Self Preservation

by stephanie meyer

i don't own them. i don't claim to. it's just for fun.

"Dr. Grad, I want to thank you for coming to speak this group of kids." The two woman walked down the hallway together.

"It's no trouble. Kids need to know the facts about this, exspecially ones that could be high risk. The research is advansing so fast, i can hardly keep up with it myself." They moved through the sea of teenagers to the inclosed courtyard where a group of twelve or so students were gathered. Diane had agreed to talk to a group of highschool students, deemed high risk, about the contraction and treatment of AIDS.

Diane looked over the group of students gathered. One girl was very pregnant. Diane smiled at her. "How much longer do you have?"

"One month. I just want it to be over."\

"I know the feeling." Diane sat on one of the benches. The gathering was informal. The questions came first.

Diane was enjoying herself. These kids, although embarresed at first, asked plenty of questions. She'd forgotten what talking to people, inparticually students, who were willing to learn was like. She was in the middle of explaing the difference between hiv and aids was and why the deathtoll from aids was dropping even though the number of hiv infections was rising when they heard the first popping sounds. Diane momentartly froze. It sounded like gunfire. The courtyard was suddenly invaded by the noise.

"Get down!" Daine reflexivly hit the floor, pushing the nearest student down with her. "Stay down! The bullests will recette!"

When she looked up, there were three students in the courtyard with guns looking like they were preparing for a stand off. They were trying to barracade the enternces., Wonderful, Diane thought, Billy gets holed up with anacrists, and I get barricaded in with unstable teenagers. Then the doctor in her took over an she began to look for wounded. She triaged several minor wounds. Two shoulders wounds , one leg. Nothing serious. The far worst was the young gilr Diane had been speaking to earlier. She'd been hit in the adbomen. Diane moved to exam her, calling over ther shoulder to the teacher. "Have them apply pressure to the wounds!"

The frightened woman nodded.

Diane began to staunch the girls hemmeroging. She was losing a lot of blood. Diane couldn't tell if the fetus had been hit or not. She was consertrating on appling pressure most effectivly when one of the shooters noticed her.

"Get down!"

Diane looked up. Her eyes were fulll of fire. She couldn't be scared so she had to be angry. "You want me to let her bleed to death?"

"Shut up!"

"So far nobbody's died! Do you want to keep it that way?"

"Just shut up!"

"Look, I don't know you or what the hell youre doing, but i'm going to tell you something right now. If I move, this girl will bleed to death. That means her baby will die. Which puts all of you on two accounts of murder."

"I said be quiet." With that he slammed the butt of his gun into the side of Diane's head. She nearly blaced out, but held her ground.

The media was in a frenzy. Phillip was in the or observation lounge, watching Billy Kronk operate. Dennis was standing next to him.

"Does he know yet?"

PHillip shook his head. "I thought it would be best to tell him after the surgery is over."

"Good call."

"The fiacso might be over by then."

"M ight be. Are we getting the mafor causilties?"

"Yes."

"Any word about how many?"

"No."

"What about Diane?"

"Nothing."

Diane was still trying to reason with the kid who seemed most congnitive. "All you have to do is put the guns down. Then the paramedics can come in and nobody has to die."

The boy who'd struck her pushed hte other boy out of Diane's line of sight. "Just shut up! If we weren't going to kill people, do you think we would have done this?"

Diane's head was throbbing and she was having a hard time focusing. Her adrenalin kept her going. "You don't have to do this."

"They ostroziz us!"

"You create most of it! so a couple of idots make fun of you! So what? It gets better! High school is not the whole world!"

The third boy spoke to the second. "She's bleeding alot man. Maybe we should let some go."

"Shut up! That's not in the plan! You knew what you were getting into!"

The first boy interjected. "It didn't work man! We should stop now."

The second boy paced around agitatily. He fired a round into the ceiling and then turned the gun on his friens. "I guess we should."

Three shots and it was over. Diane looked at the three still bodies with tears in her eyes. Wehn the polic burst into the room she began to bark orders. "Get some paramedics in here no! If we don't get her to a hospital soon, she won't makie it."

Billy nearly paniced when they heard the ambulances were on their way. So when he saw Diane covered in blood, he freaked. "Diane!"

"I'm fine, Billy. I'm fine. If I move, she's dead."

It was then that Billy's mind processed the fact that his wife was astride someone on the gurney. He took a closer look. "Jesus Christ." Diane was holding a very pregnant girl's belly together.

"Where's Dennis?"

"I'm right here." Dennis helped them wheel hte gurney into the trauma room. "Any of that blood your's Diane?"

"Don't think so."

They moved the two onto a gruney. Billy gave his wife a quick kiss on the top of the head. "Ok, Diane, you're going to have to let me in."

"If I move..."

Billy beckonded a nurse. "She'll get it. Let Lisa or Aaron look at you."

"I'm fine."

"Diane, the whole left side of your face looks like it got used as a hockey puck." Billly's voice was agitated. He was pissed and scared. He could have lost her and he knew it. "you did good. Let us do the job now."

Diane knodded and let the nurse take over her position. She stumbled back into the choas of hte er. Aaron found her and guided her into curtian three.

"Diane, let me have a look , ok?"

She knodded but soon regretted it.

"Does moving your head hert?"

"Like i've got an elphanet loose in here."

"How many fingers?"

"I don't know. Why are you whispering? YOur voice is tunneling."

Aaron checked her pupils. "Damn. You're going straight to ct. Page Catera!" he yelled as he began to wheel Diane's gurney to the elevators.

"Damn," Lisa swore as she looked at the scan. "She's going to need surgery."

"Dr. Catera!" the nurse called from the ct room. "She's seizing!"

