DISCLAIMERS:

Alternative Content Warning: This story contains scenes of an alternative nature. It depicts a loving relationship between two women.

Uber Warning: This story is an uber. The two characters are based off of the leading ladies of XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS.

Author’s Notes: This is the fifth installment of my ‘Arresting’ series. All POSITIVE comments are welcome. Negatives I will simply ignore. Send your thoughts to startrek@ellijay.com. 

"General Hospital"

By: Teagen2

"Shit." I cursed to myself as a sense of dread filled me. It was eleven. Ze should be home.

‘Maybe she was asleep and didn’t hear the phone.’ I reasoned, not settling my fear. I dialed again. After the fourth ring I said, "Come on Ze. Pick up the phone, Sweetheart." Nothing. I slammed the phone back on the cradle and retrieved my change. I jogged back around to my door and jumped in.

"What’s wrong, Kid?"

"I feel something’s wrong and Zena didn’t the answer the phone." I pulled out, intent on heading to the station.

"Let’s swing by your house."

"Are you nuts? We’re on duty we can’t just leave our jurisdiction." Randy grabbed the radio. "Dispatch, we’ll be out of commission, mechanical difficulties."

"Roger 34. Out of commission." I stared at him wide-eyed.

"Go, Gabby. It’ll by us thirty minutes or so......Go!" Randy was taking a big risk with this. I hit the lights and off we went.

"Why are you doing this for me?"

"Your my partner. I believe when you say you think something’s wrong. The day my wife was in a car accident, I felt it too....Do you want me to drive?"

"No." I was making good time.

I pulled up in our driveway. It was quiet. Well the house isn’t on fire. "ZE?" I yelled as I entered the house. Ares barked loudly. I walked behind the couch and saw Zena laying on her side, crying. "Baby, what’s wrong?" Ares made a pitiful whimpering noise and licked her cheek. "Ze, talk to me."

"I’ll call an ambulance." Randy said over my shoulder.

"Gabby....its hurts." she breathed as she clutched her leg. Oh gods, something was terribly wrong with her leg.

"Shhhhh." I sat down with her on the floor and pulled her to me. "Its okay." I whispered. She sobbed loudly as a wave hit her.

"Their coming, Zena." Randy squatted next to us. "What’s wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"Ze’s leg has been bothering her for awhile." I gestured. "I don’t know what’s wrong with it."

"Gabby." she cried. Those cries were tearing at my heart. All the tension that was built up between us was gone now.

"I’m right here, Sweetie." I whispered. I let her clutch my hand. Her grip strengthened and then weakened with each wave of pain she was having. I heard the sirens coming.

"I’ll let ‘em in." Randy patted my shoulder as he stood.

Two men entered the living room with equipment bags. "What’s the problem?"

"She has been having sharp pains in her left leg for the last week or so. She’s been taking muscle relaxers, but they haven’t helped."

"Okay...What’s her name?"

"Zena."

"Zena?" he asked. She looked over at him. "What are feeling?" He placed his hands near where she was clutching her leg. "Is it just your left leg?" She nodded. "Just your upper thigh?"

"My whole leg." she winced.

"She was shot in that thigh about eight months ago. Passed right through." The medic nodded his understanding.

"Okay Zena. We’re going to transport you and see what’s wrong okay?" Zena didn’t respond. They moved away to retrieve their gurney.

"Gabby...."

"I won’t leave you, Baby." I whispered. I knew what she was going to say before she said it. She was absolutely terrified of hospitals. I can’t blame her, I hate them myself.

They let me ride with her and Randy went back out on patrol. I owe him big time for this. Right now I was worried about my baby, not my job. I watched, sadly, as they took a pair of scissors and cut up the seam of Ze’s pant leg. These are her favorite jeans, now they’ll be cut offs. Right now she’s not worrying about her jeans. I know Ze will be sad later. "I’ll buy you another pair just like these." I whispered. She turned her face to me, which was covered with an oxygen mask because her breathing was getting irregular, and winked at me. The EMT examined the scar on Zena’s leg. It was sensitive to the touch. She jerked when he hit a tender spot.

