The unmistakable blast of a gunshot and the simultaneous, bloodcurdling scream of a woman reverberated through the night, stunning them all.

"Noooo!!!" Jax screamed, as he attempted to run toward the house, but Jerry held him back.

"Now!" Tom yelled into his headset, signaling for all the agents to converge on the house.

"Jax!" Jerry shouted as Jax fought to break away from his grip. "Jax, don't go in there --not yet!" Like Jax, Jerry feared the worst, and he was afraid that seeing Brenda hurt or dead would be the final straw for his brother's already fragile state of mind.

"I have to get to her, Jerry!" Jax cried out as he finally broke free from Jerry and ran the distance to the house, with Jerry in close pursuit. They entered right behind Tom and his team, who were already in the great room. Jax looked franticly around the room. There was a man lying unconscious on one of the couches, a gun on the floor beneath his outstretched hand. Across the room a tall, dark-haired man lay on the floor bleeding. Brenda lay beneath him, covered in blood and unmoving. "Brenda!" Jax screamed as he tore past Tom and the swarm of federal agents and ran to her. Jerry was right behind him.

"Get those ambulances here now!" Tom shouted into his headset to the paramedics who were waiting on the nearby road. "We have at least one gun shot victim, maybe more!" He shook as he rapidly approached Brenda's motionless body. He knew he could never forgive himself if she were hurt.

Jax roughly rolled Dan's body off Brenda, and hastily felt for her pulse. "She's alive!" He breathed a sigh of relief at that, as he quickly scanned her body for bullet wounds. "She's not shot!" he shouted to Jerry as he pulled her still unconscious body up into his arms, kissing her head gently.

"Thank God!" Jerry uttered as he knelt down beside Jax, who was now cradling Brenda in his arms.

"This one seems to be unconscious, but no bullet holes," John Michaels said as he knelt down beside the couch where Tony was passed out, gingerly picking up the gun that lay beneath Tony's outstretched right hand. John looked closer at the man on the couch. "Hot damn!" he shouted. "This is Tony Richards! He was Leone's right-hand man up until just a few years ago!"

"This one's been shot in the leg," Tom said to John as he rolled Dan over, recognizing his face immediately from his recent research on Leone and his crew. "I'd say we've hit the mother lode here as far as the Leone crime family's concerned. This is Dan Wilkerson, Leone's current right-hand man. Looks like Richards there was either aiming for Brenda but missed," then his eyes settled onto Wilkerson's right hand, which was curled around his still cocked gun, "or he was intent on taking down Wilkerson for some reason." He surveyed Dan's wound more closely. "This doesn't seem to be a very serious wound. He's lost some blood, but not enough to explain why he's passed out like this." He looked back to where John was handcuffing the equally motionless Tony. "Why are they both unconscious?"

"I've no idea," John replied, shrugging his shoulders, "but we should find out soon enough." He nodded toward the front door, where four paramedics were entering with gurneys and medical equipment.

"What have we got here?" the first paramedic asked, as he ran to where Tom was still bent over Dan's bleeding body. A second paramedic joined him, while a third ran to where Jax was holding Brenda, and the fourth tended to Tony.

"He's the only one who's been shot, but it doesn't look too serious," Tom said as he stood back to allow the paramedics to work. He glanced back to where the paramedic with Brenda was assessing her vital signs. "How's she?"

"Blood pressure and pulse are good," the paramedic replied. Just then Brenda began to stir.

"Umm…" Brenda moaned slightly, as the paramedic shone his penlight in her eyes.

"Her pupils are equal and reactive, and she's coming around. I don't think she has a head injury. I think she must have just had the wind knocked out of her. I don't see any obvious signs of trauma," the paramedic said.

"She's about three months pregnant," Jax informed the paramedic, as he anxiously watched the man work on Brenda.

"I'm going to start an IV as a precaution, and I think we should get her to GH ASAP to be checked out," the paramedic said as he expertly inserted the needle into Brenda's left forearm.

"Ow!" Brenda groaned, her eyes flying open at the sting of the needle. Jax, Tom, and Jerry all looked relieved, as Brenda clearly had regained consciousness now.

"Brenda," Jax smiled as he saw the fire that was in Brenda's eyes, even as she was just waking up. "You're safe now," he whispered as he gently kissed her forehead, tears of joy welling up in his crystal blue eyes.

Jerry grinned as he watched Jax's face light up the instant that Brenda's eyes opened.

"Jax?" Brenda turned her head at the sound of his voice. It was the sweetest sound she thought she'd ever heard in her life. And, as the realization that he had found them washed over her, Brenda broke into tears of relief. "You found us! I knew you would!" she cried, lifting her right hand to touch his face lovingly. But then she jerked her hand away, grimacing as a wave of cramps hit her -- this round more intense than any of the previous ones. "Uhh…" she winced, clutching her hands to her lower abdomen.

"What's wrong, Brenda?" Jax asked, frightened by Brenda's sudden flinching and her abrupt pallor.

"I'm having … some cramps… It started…just a little while ago … but it seems to be … getting worse," Brenda spoke haltingly, trying to breathe slowly in order to minimize the discomfort.

Both Jax and Jerry sobered as they realized what was most likely happening. John and Tom exchanged worried glances as well.

