Chapter 12: Drastic Measures

December 18, 1988, Iron Mountain, Michigan

"What the...?!" I gasped.

"She's sedated," Alicia said from behind me.

"Sedated?! What the fuck did you do?!"

"An intervention," Jennifer said. "After Elyse worked on you, we talked. I got in touch with Alicia, she talked to Doctor Barton, and we hatched a plan."

"Which was?"

"To kidnap your wife and bring her here," Alicia said. "Doctor Barton officially knows nothing about that part of the plan. But he sanctioned it. Come have some coffee and we'll explain."

I went with the girls to the kitchen.

"Kara, did you know about this?" I asked.

She shook her head, "No!"

"Sit down, Steve," Kathy urged.

I roughly pulled out the chair and sat down.

"I told Alicia what was going on," Jennifer said. "I'm sorry, but Kathy and I needed her help. She talked to your friend, Doctor Barton, and we decided to go out to Riverside and basically force Jess to come with us."

"Did she know about the DNA test?"

"Carissa said that Jess believed you were lying about it to try to get her to talk to you. She didn't believe it could be negative."

"Neither did I," I said. "But it was. Why is she sedated?"

"She broke down completely. With Carissa's help, we got her into my car, and then the three of us brought her here. We arrived about four hours ago. Elyse gave us the name and number for the rental agent who let us in. Jessica became agitated and then hysterical, so I gave her a small injection of Haldol to calm her down. She's been sleeping ever since."

"What about a pregnancy? Would that drug hurt our baby?"

"Baby?!" Alicia said, surprised. "Nobody said she was pregnant! It's not supposed to, though."

"Well, it's not clear if she still is or not," I sighed. "I guess we'll find out when she wakes up."

"Carissa said she hasn't been sleeping or eating very much for the past two months. Just enough to get by, I guess. She was alternating between crying and babbling. I'm afraid she's had what you would call in layman's terms a nervous breakdown. I hope it's not a psychotic break, but she'll need a full clinical evaluation to determine that. If we're lucky, it's malnutrition plus stress plus lack of sleep."

"Shit," I said. "Now what?"

"Well, the other girls are going back to Chicago in the morning," Alicia said. "We have rooms at a bed-and-breakfast in town, and I rented a car so I can move around. Doctor Barton arranged for a week's absence for me. She needs care, and I'll do it, with consultation with him by phone. I know that sounds a bit odd, but he's trying to give her the best chance to get back into the Residency program. He really put his butt on the line for her."

"So did you," I said. "You could lose your license for something like this, I suspect. Not to mention that you aren't licensed in Michigan."

"I'm not licensed in Illinois yet. I plan to take my Boards in June."

"Jesus, Alicia! You're running a huge risk! Isn't practicing medicine without a license a felony?"

"Let Doctor Barton and me worry about that. Let's hope we can manage her without needing an IV or anything like that. If we do need an IV, we'll have to have her admitted to a hospital. I hope you don't mind if I stay here tonight, just to be safe."

"That's fine," I said. "Supposedly, that's a sleeper sofa in the main room. I'd say probably Kara and I should use it and you stay with Jessica. I can't imagine I should be in bed with her at this point."

"No, probably not. What are you doing with Birgit?"

"We have a fold-up travel bed in the trunk of my car. I'll bring it inside in a bit."

"Steve, Kathy and I are going to head out," Jennifer said. "You're OK with bringing Alicia home next weekend, right?"

"Yes, of course. I don't even know how to begin to thank you."

"If you and Jessica can put things back together, that will be thanks enough," Kathy said. "You guys are our best friends and we're worried about you both."

"Well, thank Kurt and Josie for me," I said.

I hugged them both and got soft kisses from both of them. That Jennifer gave me a rare soft kiss told me just how much she cared and how worried she was. I walked them out to the car and after they drove off, I got the portable crib from my trunk and took it into the cabin. I set it up and stoked the fire while Kara prepared some soup from the supplies that we'd brought with us.

"There's a small grocery store in town," Alicia said. "I suspect you'll need a few supplies, given that you didn't know that Jessica would be here."

"What should she eat?" I asked.

"Start with broth and then soup. We'll figure it out from there."

"I'll need to run to the store, then," I said.

"Let me go after we eat," Kara said. "Alicia needs to be here for Jess and so do you."

"Unless she freaks out because I'm here," I said. "Is that why she became hysterical, Alicia?"

"Possibly; no, probably. But I have some very mild sedatives that I can give her that won't affect a pregnancy. I'll keep the dose low if we need to do that. I wonder why Doctor Barton didn't tell me about that."

"Because Jess told us she was having an abortion about three weeks ago. I'm guessing Al assumed that she did. I assume she did, unless she says otherwise."