I kissed her forehead when we had to part. After I filled out her paperwork, I paced. Being still in my uniform, I was not hassled in the slightest and didn’t have to wait long before they let me go back. She was on a private bed. A nasal tube replaced the mask from earlier. Her face lit up upon seeing me. I knew she had to be drugged slightly, by her movements. "Hey." I whispered, tenderly kissing her on the lips. "Hear anything?" I asked.

"No." she said hoarsely. She raised her hand with an IV in it. "Gave me some cooollll pain medicine." she smiled. I chuckled. I laced my fingers with her other hand.

"I love you." I said. She opened her mouth to say something, when a doctor approached.

"Hi. I’m Dr. Davies. I’ve got your X-rays Zena. Its just as we thought. Its a pinched nerve. Right here." he pointed to the entrance wound, "there is some scar tissue that has built up and is pressing down on two nerves in your leg. Now we’re going to have to cut right here," he gestured, "and remove that tissue and reestablish that nerve so you won’t feel anymore pain or have any damage. Sound okay?" She nodded meekly, not meeting his or my eyes. "You should make a complete recovery. You should be out about a day or two after the procedure." Once again she nodded. "We’re going to move you to a private room and you are scheduled for surgery in the morning."

"Thank you." I said.

"Your welcome." he smiled. He patted Ze’s side and left us alone.

Ze’s mood had not changed. She was now alone with me and yet she still wouldn’t meet my eyes. "How did you know?" she asked.

"I just did." I said quietly. "I knew something was wrong when you didn’t answer the phone."

"I love you, Gabby." She finally made eye contact with me.

"I love you, too."’

"I’m scared." I knew that was coming.

"Your gonna be fine, Babe. I promise."

"I know." she said weakly. "I just....get scared." She yawned. Her sedatives her kicking in.

"I won’t go anywhere. I’ll be here when you wake up." She nodded as her blue eyes drifted shut.

I opened my eyes, another hospital room, another time. Gabby was absently staring at her feet. "Baby?" I startled her.

"Oh. Hey, feeling better?"

"What time is it?"

"About seven. They’ll be knocking you out pretty soon." she smiled, trying to lighten my mood. "Do you want me to call your mom and tell her?"

"Yeah." I looked away.

"Hey, Ze." She turned my chin to her. "We’ll talk about us and your mom later. Right

now, you concentrate on walking outta here tomorrow."

"Okay." I was satisfied with that. "How can I be angry at someone who dropped everything for me and came running?" I asked.

"You are still mad at me." she said. "I know you are and don’t feel guilty. I’m still mad at you." she smiled. "but I still love you."

"I love you, Gabby."

"I know." I watched as two nurses entered with a tray and injected something into my IV.

"Okay, you’ll be ready in about ten minutes." One commented. "Make it quick." she said to Gabby. They both left as quickly as they came.

"Baby, go home and get some sleep. I’ll be busy for awhile." I smiled.

"I’ll go home, shower, change clothes, and come back." she stood. "I love you." She kissed me tenderly on the lips.

"Gabby?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I have a real kiss?" I wiggled my eyebrows making her smile, my smile. She lent down again this time locking lips with me. She slipped her tongue into my mouth passionately. If this was my last kiss, I’ll go happy. She moaned that moan that always drives me crazy. "Is this suppose to make me sleepy or horny?" I smiled.

"Which are you feeling?" she chuckled.

"Both."

"I’ll collect on the ladder later. Sleep now, make love later." she whispered.

I literally cried all the way home. I didn’t want to leave her there. However, I was still dressed in my uniform. "Oh shit." I cursed as I saw Ze’s mom, and young girl maybe eighteen, and a man standing by a Buick in our driveway. I got out of the jeep. The first sentence had Zena in it, no surprise. I doubt she even remembered my name.