"She could be miscarrying, Pete," the paramedic yelled over to one of the men who was working on Dan. "We need to transport her now!"

Pete glanced up at the man who had been attending to Tony. "How's he doing, Mark?" he asked. "If he's stable, you go with Louis and the woman to GH now. Andy and I can handle your guy and this one as well. We've got this one stable, and we'll be right behind you."

"I'd say by his pupils that he's been drugged, but other than that, he's okay. BP and pulse are good. I started a saline drip, and he's ready to go whenever you are," Mark announced, as he moved to help Louis lift Brenda onto the gurney for the ride to GH.

"Got it! Now, get moving!" Pete yelled to Louis and Mark, as he motioned for Andy to help him lift Dan onto a gurney as well.

Mark and Louis rushed Brenda to one of the two waiting ambulances, with Jax and Jerry running along at her side.

"I'm going with her," Jax said firmly, as he watched the men carefully slide the gurney into the ambulance.

Jerry nodded and then gave Jax a quick hug of reassurance. "I'll call Mum and Dad, and we'll meet you at the hospital."

Louis shouted, "Get in now!" as Jax gave Jerry a silent nod of gratitude and quickly jumped in beside Brenda.

Jerry watched grimly as Pete closed the ambulance doors and then jumped into the driver's seat for the trip to GH. Slowly, Jerry pulled out his cell phone and dialed the cottage. "Dad?" he spoke quietly into the phone, "It's Jerry. I have news…"

Inside, John watched as Tom waited impatiently while a couple of agents helped the remaining paramedics load Tony onto a gurney and moved to maneuver both Dan and Tony out of the house and to the remaining ambulance. He could tell by Tom's expression that he dreaded having to stay behind here at the house while Brenda was at the hospital, possibly losing her baby. Brenda had become very important to Tom in the few short weeks he had known her, and John knew that Tom would never be able to give the crime scene his full attention while both his head and his heart were on events taking place at the hospital. He walked over to Tom, who was standing by the front door, and tapped him lightly on the back. "Tom, I think you should go with the suspects to the hospital. I'll stay here and handle the follow-up."

Tom looked at him, surprised by John's suggestion. "What are you talking about? I mean, I'm the agent in charge here, so it's my duty to stay and oversee the gathering of all the evidence. I'll send a couple of other agents to the hospital to keep an eye on those two," he added, nodding his head toward Tony and Dan.

"Well, technically, I suppose you are the agent in charge," John said as he and Tom both took off their FBI windbreakers and their bulletproof vests. "But I've been involved with this case almost as long as you have, so I don't think we'd be breaking any departmental regulations by my taking over here while you take someone with you to the hospital to guard and question the suspects. In fact, I think those two are so dangerous that you'll need two agents with you to guard them. That way you can stay with Ms. Barrett as long as necessary -- in order to get any information she has on the kidnapping -- without having to worry about the prisoners," John added, smiling at Tom.

Tom was stunned by John's generous offer. John had been his best friend and his partner for a lot of years, but he had never known John to ever be sensitive to anyone else's feelings before. "Thanks," Tom said, smiling gratefully at his partner as he donned his windbreaker once again and then instructed Agents Williams and Hart to follow him to General Hospital. He quickly ran to his car and found Jerry nearby just finishing a call on his cell phone. "I'm on the way to the hospital. Do you want a lift?" Tom offered.

"Thanks," Jerry said wearily, as he climbed into the front passenger seat of Tom's government-issued car. He didn't much care for Tom, and he was still wary of Tom's feelings for Brenda, but deep in his heart, Jerry knew that Tom was as worried about Brenda as he was. Besides, at this moment, the only thing that mattered was getting to the hospital to help Jax and Brenda get through whatever came next. Tom was another person who cared, and Brenda would most likely need everyone who loved her around her tonight for support and strength.

Bobbie Jones was working the 11-7 shift in the ER when the call came in at 3:16 a.m. about a pregnant woman who was possibly in the early stages of spontaneous abortion. She had already prepped a room with a pelvic tray and a doptone to monitor the fetal heartbeat. She'd called for an ultrasound tech to be on standby and had called Dr. Lynn Meadows, the head of the OB/GYN department at GH and the doctor on call for that department for the night. Bobbie was sure that she was completely prepared for anything and everything concerning this patient. She met the paramedics as they came through the ER doors with the woman, and she was shocked to see Jax with them. "Jax? What's going on?" she asked, but then her breath caught in her throat as she saw who the patient on the gurney was. "Brenda?!" she cried in disbelief. Not only was Brenda alive, but she was also pregnant? "How…?" but the rest of her question was interrupted by one of the paramedics, who was giving her the pertinent details of Brenda's condition.

Louis, the paramedic, was rattling off Brenda's brief history, as he knew it: "Patient is a twenty-five-year-old, white female, kidnap victim, approximately three months pregnant… She was unconscious when we arrived, but regained consciousness quickly. Her pupils are equal and reactive, her BP is 108/64, her pulse is 82 and strong. She has no obvious signs of trauma." He noticed Bobbie staring at the blood all over Brenda's clothes and quickly added, "That blood is from a gunshot victim, who'll be here shortly. Patient says she began having lower abdominal cramps about an hour ago, and they have become more frequent and increased in severity. She's on a normal saline drip, but we've administered no drugs of any kind."