Lisa sank to the floor ouside the or. Diane had pulled through surgery with flying colors wheic was phenomanal given that she had seized twice before Lisa could repair the damange. Aaron had gone to find Billy. He'd been in surgery with Dennis when they'd gone in.

Aaron stood outside the sterile feild. "Can youleave, Billy?"

"Yes he can," Dennis answered, "Go."

Billy scrubbed out. "Where is she?" he asked Aaron.

She's in recovery. She was bleeding from the head trauma. Two intercranal bleeds. She should make a full recovery."

"Should?"

"I'm not going to lie to you. She seized twice before we could get her inot surger."

"Damn."

Billy was by her side when she opened her eyes. "Billy?"

"Hey baby doll." He kissed her forehead. "Hou you feleling?"

She gave him a puzzled look. Since when did Billy Kronk call her baby doll? "What happened? Did I get shot?"

"No baby, you got hit in the head. Lisa had to operate."

"Lisa?"

"I'm right here, Diane." LIsa said form the doorway. Aaron was standing beside her.

Billy took her hand in his. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Diane's eyes showed her confusion. "I was walking down the stairs with Alan. Where's Alan? Oh my god, did they shoot Alan? Is that what you're not telling me? Where's Alan?" She began to try to sit up. billy gently stopped her. Shutt was whispering to the nurse. "Where is he?" She was nearly hysterical. The nurse returned. Aaron took the seringe form her and quickly injected it itnto Diane's iv. Her cries lessened as it took affect. When she was sleeping quietly, Billy turned Aaron and lisa. "What was that all about?"

Aaron sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Seeng Alan shot was a major trauma, Billy."

"I know that Aaron. I"ve had to wake her out of more screamers than i'd like to count."

"Seeing those kids shotting must have drug up all those feelings. Her mind must have blocked out the span betwwen just before Alan's death and now in self preservation."

"So she doesn't remeber us or Emily?"

"Right now. There're no leasions. Give hre a little time, Billy. When she wakes up, she may be fine."

"I hope so."

Diane was dreaming. First Alan. Then a man in a flannel shirt that wanted something form her, somehting she didn't want to give. He scared ehr. Then three young boys. She tried to scream but she couldn't . Oh god, she couldn't wake up.

"Diane!"

She came to with a start in Billy's arms. "Billy!" she clung to him. "I was so scared. so scared."

"You're safe now." He held her.

"I know. I know." She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Where's Emily?"

"The sitter stayed."

"I want to hold my baby gilr."

"I'll go call and have her brought in, ok?"

Diane nodded. "The plice are going to want to tlak to me, aren't they?"

"Yeah."

"Did she make it?"

Billy shook his head. "The baby did though. It might have suffered some brain damage, Lisa's not sure yet."

"her family?"

"Her grandparents are putting her up for adoption but with the possilbity of brain damage, it'll be rough."

Diane looked at Billy with wide eyes. "Can I see hte baby?"

Billy smoothed her hair way form her head. "Sre. I"ll go call home and get a chair, ok?"

Aaron found Diane and Billy in the neonatal unit. Diane was holding hte small child while Billy watched on through the glass.

"How's she doing?"

"She wants to hold Elmily. I called the sitter."

"She wanted to see the gilr's baby?"

"Yeah. This probably won't be a good thing."

"You think she'll want to keep it?"

"Yep."

Diane let the nurse take the baby bak. Another nurse wheeled her into the hall. Billy took her. He kissed her. "REady?"

"Billy..."

"No. You , we, can not adopt that baby."

Diane's eyes were bright and excited. "Not us." She looked at Aaron. "you."

"Me?"

"You and Jack were talking about how much you each wanted kids. Aaron, you'd make such a good father. You adore emily and Alisha."

"Diane, I'm a bachlor."

"So! Alan did it and look how happy he and alisha are?"

Billy and aaron exchanged troublerd looks. "Don't you mean were?" Billy asked gently.

"Are " Diane said matter of factly. "Alisha Birchis one of hte happiest five year old's I know and Alan is a compoletlely devoted father without compromising his professional life. See Aaron, it cna be done. See?"

Billy and Aaron exchanged looks over her head.

"Where is she now?" PHillip asked, rubbing his temples.

"She's back in her room with Billy and Emily." Aaron replied.

"She has no other memory loss?"

"She did at first but now it's only Alan's death she doesn't remember. That's probably due to how close she is to Billy and how much she loves Emily. Her mind edited out Alan's death in an attempt to advert a replapse to her condition after his death. She's confabulated his life fom that point on."

"But she was fine after Alan's death."

"No she wasn't Phillip. You weren't here to see her. She was a mess. She didn't leave her lab untill forced her too. She pulled a gun on Kate and Dennis found her wandering the streets babbling about how Alan's death was her fault."

"Why didn't I hear about this?"

"You didn't want to."

Diane fell asleep with Emily in her arms. Billy sat beside her bed with his head in his hands. What were they going to do?

Aaron retreated into the hall quickly. Just in time time. The ice bucket colidded with the wall, soaring through the space his head had been just moments ago. Billy shook his head. "You shouldn't have mentioned therapy. You just pissed her off."

"I forgot that she has an arm."

"A really good arm. Good right hook too." Billy entered the room. "Diane....shit!" Billy ducked as the unused bed pan went hurtiling over his head. It clanged against the hallway and crashed ot the floor.

"Yeah, Billy. That went so much better," Aaron called from the high ground.

Phillip found her gazing at her window, crying . "Diane."

She looked at him. 'Don't PHillip. I know. I know. God help me I know."

They stood there gazing out the window, grieving together as they should have the first time.

the end