"Where’s Zena?" I waited until I was directly in front of them before I responded.

"She’s in the hospital."

"What for?" the man asked, genuinely concerned. I looked at him sideways. "Oh I’m sorry." He extended his hand politely and I shook it. "Josh Biggin’s Zena’s stepdad I guess." he smiled.

"Gabby Taylor."

"This is my daughter, Amy." I nodded, she smiled. "What’s wrong? Is it serious?"

"She has a pinched nerve in her left leg. She was in a lot of pain last night, so I called an ambulance......Why don’t you guys come in." I gestured. Josh followed with Amy, and a reluctant Katie bringing up the rear.

"You’ll have to excuse me. I worked a shift last night and was up with Ze all morning."

"We understand." Josh smiled. He’s not so bad. What’s he doing with ‘Cruella Deville’ over there?

"Zena’s in surgery this morning. So, I’m going to change and head back."

"Mind if we tag along?" Josh asked.

"Sure I guess." As I walked away to change, I heard a hushed voice that could only be Katie’s.

"Josh, I don’t wanna spend all day at a hospital."

"What?" he asked exasperated. That’s all I heard as I entered our bedroom and closed the door.

Josh and Amy bought a teddy bear for Ze. At least someone in this family is nice. She had been moved from the recovery about an hour ago. Josh and family waited patiently while I walked down the hall into Ze’s room. I had seen her much better, but she didn’t look horrible. She appeared to be sleeping. I gently kissed her on the lips. I was pleasantly surprised when she kissed me back and opened her eyes.

"Hey Sweetie." I brushed her unruly hair out of her eye.

"I’m still alive right?" she grinned.

"You better believe it. How are you feeling?"

"Tired."

"Ummm." I brought the teddy bear out from behind my back along with my gift. "Josh

and Amy bought this for you as a get well gift."

"Amy?" she questioned.

"Seems you have a stepsister."

"Oh. Thank them for me would ya?"

"Sure...and this is from me." I held up a vase with a single red rose. She smiled widely.

"Its beautiful. Thank you."

"Anything for you." I whispered.

"So, am I gonna survive?" she looked around.

"Afraid so. Danny is supposed to come by soon. If she says everything’s okay you can go home tomorrow afternoon."

"Ah man." she sighed. "I don’t wanna stay here."

"I’ll stay with you."

"Don’t you have to work?"

"Nope. The lieutenant gave tonight off. So you’re stuck with me." I sat down on the side of her bed.

"Did you call my mom?"

"No actually. Before I could, she showed up with Josh and Amy in our driveway this morning. Their outside if you wanna see them."

"Okay."

Josh entered tentatively behind Katie. Katie wasted no time in playing it up. "Oh baby. How are you feeling?"

"I’ve been better." Zena answered.

"Zena, this your stepdad, Josh and sister Amy."

"Hi." Zena smiled at them as she shook their hands and received hugs. I had subconsciously moved to the corner of the room.

I looked over to see Gabby leaning on a wall in the corner. She was not happy. She looked rather sad. Just as I was about to call her over, Mom interrupted me.

"So, when are you getting out of here?"

"Tomorrow hopefully." I said looking directly at Gabby. Her gaze had dropped to her feet. "Baby." She immediately looked up. Gabby looked as if she was going to cry.

"Come here." She pushed herself off the wall and moved over to my bedside. I reached out my hand and she took it, sitting next to me.

Doctors have such bad timing with us. Danny stepped through the door with a clipboard. All eyes turned to her. "Hey Stretch. Gotta a full tribe in here." She moved to my bed, smiling at the visitors in my room. "Hey Gabby."

"How are ya?" Gabby asked.

"Not bad. So, feeling better Zena?"

"Yeah, just tired."

"Well let me tell you about what we did......Okay, what happened is a build up of scar tissue resulting from the entrance wound you had. It began pressing down on two nerves in your thigh, causing the pain you were feeling. We removed the build up and repaired the nerves. So, in a few days you should be back to your old self again. You’ll need to see me for a follow up." She turned to everyone in the room. "Could everyone but Gabby step outside please?" They filed out.