Bobbie nodded as she directed the paramedics to the nearby room she had previously prepared. "Page Dr. Meadows stat!" she yelled to another nurse, who was standing nearby. She took Jax's hand and tried to guide him back to the waiting area of the ER, but he resisted leaving Brenda's side. "I'm not leaving her again!" Jax insisted, refusing to be separated from Brenda for another second. "She needs me! We need to be together!" he pleaded with Bobbie.

Bobbie gave Jax an understanding look as she took his hands in hers and spoke softly to him, "Jax, we need to do a thorough assessment of Brenda's condition now. I know that you don't want to be separated from Brenda anymore than you have been, but you can't stay here now. We need to see what's causing Brenda's cramping, and if it is the baby, then we have to work quickly to try to save it. We need to have only medical personnel in here now. It's best for Brenda and the baby. I promise that I'll come and get you as soon as possible. I won't let you two be apart anymore than absolutely necessary."

Jax nodded weakly. "Yeah, I understand." He bent down to kiss Brenda softly on the lips. "I love you -- both," he whispered to her, tears glistening in his eyes as he saw the growing fear in her eyes when she nodded her silent understanding. Bobbie ushered him out of the room as a team of nurses and doctors were already stripping off Brenda's clothes and drawing blood and hooking up monitors everywhere.

"We'll take good care of them, I promise," Bobbie assured Jax, closing the door behind her as she returned to Brenda's room.

Jax closed his eyes and leaned wearily back against the wall for support. "Keep them both safe," he prayed silently. But his moment of silent prayer was interrupted by an explosion of activity all around him, as the large, automatic doors of the ER ambulance bay opened once more, and the gurneys carrying the kidnappers were wheeled in.

He recognized the paramedic known as Pete talking to the nurses and doctors who met them at the door. "White male, approximately 30 years of age, GSW to the left thigh. Blood loss does not appear significant. BP is 122/74, pulse is 98, but strong. He's on a normal saline drip. We gave him nothing for the pain, but I'm bettin' this guy's feeling no pain. His pupils are dilated, indicating that there's the likelihood of drug usage here."

"Trauma one!" one of the doctors shouted, pointing Pete to the room just beyond where Jax was standing. "Call Dr. Myers for surgical consult! And we're gonna need a tox screen!" she yelled to the clerk at the desk as she and a host of other hospital personnel and a burly man wearing an FBI windbreaker followed the dark-haired man's gurney to the area known as trauma one.

The paramedic, Andy, who had brought the older man in, was off to the side with several doctors and nurses and another burly FBI agent, giving them the run-down on his condition. Jax watched as they directed Andy to wheel the man into a room not far from where Brenda was being treated. Jax noted that there was just as much concern and furor over the kidnappers' traumas as there was about Brenda's. Suddenly Jax was furious: it seemed unfair that the men who had taken Brenda and caused all of this pain should get any attention now. Brenda and his baby were in trouble, and they needed all the available doctors and nurses attending to them, he thought angrily. But the rational side of him realized that the doctors and nurses had all taken oaths to treat patients fairly and without discrimination and not to make value judgments as to how the diseases or injuries were incurred. Frustrated by everything, but most of all his separation from Brenda now, Jax pounded his fist on the wall behind him.

"Jax! How is she?" Jax recognized his brother's voice, and he looked up to see Jerry and Tom racing down the hall toward him. Jerry had seen Jax hitting the wall in rage and feared the worst.

"They're still in with her. They wouldn't let me stay with her. Bobbie said she'd come and get me as soon as they knew anything," Jax said as he sank wearily into one of the chairs in the area, his shoulders sagging. He leaned forward in his seat and took his head in his hands. "This is so unfair. We can't lose this baby now. We've been through too much already!"

Jerry's heart was breaking as he watched Jax's life once again on the verge of splitting apart. He knew that if ever there was a time for him to be in big brother mode, this was it. He knelt down beside Jax's chair and spoke quietly but firmly to him. "Don't go borrowing trouble, Jax. Brenda's strong despite everything she's been through in the past few weeks. GH is one of the best hospitals in the area, with some of the finest doctors and nurses you'll find anywhere. They're gonna do everything humanly possible to make sure that Brenda does not lose this baby…" He paused as Jax finally looked up at him. "Besides, little brother, in the past few weeks I've come to realize that miracles do happen, but you gotta believe and trust that they are possible. You taught me that. Don't go forgettin' it now."

Jax's eyes were glistening with fresh tears, but he smiled as he grabbed Jerry and hugged him close. "Thanks for reminding me, Jer," Jax whispered hoarsely.

Tom sat down in a nearby chair and watched the fraternal bonding of Jax and Jerry. He had liked Jax from the moment he had met him, and he had liked Jerry at first as well, despite Jerry's coldness toward him. He realized that his initial instincts about Jerry Jacks had been correct -- he was basically a good man who had done some bad things in his lifetime. But Tom could tell just by watching Jax and Jerry together that Jerry loved his brother unconditionally. He had no doubt now that Jerry's assertion that he and John Jacks had kept Jax above the dirty mix of their mob ties out of concern for Jax was indeed the truth. They had not simply needed Jax to be ignorant of their involvement with Leone to act as a good front man for them as they laundered Leone's money; they had needed to keep him above the fray because they truly loved him and wanted only the best for him. It was okay for them to get their hands dirty, but it wasn't okay for someone that they loved as much as they loved Jax to get dirty with them.