"Are you OK with that?" Alicia asked.

"No, I'm not. But for this week, I officially don't care. We'll worry about what it means once we get Jess healthy and on track to restart her Residency."

"She'll have to restart her whole surgical year. No credit for the time from June to October. That's assuming they allow her back in, which is not a sure thing."

"I know. Thanks for helping, Alicia. I owe you!"

She smiled, "I'd love to collect on that, but I don't see that in my future. Your thanks will have to be enough."

Kara smirked and raised her eyebrow, but a quick shake of my head said I wasn't interested. We ate our soup and then Kara left to go to town. Jessica hadn't woken up by the time Kara returned from the store, though she had stirred a bit. Alicia checked on Jessica about every fifteen minutes and said everything seemed OK, at least for now. The three of us were sitting in front of the fireplace with Birgit in my lap when Jessica called from the other room.

Alicia got up and went to see her, and a minute later came out and got her medical bag. She went back in and about five minutes later, she came out with her arm around Jessica. Alicia helped her to the couch and covered her with a blanket.

"Hi, Babe," I said lovingly.

Jessica started sobbing softly. I looked at Alicia, who nodded. I handed Birgit to Kara and moved to sit on the couch next to Jessica. I put my arm around her and she collapsed against me, her body wracked by heaving sobs.

"Shh," I soothed. "Kara and I are here, and we love you. We want to help you."

It was fifteen minutes, and what seemed like half-a-box of tissues before Jessica had calmed down enough for me to even think about talking to her.

"Will you eat something?" I asked.

She nodded and Kara put Birgit on a blanket on the floor in front of us, and went to the kitchen to make some broth. When it was ready, she found a TV tray table and set it in front of Jessica, then put a shallow bowl of chicken broth in front of her, along with a glass of water. Jessica picked up the spoon and ate tentatively, but she finished the bowl of broth and drank the glass of water. Alicia's nod indicated she approved.

"Did the test really say you aren't the father of that little girl?" Jessica asked.

"Yes, Babe. I'd never lie about something like that. It's not completely over because Carla could challenge the results and even force a new test, but Gwen Meyer says the system is on my side now."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"Just that the results are usually conclusive, but there are legal games that Carla and her lawyer can attempt. According to Gwen and Al Barton, when a test has DNA from the mother, father, and child, it's more than 99.999% accurate. So unless there was some mix-up of the samples, or something like that, it's conclusive and the court should rule in my favor. Jamie agrees with Gwen."

"Good," Jessica said. "I'm happy for you."

That didn't sound right. Happy for me? Not for us? Not for herself. But I wasn't about to say anything at this point. For the most part, right now, all I could do was listen and try to support her as best I could.

"We've missed you, Babe. We've been worried about you. All of us. Me, Kara, Elyse, Kathy, Alicia, Doctor Barton. Jesse. All of us."

"Why did they make me come here?" she pleaded.

"Because they saw you suffering and wanted to help. They love you, the same as Kara and I do."

"Why?" she signed. "I'm nothing special. I'm just a stupid, useless girl from Plano, Texas."

"What?!" I gasped. "That is NOT true!"

"I've thrown it all away," she said, starting to sob. "My career. My marriage. My friends. I've ruined it all! There's nothing left!"

"I don't think that's true," I said gently.

"Maybe she should get some sleep," Alicia said.

I didn't think that was the case, but I was going to defer to Alicia because she was working under Doctor Barton's guidance. Alicia came over and helped Jessica into the bedroom. She was back about five minutes later.

"I gave her a very mild sedative," Alicia said. "A good night's sleep will help. We'll try to get something nutritionally substantive into her in the morning."

"OK," I agreed. "She sounded really depressed."

"She is. Whatever the original problem was, I think she might be clinically depressed. We'll be able to tell better tomorrow. If that's what we think it is, she'll need psychological counseling and probably oral Fluoxetine to dampen the symptoms. You probably know the trade name 'Prozac'. But there's no way we can give that to her here, in this setting. That only treats the depression, not whatever caused her breakdown in the first place."

"Shit," I sighed.

"Believe it or not, there is an upside," Alicia said. "If she IS clinically depressed, and receives treatment, it improves her chances of being accepted back into the Residency program. They look at things like that as not being the Resident's fault. It would explain her behavior and provide them a way to let her back in without attracting attention for what might seem like special treatment."

"I'll do whatever it takes to help," I said.

"Right now, let her get a good night's sleep and we'll see how she is in the morning. Talking to her might help, but it might also set her off. If so, we'll probably have to take her back to Chicago. It's not clear that she can function."

"Then why bring her here?" I asked.

"Honestly? To make sure she couldn't easily run away from you. Doctor Barton thinks you can get through to her now that the paternity issue is resolved."