"Let me take a look here." She pulled back the blanket on the bed and shifted the hem of the hospital gown to get a look at my leg. It was wrapped in gauze. She began pressing down on the muscles softly. "Wiggle your toes for me.....Good." she smiled. She gently reached under my calf and pushed my leg up, bending my knee several times. "Feel okay?"

"Yep."

"Okay. Looks good." She recovered me. "If your still feeling no pain, you can go home

tomorrow. You’ll be a tad sore of course. If you start to feel any of the sharp pains again, you call me. Okay?"

"Gotcha."

"Okay. I’ll have Dr. Davies come in for one more check in the morning before your discharged. Call my office in a few days for an appointment to remove those stitches okay?"

"I’ll drag her down." Gabby smiled.

"Then I know she’ll be there. You guys take care."

"Thanks Danny."

"Any time Stretch."

I knew Gabby didn’t like me being alone with Mom. I still have no idea why she hates her so much, but Gabby just plain hates my mother. "So, what are you going to do?"

"About what, Mom?"

"That girl."

"What are you talking about?" I said confused. One minute we’re talking about Amy and suddenly she changed the subject.

"Your not really going to marry her are you?"

"What is it with you two? Why don’t you like each other?"

"Zena, she dresses like a drug dealer."

"She does not."

"Zena, I don’t trust her. She looks like a criminal. You said so yourself."

"Mom, I NEVER said she was a criminal."

"The first time you saw her, she was in handcuffs. That’s what you said." I sighed.

"Mom., I’m really tired. I just wanna get some sleep. Okay?"

"Alright. Sweetheart. I’ll just tell everyone we’re going home."

"Gabby’s staying with me tonight."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, she said she would." I yawned.

"I’ll stay with you."

"No that’s okay." I closed my eyes. I heard her footfall as she walked out.

I was relieved when Katie stepped out. Now I can go back in. As I started back in, she held up a hand. "Zena says she’s tired and for all of us to go home."

"I’m staying." I gritted my teeth.

"She says she doesn’t need you to."

"I’m staying." I repeated more sternly. We faced off. "And there’s not a damn thing you can do about it." I added. Josh defused the situation by grabbing his wife and making a quick exit. Wise man.

Ze was asleep. I kissed her goodnight and settled myself down in the chair next to her bed and tried my best to get comfortable.

I awoke to the silhouette of a nurse checking my I.V. "Sorry didn’t mean to wake you, Honey." she smiled.

"That’s okay." I said groggily.

"Looks like someone else is tired." I followed her with my eyes as she walked around to the other side of my bed. Gabby was sitting asleep in a chair. I smiled. The nurse reached into the drawer and pulled out an extra blanket and draped it over Gabby. "She’s been here all night." she commented.

"Thank you." I said.

"Sure. Get some rest so you can get out of here."

I couldn’t reach her without getting out of bed, so I had to call her name. Surprisingly, her eyes opened on the first try.

"Gabby."

"Mmmmm." She moved slowly, grimacing.

"That chair wasn’t very comfortable was it?"

"Nope." She stood a stretched.

"I’m sorry."

"Hey, I don’t care if I had to stand all night. I was staying." I smiled. "So, anything yet?"

"Yeah. The nurses want me up and walking after breakfast to work the kinks out. They

said I can go ahead and get dressed. They pulled my I.V out."

"Cool." She walked over to the small closet and opened the door. "I brought you some clothes yesterday. I got your old ones at the house. Cameron is hemming your jeans into shorts for ya." Gabby smiled. She reached into the bag and pulled out a brand new pair of

Levi’s. They matched my destroyed ones to a T. "They’ll take a few washings to break in like your old ones but...."

"Thank you. There great." I smiled. She reached forward and kissed me.

"You’re welcome."