Tom's musings about the Jacks family were interrupted when he heard the distinctive voices of John and Jane Jacks talking to the clerk at the desk just down the hall from the waiting area. Before the clerk could even point in their direction, both John and Jane were nearly upon them, their arms outstretched to Jax as they approached.

"Jax, dear, how is she?" Jane asked as Jax stood to greet her and she enveloped him in a hug.

"No word yet, Mum, but she was having a lot of discomfort when I left her just a few minutes ago," Jax answered as he paced across the waiting area.

"Is she having any bleeding?" Jane asked, taking off her coat and laying it across a nearby chair.

"Not that I know of," Jax replied, running his fingers absently through his hair.

Jane watched that nervous gesture of Jax's and she realized how much Jax needed for all of them to be strong for him now. His head was spinning with ominous visions. She needed to help him try to look on the bright side. "Well, that's one good thing," Jane said matter-of-factly. "Cramping is not a good sign, but if there's no bleeding, then I think we really do have reason to remain optimistic, Jax."

"Your mother's right, Son," John Jacks added, as he put his coat on top of his wife's on the chair. "I think we all have to remain positive until we get concrete information from the doctors that there is reason to worry." He looked at Jane and understood her silent plea for some alone time with their younger son, so he quickly added, "It's been a long night, and it could get even longer, so I'm heading down to the cafeteria to get coffee for all of us. Can I interest anyone in coming along to help me carry it back here?" He looked straight at Tom and then at Jerry, and they both took the hint immediately.

"I'll go," Tom said as he stood to join John.

"I think I'd like to go see if there are any choice pastries to go with that coffee. Do you mind if I join you, as well?" Jerry asked as he moved past Jax, who seemed oblivious to what was happening here in the waiting area. His heart and his soul were with Brenda behind the drawn curtain in the room just down the hall, and that was where his concentration was also.

"Take your time," Jane said as the three men left for the cafeteria. She walked over to Jax, who had moved down the hall and was now standing outside the door to the room where Brenda was being examined, his hands pressed against the door, as if he were willing Brenda to feel his presence and his love. Jane wanted to weep at the love she felt coming from her son for his "wife" and their child. Oh, she knew that legally Brenda was not Jax's wife, nor had she ever been his wife in the legal sense of the word. Miranda Jameson had technically been Jax's only "legal" wife. But in the purest sense of the word, Brenda had been the only wife Jax had ever had or ever would have because Brenda was the only woman who would ever truly share her son's heart and soul. And that, to Jane, was what being a wife was really all about.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a young blonde, dressed in pink scrubs, came out of Brenda's room carrying what appeared to be a lab tray with several vials of blood. Jax grabbed her by the arm. "Excuse me" he said. "That's my wife in there, and I have no idea what's going on with her right now. Could you tell me what's happening?" Jax pleaded, his eyes once again wet with unshed tears.

"I'm sorry," the young woman apologized, "but I'm just a lab technician, and I was only in there long enough to get these blood samples to be tested. But I can tell you that Dr. Meadows is in there with her now, and, as I was leaving, I heard her tell Ms. Jones to page the ultrasound technician. I'm sure that they'll be talking to you as soon as they can." She looked down at Jax's hand that was still holding onto her arm. "I wish I could tell you more," she said, "but right now I need to get these to the lab for Dr. Meadows."

Jax realized that he was still holding her by the arm and released his hold immediately. "I'm sorry… Thank you," he said quietly as she ran to catch the elevator.

Jane held out her hand to Jax. "Why don't we go back and sit down? Dr. Meadows will talk to you as soon as she can," she said softly. "Jax, I truly believe that both Brenda and the baby will be okay. Try to have faith…"

Jax nodded mutely and followed his mother back to the waiting area. He was suddenly aware of how tired he was, and it wasn't just a physical exhaustion -- it was a weariness that went clear to his soul. He could only remember one other time in his life that he had ever felt like this, and that was just a little over three weeks before when he had thought that Brenda and their baby had both been taken from him so cruelly in that accident.

Back then, all he wanted to do was curl up in a ball in their bed and sleep and dream of Brenda... But Brenda was alive now and in the next room fighting to keep their baby. He knew she'd never give up on them or their child. She had somehow managed to hold her own with the kidnappers. He had no idea what had happened in those hours she was with Leone's men, but he could tell by the fire in Brenda's eyes when she had awakened in his arms just a little while ago that she had not given in to feelings of hopelessness or despair. She had not given up, and he couldn't either. He wouldn't allow himself to give into this fatigue that he felt. Jerry and his mother and father were right -- they all needed to remain optimistic now. Brenda and their baby needed all the good thoughts that could be sent their way.