"It's not resolved," I sighed. "But close enough, I guess. Maybe. We'll see."

"Get some sleep, Steve. We'll see where she is in the morning."

December 19, 1988, Iron Mountain, Michigan

"What do you think?" Kara asked while Jessica was in the shower.

"I don't know," I replied, my heart heavy. "At least she ate some eggs and toast, but she seems like a zombie."

"Should we go home?"

"Let's wait until Alicia comes back from talking to Al. I listened to her talk to Jessica and I'm not quite sure what to think. This is really Bethany's territory. Honestly, it's not Al's or Alicia's area of expertise."

"So then what?"

"I have no fucking clue," I sighed.

"Hi, Tiger," Jessica said softly when she came out of the bedroom. "Hi, Kara."

"Are you ready to talk?" I asked.

"Is there even anything to talk about?" she sighed.

"Always," I said. "Come sit down. Do you want some tea?"

"Sure," she said.

She sat down at the kitchen table and I poured some lemon tea for the three of us. Kara came to sit with us, bringing Birgit with her.

"Jess, no matter what you say, no matter what happened, I want to help you."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," I said.

"Me too, Jess," Kara said. "We've really missed you and we're worried about you."

Alicia came in the front door just then.

"Jess, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm OK. Thanks for helping me last night."

"It's OK. Doctor Barton is worried about you."

"I'm OK, Alicia. I'm depressed, but I'm not going to hurt myself. Do you mind if I talk to Steve and Kara alone?"

"No, of course not. Doctor Barton said I need to take your vitals three times a day. I'm staying at a bed-and-breakfast in town. I'll come check on you in the morning, around lunch and in the evening."

"I'm fine, Alicia," Jessica said.

"No, you aren't and you damned well know it!" Alicia said firmly. "You are too good of a doctor to think it's wise to treat yourself. You know better because you know where that leads."

Jessica sighed. "I'm sorry. I know you're just being a friend. Tell Doctor Barton I agree. Steve, is it OK if Alicia has dinner with us?"

"Of course," I quickly agreed. "Anything you need."

"OK," Alicia said. "I'll be back after lunch today and then come for dinner."

She left, and I waited for Jessica to talk. This had to start where she wanted to start. I had one question I desperately wanted to ask, but I was afraid of the answer. I was pretty sure what it was, and when Jessica said it out loud, it would change everything.

"Will you tell me about this woman that sued you?" she asked. "I mean start at the beginning and tell me what happened?"

"If that's where you want to start," I said. "Will you tell me why?"

She smiled slightly, "Not yet. Please just explain."

I nodded, "I met Carla when a photographer came to take pictures of the basement for an architectural magazine. She was his assistant. She flirted lightly with me and I invited her back for dinner and a sauna. We had a serious misunderstanding about how I normally used the sauna."

"She didn't realize you were usually naked?"

"Correct. Anyway, she flirted again, but she always shut me down as soon as I took her up on it. It went on for a couple of months that way — she'd flirt, but as soon as I responded in kind, she'd just freeze up. I broke things off with her and told her to get her shit together. She called me back, and we went out, but she acted goofy AGAIN. She told me about the guy in High School who came close to raping her. I should have known then that she was too unstable, but when she called and invited me to dinner, I went.

"That was roughly a year after Carla and I met. Anyway, after dinner, she told me she wanted to have sex. I was a bit worried about her state of mind, but she had rubbers, which told me she'd at least thought about it. We had sex. When we finished, she told me that it was great, but then told me that she never wanted to see me again. Basically, she wanted me to help her get past her issues. Once I did, she was done with me. That was the last I heard of her until the lawsuit."

"Just out of curiosity, was she any good?"

"Normally, I don't answer that, but given the circumstances, I will. It was nothing special. I've had worse, but I've had a LOT better. Bottom 10%, I guess. Why?"

"I don't know. I just wondered. And it was only that one time?"

"Yes. I'm curious, why?"

She sighed, "There's a lot you don't know about me and my family."

Suddenly, a light went on in my head. Something like this had happened in her family in the past.

"Are you ready to tell us?" I asked.

She nodded, "I have a half-brother. One I didn't know I had until I was six."

"Why didn't you say something before?" I asked.

"Because it's a deep, dark family secret. It nearly caused a divorce. It can never be mentioned around my parents. Ever!"

"I promise."

"One day, when I was six, a woman came to the door with a boy who looked to be about ten. My mom answered the door, and the woman said that she was looking for Troy Wilton. Mom said that he was out and asked who the woman was. She said that her name was Catherine and that the boy was Dale, Troy's son. Needless to say, my mom flipped out. When my dad arrived home, they had a huge fight, with my dad denying everything.