Pray For Me

Mama's Okay

"Jude, I have to take Octavia to get her vaccination now. I'll be right back."

Jude nods, turning onto her side and curling up. She knew the statistics as well as he did.

Timothy breaks down once he gets into the hallway. Kit comforts him as best he can. How do you comfort someone who doesn't know if the love of their life could die tomorrow? You can't. Timothy plays with Octavia to distract her from her shot, and she only cries for a minute afterwards.

"I love you, little bird. Be good for uncle Kit. Okay?"

"Mama?" Octavia asks, pointing to Jude's door. Timothy smiles sadly.

"Yes baby. Mama is sick, but she'll be home soon. Okay?"

Octavia smiles at her father and waves as Kit takes her down the hallway to the elevator. Timothy dons his mask and returns to Jude's side. They have her on a constant drip of antibiotics. Her fever has been fluctuating since she started the drip, which is a good sign. It's two degrees lower than it was this morning, but she's not out of the woods just yet.

"Timothy?" Jude asks, turning to look up at him.

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to hold you back. If you meet someone new, I want you to go for it. Just make sure she's nice to my baby."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm gonna die."

"Shut up. You're not going to die. Your fever is going down, and your labs are a little clearer than they were even two hours ago."

"Just, humor me," She sighs. Timothy shakes his head.

"No. Don't talk like that Jude. I just got you back. I refuse to lose you again. So you're going to fight. Fight for me, fight for Tav. We need you. I need you. Don't do this to me. Do you understand?" Timothy asks, hysteria evident in his voice. Jude nods, taking his hand and wiping the tears falling down her cheeks. He kisses her forehead and sits back in his chair beside her bed. There's no other option. She has to be fine.

Over the course of the next four days, Jude gets drastically better. She's improved so much, but they're still not letting her go home. Her labs aren't 100% where they need to be, but all in all, she was making a beautiful recovery. It was rocky there for a while. She was unresponsive for several hours. But, Timothy took her hand and told her how much he loved her, and how much he couldn't wait to marry her. She was up and talking just an hour later.

"What did I tell you?" Timothy had said. "We're not done yet."

Jude is past the point of contagion, and Octavia is now allowed to come visit.

"Mama!" The baby yells as she sits on the bed. Jude is sitting up, playing patty cake with her. She's still pale and weak, but she's feeling much better.

"Yes, my baby," Jude laughs, holding Octavia to her chest and rocking back and forth. Octavia closes her eyes and hums, holding Jude's thumb tightly.

"Oh, I love you so much," Jude smiles, kissing her daughter's head. Kit smiles and sits in the chair next to the bed. Timothy is down in the cafeteria getting them something decent to eat. There's a knock on the door, and Kit stiffens. He knows exactly what's about to go down. Jude notices his change, and raises an eyebrow at him. The door opens, and she realizes why he's acting weird.

"No."

Lana stands awkwardly at the foot of the bed, holding a bouquet of Jude's favorite flowers.

"Hi."

"Fuck you," Jude spits, sitting up. Octavia senses her mother's distress and looks up.

"Mama?"

"It's okay, my love," Jude says, physically restraining herself and rubbing Octavia's back. The baby wiggles around and turns to face Lana.

"She's so big," Lana says, trying to ease the tension.

"Yep. That's what happens."

Kit bites his lip and flicks his glance between the women.

"Jude... I'm sorry. I love you, and not having you around these past few months has been torture. I didn't want to admit to myself that I was wrong."

Jude just nods, still fighting the rage inside of her. Octavia pats Jude's hand, attempting to get her attention. Jude sighs and smiles down at her daughter. Kit rubs his face and realizes how much of a mistake this was. And where was Timothy?

"I want to be in your life. I want you to be in my life. I want you in my son's life. I hope you can forgive me and we can work on putting this past us. We were best friends. You were the sister I never had, Jude. I miss you."

Jude looks at the door as Timothy walks in, and she sighs with relief. He surveys the tension in the room and looks at Kit.

Jude moves over so Timothy can sit by her legs. Octavia smiles at her father and reaches for him. Jude reluctantly hands the baby to her father. Lana looks down at her hands.

"You really screwed us, Lana. I... I can't..." Jude searches for her words. "Listen," She sighs. "You fucked me over. Okay? Everyone's clear on that. You made no move to reconcile, nor did you try to reach out. You've missed out on a lot these past nine months, with not only me but my daughter as well. I'm different than I was nine months ago. I'm just... not ready to let you off the hook. You think that an apology will fix everything for you. You just a stuck up reporter who thinks the world revolves around her. You're self centered and only care about yourself and your career. So no, Lana, I don't forgive you. The opportunity to fix this," she gestured between them, "is long lost."

Lana nods and wipes the tears from her cheeks.

"Okay. That's fair. I hope you feel better. It was nice seeing you. Timothy," Lana nods, setting the flowers on the end of the bed and leaving quietly.

"So that's it?" Timothy asks quietly. Jude nods, holding her head in her hands and rubbing her face.

"That's it."