He had never been one to allow his fears to overwhelm his hopes in any situation, and he was not about to start now. He and Brenda had seen more than a few miracles in their lifetime together, and he had to believe that those miracles were far from over now. Their incredible love for one another was a miracle in itself -- the way it transcended everything and everyone who had come before, and the way it nurtured both of their souls whether they were joined together or physically apart. That miraculous love that they shared had carried them through some of the roughest times that any couple could ever face, and that love had created yet another miracle -- their baby. He had to believe that their latest miracle would not be allowed to die -- not after everything that had happened to him and Brenda. He and Brenda were about miracles, and he had to believe -- now more than ever -- that those miracles would continue for them.

Jax felt his mother's hand tighten over his, and he looked up to see a woman in a pale blue uniform wheeling a cart with some high tech equipment on it into the room where Brenda was. He assumed that she was the ultrasound technician the lab tech had referred to before. Well, soon enough they would know something -- one way or the other… He reached into his pocket and pulled out the sonogram he'd been carrying with him and ran his fingers gently over the grainy image of their baby. Suddenly, he felt a sense of peace settle over him, very much like the night Brenda had "died" and he had sensed that she was alive and well despite the odds. He looked over at his mother and smiled, "Everything's good, Mum. I know it."

Jane smiled at her son and once again hugged him to her, and as she did, she, too, got the sense that everything was indeed good -- on so many levels. She heard muffled voices coming down the hall, and looked up to see John and Jerry and Tom approaching, carrying trays of coffee and pastries. "Well, Jax, it looks like they were successful in their foraging for caffeine and carbohydrates," she laughed, as she stood and cleared a nearby table of its magazines to make a place for them to set everything down.

"How are things here?" John whispered to Jane, as he set his tray laden with coffee cups carefully onto the table.

"They're calmer out here," Jane replied simply, smiling as she pressed a slight kiss against her husband's cheek. "As for in there," she motioned down the hall toward the exam room, "they just went in with the ultrasound equipment, so we should be hearing shortly." John nodded and handed Jane a cup of coffee as he took one for himself, and then the two of them sat down to wait.

Jerry had already handed Jax a coffee, and was trying to coax him to eat one of the donuts they had gotten. "Come on, little brother…where's your adventurous spirit you're so famous for? I'm pretty sure these are glazed donuts. Why don't you try one, and let the rest of us know if it's safe to eat them?"

"Glazed? I'd say they look more like they've been shellacked -- and I'd say that happened several weeks ago, by the feel of them," Jax shook his head as he handed the hard, stale donut back to Jerry. "Besides, did you really think I'd fall for that? I caught on to that spiel of yours about being the family guinea pig when I was 10. Let's make a deal -- you can stay in big brother mode if you stick strictly to giving advice and support, but if you plan to torment or harass me like you did when we were younger, then I think I want to go back to being brotherless."

Jerry shook his head and laughed, waving the dry donut in Jax's face. "Bon appetit," he toasted as he dunked the pastry into his coffee and then stuffed it into his mouth, making a face as he swallowed it.

Tom sat across from the Jacks family, sipping his coffee and watching Jax and Jerry fall back into their easy brotherly bantering. He was awed at the strength of the love that he felt emanating from this family. Despite the obstacles and near tragedies that they had faced, they had somehow managed to come through everything stronger than before. Tom suddenly understood how Brenda was able to "feel" Jax's love for her even when she wasn't aware of who he was or who she was, for that matter. The love that this family had for one another --and Tom had no doubt that Brenda was indeed one of them, legally or not -- was real and palpable. To them, love for family was not merely a word casually bandied about. To this family, their love for one another was a force of nature -- as natural to them as breathing. Tom smiled as he envisioned the love that would always surround this baby that Brenda was carrying.

The door to the exam room flew open and five pairs of eyes focused expectantly on Bobbie as she emerged from the room. Jax set his coffee down and was down the hall in two strides. "How is she?" Jax asked anxiously.

Bobbie simply smiled and said, "Dr. Meadows would like you to come in now." She turned and spoke to the rest of those gathered for news. "I'll be out later to fill you all in on everything, but for now, everything looks good."

There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone but Jax, who was nowhere around. Before Bobbie had even turned to talk to John and Jane and Jerry and Tom, Jax had already torn through the doors and was at Brenda's side.

Brenda was lying prone on the exam table, dressed in a hospital gown and covered from the waist down with a sheet, but she was smiling, and Jax thought she had never looked more beautiful in his life. He bent over and kissed her gently on the lips. That angelic smile could mean only one thing: the baby was okay.

"Mr. Jacks? I'm Dr. Lynn Meadows," he heard a woman's voice behind him and turned to see Dr. Meadows with her right hand extended to him.

"Call me Jax, please," he said as he gratefully shook her hand.

Dr. Meadows continued, "I've done an exam and an ultrasound, and everything looks good. Brenda thought you might like to get a look at your child now, and then I thought we'd use the doptone to detect the heartbeat. How does that sound?"

Jax smiled broadly as he answered, "That sounds like the best thing I've heard in a long time!"

Dr. Meadows laughed as the ultrasound technician moved the sheet and applied more lubricant to Brenda's abdomen and then settled the probe onto the lubricated area. Dr. Meadows watched the screen as the tech expertly maneuvered the probe. "Ah…there we are…" Dr. Meadows turned the screen so that both Jax and Brenda could see what she and the technician were seeing. "Here's your baby, and everything looks normal for a thirteen-week pregnancy."

