Of Lorenz Theory & Love

JHMD: A Diamond Glow

44: JHMD: A Diamond Glow

10:35 am, 1 month and 3 weeks before the wedding, Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington

A shower of sparks ensued, and the siren was no more. The electric waves of energy stopped emanating from Macy's hands, and she collapsed, unconscious, into Harry's arms.

11 am, Vera Manor, Living Room

It was seven weeks after Harry proposed, and Macy was unconscious on the living room carpet. This was not how Harry envisioned starting out married (or pre-married) life with Macy, that much he was certain. Mel and Maggie stood over her, worry clearly etched into their faces. "Can you heal her, Harry?" Mel asked anxiously.

"I will certainly try," answered Harry, crouching over Macy's body. He did his customary hand-healing technique, emanating his warm glow over her vital organs, checking each in turn. Her brain reported no injury. Her heart, which he was also concerned about, appeared to beating healthily, altogether unscathed. Her legs, arms, and hands seemed functional. No scratch marks or poisonous bites were visible in any part of her body, thank goodness, he thought to himself, recalling an earlier incident in which a dark green-veined venom had coursed through Macy's leg so very long ago.

Macy's spleen, stomach, kidneys, and overall musculature were in working order as well. Harry was more than certain of that, for he checked, double-checked, and triple-checked everything. What was it then, that caused Macy to faint? Certainly nothing related to the siren incident earlier. He tested her circulation; all was normal. Mel and Maggie continued to observe his movements, as several long minutes ticked by.

At last, Harry stood up. Macy was still unconscious on the floor, as he continued to survey her body from above. Mel and Maggie looked at him, puzzled that he wasn't doing more to heal their sister. "Is she—is she—" Maggie squeaked, unable to speak the worst-case scenario that was looming at the back of her mind.

"No," Harry replied. "Macy is very much alive and seems to have simply fainted from not having much breakfast this morning; wedding stress has caught up with her a bit. There is nothing physiologically wrong with her." Maggie and Mel's faces showed visible signs of relief upon hearing Harry's words. But why won't Macy wake up, they wondered, glancing at each other nervously. Was there something Harry wasn't telling them?

Just then, a tiny, round, diamond-colored light emanated from below Macy's stomach, which flickered for the briefest of seconds, and abruptly disappeared. Mel and Maggie stared. "Harry, what is that light?" Harry did not speak, because he had never come across such a phenomenon in his lifetimes, Jimmy Westwell or Harry Greenwood included. If Harry were truly honest with himself, it reminded him of his own whitelighting brightness that came from his very hands. But that's not possible, he argued with himself. Macy's a witch—a Charmed One. There are no whitelighters or anyone with a modicum of whitelighting ability in her Valensi family tree, nor in her mother Marisol's family either, as talented and skilled as they all are.

Perhaps Macy took in the Source, but that was so far in the past that there was no residual matter of the sort in her body. Furthermore, he could sense that the light was extremely young in age, and inherently of good, not evil origin. Whatever this light was, it certainly meant no harm to Macy, nor to any other occupant of the Vera Manor living room. Her body can't possibly be exhibiting whitelighter signs of healing itself, he thought. Harry had never heard of such a phenomenon—if that were the case, what use would witches have of whitelighters, and what purpose would he serve to the Charmed Ones, in that highly, highly unlikely scenario? That couldn't be it, Harry thought. Such a scenario was far too improbable...

Harry turned to face Mel and Maggie. "I'm not entirely sure, but I have my suspicions. But first and foremost, Macy needs to rest. I'll run another test once she wakes up," he said, without mentioning the specific test he had in mind. Mel and Maggie silently agreed with his assessment of the situation, and after asking, "Are you sure you two will be ok?" and Harry reassuring them, the two left for SafeSpace—Mel for Spellbound, and Maggie to her early afternoon work shift.

With that, Harry picked Macy up gently, slung her over his shoulder, and orbed themselves to her bedroom.

11:30 am, Vera Manor, Macy's Bedroom

Harry continued to have an internal debate with himself over the cause of the mysterious diamond-colored light, when a new thought suddenly struck him. What if the light wasn't coming from her, but instead coming from...? He again observed Macy's sleeping form, and it finally hit him. Macy's pregnant.

Everything was suddenly starting to make sense.

1 pm, Vera Manor, Macy's Bedroom

Macy blinked once, then a couple more times, struggling to orient herself. From what she last recalled, she had been at Pike Market with her sisters, busy sending blue waves of emanating Charmed force to combat against the rogue siren, with its tall, burgeoning wings and strange humanoid female head. Where was she now? Her hands clutched cotton threaded bedsheets, and she could see her familiar-scented down comforter blanket and fluffy pillows. She uttered a sigh of relief, then realized something didn't seem quite right. Somehow, she had been brought home. But how? And what on earth happened?

Harry cleared his throat, as if to get her attention from where he sat, perched on a chair to one side of her queen-sized bed. "How are you feeling, Macy?" He offered her a glass of carbonated ginger-flavored water, which she slowly sipped. Not bad, she thought. She then looked to her nightstand, inches away from Harry, where she saw the largest assortment of ginger-flavored chews, candies, and lozenges she could ever recall.

"Jeez Harry, you didn't have to go all out for me," she laughed. Harry smiled a little, rather than join in the humor of it all. Girl fights evil force, girl gets concussed, girl gets knocked out for 1-3 hours, ends up in bed, rinse and repeat. This is how it works...right? Macy thought to herself that she had her Charmed routine down pat. Then, she began to grow nervous, seeing Harry's peculiar expression—was he frowning or smiling? It seemed as though he were hiding something from her.

"Harry, where's Mel and Maggie? Did they make it out ok? I thought this was a run-of-the-mill vanquishing, it was broad daylight, I had no idea this would happen, I swear—" Macy began, but Harry quietly interrupted her.

"Macy, they're fine and both at work over at SafeSpace. Really, it's you that I'm most concerned about," Harry spoke gently.

"Why me?" Macy was perplexed. She was a Charmed One, a geneticist by trade, had a thriving business she worked all hours at during the time she wasn't actively wedding planning. "Was I injured by the siren?" her voice squeaked up a notch.

"No," said Harry, still wearing a somewhat serious expression. "By all accounts, you're perfectly healthy, but you fainted and I had to orb you here, to your bedroom. I know wedding planning's been on your mind, but I really think you should step back and let Maggie take the reins on some of it, so you can recoup your strength. Which gets me to my next item of discussion—"

"Which is?" asked Macy.

"Something peculiar occurred while you were passed out; a bright, white light emanated from just below your stomach for a few moments, then flickered and disappeared. Did you take any potion, medication, concoction, tincture, anything that could have had that as a possible side effect?"

"No," said Macy, thinking over the past few weeks; she'd hardly had enough time to grab a glass of water or a piece of toast—when did she even have the time to medicate herself in the midst of this all?

"I didn't expect you would have," Harry responded in turn, mulling things over. "I told your sisters I would keep an eye on you, and that I would give you one last test, due to my own personal suspicions as to your condition."

Macy cringed. A test? What exactly did Harry have in mind? "Whatever it is, can you get it over with, and fast? I love you, as you are my future husband and all, but that does not sound pleasant at all. And I have clients to attend to—and a wedding to plan—"

Harry reached over to the drawer in her nightstand, drew out a white plastic grocery bag, and pulled out a pregnancy test.