High Priestess

3.7

Stevie's sitting on the couch, staring out the window. Both her hands are gently caressing her stomach over the hospital gown and she slowly turns her head at the sound of her door opening. 

"Um, Stephanie, Mick's here to see you," Joe states as she tenses and backs herself further into the couch. The last time they had seen each other he threw a plate at her and shoved her into the counter. Once the doctor leaves Stevie looks down at her stomach and she just brushes her thumbs along her stomach. 

"Well your face is healed." He smirks.

"No thanks to you." Stevie growls.

"Oooh Fiesty. I hope you're getting that taken care of." He points to her stomach.

"I will do NO such thing. She's moving, and this is my baby girl." She growls.

"YOUR CONTRACT STATED..." He starts raising his voice. 

"My contract is null and void. And it has been since you decided to withhold your help for my business. You stated that I could do what I want as long as you approved the location and you weren't even willing to look at locations. So with that being said, our contract is Null and Void and I want a Divorce." 

"Fine, you give up the dirt you have on my drug business and I will divorce you." Mick states.

"I don't have any dirt. All I know is that you are running drugs. I don't know where you send them, the only client whom I know is Dr. Joe Walsh, and just for your information that was a cheap trick...sending me to your friend so he can torture me. But like I said, the only thing I have are my memories about the whole situation, the room where you hide your stuff, and your cohorts because that's all I need." Stevie growls.

"Oh yeah, well I'll just fry that...and then maybe it will fry Buckingham's child within you...it'd be a win-win situation. You better prepare yourself Stephanie Fleetwood because I'm not letting you give me up." He warns before storming out of the room. 

Once Mick leaves she looks down at her stomach and she swallows thickly. "Emlyn, I love you so much and I want you to know that I am not going to let anyone hurt you okay. I will fight to the death if I have to." 

***

Christine, Joe, and Mildred are at the nurses' station when Mick comes flying down the hall with angry eyes and a snarling smirk on his face. "I want you to shock her morning, noon, and night do you understand me, Joe Walsh. That baby dies and she loses her memories do you understand me." 

"I don't know Mick. I feel wrong shocking a pregnant woman because we don't know what it can do to the fetus and that baby didn't do anything wrong. And I'm not going to force a late-term abortion on a patient because that just isn't right." Joe warns.

"But that child isn't mine. It's a result of her affair and I don't want anything to do with it. We had a deal and I expect you to own up to your end." Mick growls.

"I can't condone that Mick I'm sorry. Shocking her is one thing but potentially harming a baby it's another. All I can think about is Emma-Kristen and I'm not going to rip a baby from a parent like mine was ripped from me. So I'm sorry I'm not going to Shock her three times a day. We'll continue with her once-daily treatment and that's it." Joe points.

"If you don't do it, I'm going to find someone else that will and you can forget our deal from this point on." Mick spits pushing out of the hospital.

"Excuse me, girls." Joe looks at his nurses before slinking into his office. 

"Who's Emma-Kristen." Christine turns to Mildred.

"Well, he and his wife had a little girl they named her Emma-Kristen. She um, she was killed in a car accident. A drunk driver hit them while his wife was taking her to nursery school. They lived in Boulder at the time and when their daughter died they decided to move her to start again." Mildred explains. 

"I'm going to go talk to him." Christine sighs.

"I wouldn't...he's in a mood," Mildred warns.

"Well, I'm going to," Christine states pushing past her and barging into his office.

***

When she enters Joe doesn't do anything he just looks at her.

"What?" 

"I have a proposition for you." Christine states.

"What?" Joe inquires.

"My name is Christine McVie, I'm a private investigator for the LAPD. I was hired by Lindsey Buckingham to look into Mick Fleetwood. Lindsey and Stevie have been together since January. Stevie and Mick are married by a contract. A piece of paper that she signed saying she'd marry him in exchange for money to start her own business. After she signed the papers he withheld the money from her and kept her trapped in a loveless, contracted, abusive relationship. When Stevie started talking about divorcing Mick and getting together with Lindsey she ended up here. So you and I work on getting her out of here before Mick gets her transferred to someplace worse than this and I won't nab you for sexual assault and inhumane treatment of patients. All you have to do is help me get her out of here and take what you know about Mick Fleetwood to the police. Is that understood?" Christine states slamming her badge down on the desk. 

Joe looks at her for a moment and then he nods. "I don't want to shock a pregnant woman. It'd be different if we knew what it would do to the baby but we don't and I know the pain of losing a child. I'm not going to do that to someone else." He shakes his head.

"So we're at an understanding then?" Christine inquires.

"Yeah, we're at an understanding." He nods holding out his hand.

She takes it and then she sits across from him. "So, how are we going to get her out of here?" 

End of Part 3