"Thirteen weeks?" Brenda repeated. "I had an ultrasound just a week ago in a clinic in Carlisle when I first found out I was pregnant, and the doctor told me I was ten weeks pregnant then."

Dr. Meadows looked back at the screen. "No, this baby is in the thirteenth week of gestation," she said firmly.

"I have that sonogram here," Jax offered as he pulled it from his pocket and handed it to Dr. Meadows.

Dr. Meadows studied the picture for a minute or so, and smiled. "Well, this is the picture of a twelve-week-old fetus, not a ten-week fetus. Perhaps your doctor was tired or inexperienced…"

"Well, he was fairly young, and it was the middle of the night by the time he had determined I was pregnant and then did the ultrasound," Brenda agreed. "He looked exhausted by the time he left."

"That could explain the confusion. At any rate, with my fresh eyes and my years of experience, I say that this baby is in the thirteenth week of development… When was the first day of your last period, Brenda?"

"I'm afraid I was pretty irregular last summer…" Brenda replied.

"Okay, no problem," Dr. Meadows said as she pulled a small flip chart out of her pocket and opened it. "We'll do it this way. If you are thirteen weeks pregnant now, that puts your due date somewhere around April 9."

Jax squeezed Brenda's hand and winked at her. "Early April -- pink tulip time," Jax said, referring to Brenda's favorite flower. He looked back at the screen. "Can you tell whether it's a boy or a girl yet?"

"At this stage the sex organs have formed, but they're difficult to discern this early." She pointed to the periphery of the image, and continued, "As I told Brenda before, I don't see any tearing of the placenta or any abnormalities in placement in the uterus. But I still want to keep her here for a day and then restrict her activities at home for a few days after that. The cramping seems to have diminished now, but it could start again at any time. Luckily, she hasn't had any bleeding, but I still want to be cautious here. We want to do what we can to stop the cramping completely and prevent any bleeding." She focused her attention to Brenda now, "You've had a lot of stress these past few weeks, Brenda, and I'm assuming that this is what caused this little scare. My prescription for you is to rest as much as possible and try to keep your environment as stress-free as possible-at least for the next week or so."

Brenda laughed at that. "Right now I'd love to just go home to the cottage and do nothing but stay curled up on the couch in front of a roaring fire with Jax beside me."

"Don't worry, Dr. Meadows," Jax added. "I'll make sure that she gets the pampering she deserves." He bent over and once again kissed Brenda gently on the lips. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again."

"Well, I think we're done here," Dr. Meadows said to the technician, who nodded, then wiped off Brenda's abdomen, and packed up her equipment to leave. "Let's see what kind of a heartbeat this little one has, shall we?" Dr. Meadows said as she picked up the doptone and put it down on Brenda's exposed abdomen. Within seconds the faint but steady rhythm of the baby's heart could be heard. "Sounds good and strong," she said, smiling.

Jax and Brenda both were smiling, tears in their eyes, unable to speak at hearing their baby's heartbeat for the first time. Jax bent down and kissed Brenda sweetly on the lips. "I love you," he whispered, overwhelmed by the joy he was feeling at that moment.

"I love you," was all Brenda could say before she broke into sobs of joy and relief. Just an hour before, she had feared that she and Jax would never experience this moment, and yet, here it was. She and the baby were safe, and they were back with Jax. And she and Jax were listening to their baby's heartbeat. She closed her eyes and quietly thanked God for granting her this miracle, and she promised never to take it for granted.

Dr. Meadows turned off the doptone, covered Brenda back up, and moved over to the corner where Bobbie was standing with the chart, allowing Jax and Brenda some privacy as Jax pulled Brenda into his arms and they cried tears of joy together. "Arrange for a room on OB for Brenda," she said quietly to Bobbie. "I mainly want her here for observation. I think we'll keep that IV in for the next several hours, and then remove it -- but that's contingent on how her chem profile looks and whether or not she has any more cramping or if she starts to bleed. If her bloodwork is good and everything else as well, I'll discontinue the IV when I check on her later this morning. While she's here, I want her on bedrest with bathroom privileges only, and I want her visitors restricted to family only."

Bobbie nodded, handed Brenda's chart to Dr. Meadows, and then headed out the door to return to the nurses' station to call admissions. As she closed the door behind her, everyone who had been waiting outside for word on Brenda and the baby besieged her, with Jerry leading the pack. "How is she? Are you sure everything's okay with the baby?" he asked, putting his hands on Bobbie's shoulders and looking her squarely in the eyes.

Bobbie smiled at Jerry's concern. "As I said before, things look good. I'll let Jax and Brenda fill you in on the details. Right now, I have to call admissions to arrange for a bed on the obstetrics floor. Dr. Meadows wants to keep her here for the next day just for observation. You can see Brenda once she's been settled into her room." She looked at Tom, noting his FBI windbreaker. "Visitors are being restricted to family only," she added.

Tom pulled out his FBI badge and showed it to Bobbie. "Special Agent Tom Langan, FBI. I'll need to have access to Ms. Barrett in order to question her about her kidnapping."

His credentials did not sway Bobbie. "I'm sorry. Dr. Meadows said family only, and that's what we will follow. You'll have to talk to Dr. Meadows to find out when it will be safe for Brenda to be questioned." She looked back at the family and then smiled. "If you'll excuse me, I have to get things arranged for Brenda's transfer upstairs." With that, she walked to the nurses' station to make her calls.

