Daniel, Amazonian, which struck her as funny because Robyn wasn't much taller than Allie. She had jet black hair in a pixie cut which made her look a little harsh to Allie's eyes, and although she was attractive, the hair coupled with some fairly heavy make-up made her look older than Jeremy.

She glanced at Allie then said in a tone of an exasperated adult talking to a problem teenager, "Good god Jeremy, what are you doing with a patient in the cafeteria?" He cleared his voice "This is Allie, a patient but not my patient. She's a very good friend of mine. Allie this is Antonia." Allie smiled and said Hi and Antonia gave a fake laugh, "For a minute I thought she might be the secretary you married." Allie saw Jeremy clench his teeth and he said, "Actually Robyn's a paralegal in the same firm as Allie." He added "Allie's a partner there." Antonia turned to look at Allie with complete surprised distain, "Really? I'm afraid you don't look like a lawyer who'd fill me with much confidence!" Allie's expression was neutral and her tone pleasant as she said "Yes, then again I usually wear clothes in court, shoes too." Antonia's eyes narrowed. Allie thought she was clearly not someone accustomed to receiving as good as she got.

A look of recognition crossed Antonia's face, "Wait a minute, I've just realised, the accent. This is the woman you operated on after that shooting, crime of passion." She gave a hard laugh "So, she's not really a friend is she Jeremy. I think you should get her back to her room, from what I've read online being seen with her could be social suicide." Jeremy ground his teeth, but Allie simply said, "You really shouldn't believe everything you read online. And actually, Jeremy's more than a friend." She smiled across the table "He's family." Antonia looked at Jeremy with something Allie thought looked like a snarl, "I see, she's the replacement for the ridiculous dog." Jeremy snapped "Fuck off Antonia." and Allie couldn't help but be shocked. Having got a reaction Antonia seemed satisfied and turned and walked away.

Allie waited for her to be out of earshot before she reached for his hand asking "Hey, are you okay. Shall we go?" He nodded and used the hand he was holding to carefully help her out of the booth. They both felt eyes boring into their backs as they left. Allie slipped her hand through his arm to walk back in silence, but she felt his tension easing. When they got back to her room, using Rose's pet name for him to lighten the mood she said, "How on earth did you end up marrying her Jemmy?" He sighed and couldn't help laugh and wrapped her in his arms, "God, I'm so sorry Allie. She shouldn't have said all that stuff to you, about you." She kissed his cheek and laughed, "To be fair, I'm not exactly looking very impressive." He pulled back and sat on the bed with her, "What was impressive was how your face didn't react when she said that stuff." Allie nudged him, "l was channelling Max." He looked confused, "What do you mean?" She grinned and drew her knees up on the bed so she was facing him, "Max has the best poker face I've ever seen. He just listens, his face doesn't change no matter what's said, and then he waits for his moment to land a killer blow." Jeremy grinned back, "l can see that. Well, I can tell you, no-one ever answers Antonia back. That's why she got so nasty." Allie hummed, "So you haven't answered my question, how did you end up marrying her?" He took a deep breath, "Met after med school. At the time she seemed so kind of sorted, knew where she was going, what she wanted and I guess that appealed to me. She's also super smart, much smarter than me and that made her attractive I suppose. I was also young and stupid and I didn't know what love felt like. She wanted to get married, be some sort of power couple and I got swept along. I was a massive, huge disappointment to her."

Allie shook her head, "Do you know Landon, Michael's boss?" Jeremy nodded, "he told me about a guy they had in their firm. He's incredibly clever, brilliantly efficient, but he said he'll never make a great lawyer because he lacks empathy. That's got to be even more important in your line of work. I'm only sitting here today for two reasons, one's your skill as a surgeon, but just as important is the care you gave me emotionally. I'm sure she's a very clever surgeon, but I would lay money that she'll never be great. And you are." He sighed, "She screwed me up for a long time, until I met you, Robyn and the others I guess. I hate seeing her. It can be months then she'll show up somewhere and make me feel shit within seconds." Allie shifted over to hug him and when he released her he took her small hand pointing to the IV "I'd better get you reconnected before Tom gets back and realises I let you make a break for freedom."

Allie shuffled back against the pillows while he reattached the antibiotics and Tom appeared. "Hey, how's it going?" Allie grinned at Jeremy, "Fine Tom thanks." He looked suspiciously, "What? Allie you make me nervous." She laughed and said innocently, "Why?" He shook his head "Don't know, maybe it's the British thing? Anyway, sorry I've got someone waiting, but I need to get some blood from you real quick if that's okay?" Jeremy looked over and said, "l can do that Tom, I think we can get away with me doing that just this once hey?" Tom smiled back "That would be great if you're okay with it Allie. I'm running late as usual. Allie if these bloods look good we'll be able to discharge you in the morning." Allie beamed and he left.

Jeremy used the hand gel at the end of the bed laughing, "I'm getting déjà vu. I'll just go get the stuff we need. Back in a minute." He came back and sat on the edge of the bed taking her hand. He glanced up and said, "Relax, l'm going to use the line you've already got in. No needles." She smiled and he lined up the first vial. Having filled the three he squeezed her hand, "All done." She said, "Thanks, and thanks for lunch. Despite the unpleasant blast from your past, it was really nice. In fact, it's been really lovely spending some time with you this week, it's softened the blow of being away from Dan and the kids." He gave her a hug saying "Yeah, I shouldn't say it because I never want you to be sick, but I've really loved having you in here this last few days. I'd better go get these bloods off so we can get you home tomorrow. Get some rest and I'll come back up later."