A nurse came in and assisted me in dressing. At least I don’t have to tread up and down the hall in a gown. I felt a bit shaky on the first few steps. Gabby walked on one side and the nurse on the other as I slowly began to walk down the hall. I worked the limp out of my step after several rounds. Soon the nurse left us alone and I was able to hold Gabby’s hand for a little while. "She was afraid you’d lean on me for support when you first started out." Gabby commented.

"Probably would have, just to be close to you." I sighed. "Gabby, I know you hate hospitals as much as I do, but you stayed with me. You don’t know how much that means to me."

"I’d do it again, but..." She grabbed me by the ear. "don’t make me in the near future.

Got me?"

"Yeah. I got ya." She released my ear.

I was wheeled to the door at three o’clock. I was happy to get outta here. I must admit, it wasn’t a particularly horrible experience just a unpleasant one. I was nervous about breaching the subject of my mom. "So, did my mom say how long she was staying?"

"Nope." I heard it in her voice. She still hated her.

"Gabby, I love you. You know that right?"

"Yep."

"Why are you so mad about my mom?" Gabby pulled into our driveway.

"Because she is hurting you, Ze. I don’t give a shit what she thinks of me. She hates me, but I could care less. Its that she’s filling your head full of lies, Baby." We exited the jeep and walked to the front door. I unlocked it and stepped in.

"Where’s Ares?" I asked when he didn’t come running.

"At Jenny’s. She agreed to keep him for me until you came home. I’ll go over and get him in a little while." I nodded.

"What do you mean lies?"

"She doesn’t approve of you as a person. She told me."

"Then why the hell is she here?!"

"I don’t know, Zena. I can prove it to you. Next time she comes over, stand in the bedroom and listen."

"I’m NOT going to eavesdrop on my mother."

"That’s the only way you’ll hear the truth. Maybe if you hear it from her mouth, you’ll believe me." I said quietly.

Sure enough Katie came over without Josh and Amy just as I was about to fix dinner. I opened the door and there she was. I simply turned around and left her to come in on her own. She walked in and closed the door behind her. "Where’s my daughter?"

"Taking a nap." We had both been taking one until about thirty minutes ago.
I walked back into the living room and sat down and continued to watch cartoons. Katie took a seat in Ze’s chair.

"Do you always dress like a delinquent?" I looked down at myself.

"Yeah I do." I said sarcastically. "Perfect attire to shoot a few nuns in."

"Smartass." she mumbled. "You know I don’t think for a minute that you love my daughter."

"Oh...why’s that?"

"You’re a stupid, idiotic little shit. That’s why."

"Better than being a backstabbing, two faced, conniving bitch." She stood up. I wasn’t the least bit scared of her. So I smugly raised my glass in my hand to my lips and drank.

"Listen you little...you mean nothing to Zena. Do you understand me? You can be replaced."

"What?" I asked.

"Zena can always find a husband to take care of her. She doesn’t need a street punk like you and you know it." Those words hit too close to home. It was something I told myself during my therapy. "Not when she can have a nicer home, more money. You are holding her back."

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Now I was getting pissed.

"I know Zena has you listed as her compensation receiver if she dies in the line of duty." That was news to me. I really didn’t think about it but I guess it was true. The department pays for the funeral and the pension to the family.

"So."

"She also has her father’s pension." I knew that much. It was what paid my hospital bills when I was shot.

"That money should go to her family not you." My mouth dropped and I stood to confront her.

"This is what its all about isn’t it? You want Ze’s pension if she dies." I stood there in total disbelief. "Your mad because you didn’t get James’ pension, so you want Ze’s. If Ze and I get married, you don’t have a chance in hell of getting it."

"That’s part of it...." She didn’t finish the sentence. I cut her off harshly.

"You hurt my baby AGAIN for your own gain. You probably panicked when Ze called and said she was getting married. So, you come down here and act all lovey dovey hoping Ze will dump me. You intentionally caused our fighting. Didn’t you?" Her silence answered me.

I heard a noise and we both looked over to see Zena standing in the doorway.