Jerry smiled at the coolly efficient way Bobbie had handled Tom. She really was a woman after his own heart! Jerry turned to Tom and gave him a cold smile. "Sorry about that, mate, but you heard the lady. Family only -- and that definitely rules you out," he said sarcastically. "Why don't you go focus on the kidnappers and leave Brenda be for the time being. She and Jax need some alone time without any interference from the outside world -- especially from the likes of you!" Jerry gave Tom a slight nudge, infuriating Tom, who moved to push Jerry away.

"Jerry, please!" Jane interrupted before either of the men could come to actual blows. "Agent Langan saved our Brenda's life a few weeks ago, for heaven's sake."

"And he's bloody well responsible for her having been kidnapped and almost losing the baby tonight!" Jerry bristled, angry that his mother was defending this man who wanted far more than just answers to questions from Brenda -- he wanted Brenda for himself!

"Jerry!" John Jacks shouted. "That's enough! There's more than enough blame to spread around as to whom was responsible for Brenda being kidnapped… We've all had a long night, and our emotions are at a fever pitch right now, so I suggest we all just try to calm down. The last thing Brenda needs is for us to be at each other's throats. Besides, we all have so much to be grateful for now. Let's not waste time placing blame or being angry -- not tonight!"

Just then the door to Brenda's exam room opened and Dr. Meadows came out. "Is there a problem here?" she asked, frowning as she looked at Tom and Jerry's angry faces.

"No, just a minor disagreement, and it's been settled," Jane said softly, as she stepped forward. "I'm Jane Jacks," she said, extending her right hand to Dr. Meadows. "And this is my husband, John, and my older son, Jerry. We're Jax's family. And this is Special Agent Tom Langan of the FBI," she continued, pointing to Tom, who nodded briefly at the doctor. "He's a good friend of Brenda's, as well as being the agent who was in charge of bringing our Brenda safely back to us." Jerry started to say something at that point, but Jane gave him a stern look and he remained silent, although he and Tom exchanged frosty glances.

"It's good to meet all of you," Dr. Meadows said, shaking each of their hands in succession. "We're just ready to send Brenda upstairs to OB for the night. You can see her briefly once she's there, but I strongly suggest you not stay more than ten minutes at the most. What Brenda needs right now is a good night's sleep, and she won't be able to get it with a lot of company around her -- especially if that company is fighting among themselves." She turned to Tom, "Agent Langan, is it?"

"Yes," Tom nodded.

"Mrs. Jacks says you are a friend of Brenda's as well as being the agent in charge, so I'll allow you a few minutes with Brenda. But I am asking that you see her tonight only in your role as her friend. Please don't press her for details of her ordeal tonight. As I said, she needs to rest, and part of resting is forgetting for a little while what she just endured. I'll be back to check on her in a few hours, and if I think she's strong enough, I'll let you question her in your official capacity then. Do you understand?"

"Yes, thank you, Dr. Meadows. I'd never do anything to hurt Brenda or her baby. I… she's… she's very special to me," Tom stuttered, as he caught himself nearly blurting out that he'd never hurt Brenda because he loved her. No one but Jerry seemed to pick up on his near gaffe, and he gave Tom a warning glare. Tom's face flushed as he looked away from Jerry and to the doors of the exam room where Brenda was. Suddenly it hit him that despite his earlier admonitions to himself about treating Brenda with professional disinterest, he could never really do that. He was totally in love with her. Brenda would forever own a piece of his heart, despite the fact that she could never be his. He felt like he did back in the waiting room in the Carlisle clinic when he had first discovered who Brenda really was and with whom she really belonged. Suddenly, he needed to get away from there, and fast! "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have a couple of prisoners I need to check on. Tell Brenda I'm glad that things are okay, and I'll talk to her later," he said as he turned to leave.

"Yeah, no problem," Jerry whispered caustically, as he grabbed Tom's arm, "I'll be sure to give her your 'love.'"

Tom jerked his arm out of Jerry's grasp and walked down the hall to find Agents Williams and Hart, who were standing outside the rooms where Wilkerson and Richards were being treated. He hoped that no one besides Jerry had picked up on his emotions, and that no one had heard Jerry's parting remark to him. This case was going to be hard enough to work as it was, without everyone being aware of his true feelings for Brenda.

Back in the waiting area, Dr. Meadows was still talking with the Jacks family. "I think it would be best if none of you were here when they bring Brenda out. This hallway is pretty small and not conducive to reunion scenes. Let the nurses get her into her room up on OB, and then you can see her. I suggest you go take a walk now or freshen up a bit. Get yourselves together," she said, looking pointedly at Jerry. "Give it a half-hour, and then you can go straight up to the eighth floor, which is obstetrics. I'll let the floor nurses know that you have my permission to see Brenda briefly tonight, and I'll make sure you can see her for a much longer time later on in the day."

Jane extended her hand once again to the doctor as she turned to go to the nurses' station. "Thank you for everything, Dr. Meadows."

"I really didn't do all that much," Dr. Meadows said. "Thank Brenda. She's the one who has fought to keep this baby safe during the last several hours. She used her head, and she didn't give into her fears. In a day or two -- when she's rested -- have her tell you exactly how she managed to outmaneuver her kidnappers," she smiled, her eyes twinkling. "She's a resourceful young woman, and I think she's going to make a wonderful mother," she added as she walked away.

"I wonder what exactly it was that Brenda did that so impressed the good doctor?" Jane wondered, as she and John picked up their coats and headed out of the ER.

"I've no idea," John replied, "but it doesn't surprise me that she outsmarted those men. After all, she's a Jacks through and through."

"That she is!" Jerry said as he lagged behind his parents, casting a furtive glance down the hall to where Tom was talking with Agents Williams and Hart. "And I plan to make sure she remains a Jacks always," he added softly to himself.

FBI Assistant Director David Sikes sighed wearily as he leaned against the cold glass of his living room bay window and downed the last of his tumbler of Jack Daniels. He allowed the pungent liquid to linger in his mouth, then felt it burn its way down his throat, hoping that it would somehow burn away the pain that was eating at his very being. The grandfather clock across the room struck four, its resonant chimes echoing loudly in the dark, empty apartment -- the sound reverberating through his own dark, empty soul.

At a little past 3:00 a.m. he had gotten a call from Special Agent John Michaels, informing him that the task force, headed by him and his partner, Tom Langan, had successfully rescued Brenda Barrett and had nabbed two of Marco Leone's top men in the process. Tony Richards, Leone's onetime lieutenant and longtime friend, and Dan Wilkerson, Leone's current lieutenant, were now in custody and were both being treated at General Hospital in the little town of Port Charles, New York. Michaels had said that Wilkerson had been shot in the leg, and both he and Richards appeared to have been drugged and were unconscious when they arrived at the scene. Ms. Barrett was also currently at the hospital, possibly in the early stages of a miscarriage.

Pregnant … she'd been pregnant. Why hadn't he known that? Not that he ever really had the power to stop this plan once it had started rolling. Leone had been intent on exacting his revenge on the Jackses, but perhaps there could have been another way that Leone could have reined them in -- something that would not have involved endangering the life of an innocent baby and its equally innocent mother.

Innocents … there seemed to be a lot of innocents caught up in this ugly world that he was now involved in. There were Jasper Jacks and his fiancée, Brenda Barrett, and their unborn child. There was Tom Langan, whom he had neatly framed to take the fall for being the FBI link to the Leone organization. But most of all, there was his sweet Gwen, whom Leone had used as bait to lure him into this putrid world of duplicity and immorality. They were all innocent victims of Marco Leone and his corrupt way of life. Even he had been an innocent at one time -- but no more. He had gone willingly into this insidious mix, but if it hadn't been for Gwen's devastating illness and poor prognosis, Leone would never have been able to lure him to do what he had been doing for months now -- betraying everything that he once held dear. Now he was inexorably caught in a web of deceit that he had helped spin.

He poured himself another glass of whiskey to strengthen his resolve in doing what had to be done next. He finished the whiskey and walked slowly to the phone, grabbing it from its cradle and punching in the agency's number. "Extension 2154," he said, slurring the words slightly as the night operator fielded his call. "This is Sikes," he announced, as his party finally answered. He spoke slowly and deliberately, hoping the agent on the line would assume his slurred speech was due to fatigue rather than drunkenness. "It appears that Leone has a mole in the agency, who's been funneling information concerning the Jacks/Leone investigation. I have reason to believe it's someone who is currently working on related cases. Pull all computer records for agents who have accessed any pertinent files in the past few weeks, concentrating on those agents who have had a particular interest in the personal files concerning the Jacks family. Get on this now! I want preliminary data on my desk no later than noon today. And if a definite pattern comes up, do a trace on bank records of the agent or agents involved."

He hung the phone up, and slumped against the wall, rubbing his tired eyes with the back of his hand. He had not yet been to bed, and exhaustion threatened to consume him. He had spent much of the early evening hours putting in place his careful frame of Tom Langan. He had hoped to have a few more days to weave the "evidence" against Langan, but something about the way Langan and Michaels had so tenaciously tackled Ms. Barrett's kidnapping had prompted him to move more quickly. And the speed in which they had broken that case made him realize that his hunch had been right. Now he had just set in motion the events that would "uncover" Tom Langan's "ties" to Leone -- including some very skillfully doctored bank records. If things went as he planned -- and he had no doubt that they would -- the agency higher-ups would not question the findings against Langan, and Langan's certain protestations of innocence would fall flat, considering the mountain of evidence that he had been able to plant on the man.

At first he had felt a momentary tinge of remorse pass through him as he thought of the way he had so callously snatched Langan's life away from him. But then as the whiskey had dulled his sense of compassion, he had decided that it was no different from the way that fate had so callously snatched his and Gwen's life away from them. They were all just innocent victims of an unjust world. He stumbled to the couch, slumping onto it as he picked up the bottle of Jack Daniels, emptied its contents into his glass, and then sent the bottle sailing across the room, watching in the pale moonlight as it shattered to pieces against the wall. Just like that bottle, his innocence had been shattered along with everyone else's. And once innocence is gone, it can never be reclaimed, he thought sadly, downing the last of the whiskey and welcoming the blessed oblivion that soon followed.