Martha had dropped Samantha off in front of the front doors to the hospital before she moved to find a empty parking space. Moon Lake's Hospital was is on one of the interior blocks of the wagon wheel shaped town and took up much of the block, but that didn't leave much in the way of parking available. It was something different from Minnesota where in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area there were plenty of clinics that were not only large in size but either had a good sized parking lot or parking areas that were adjacent to them. Moon Lake's smaller size meant that land was at a premium couldn't afford that. Thankfully, Martha did find an open space and parked before getting out to follow Samantha in.
Martha could really feel the nervousness that seemed to be radiating off Samantha as they had driven along. It was understandable, given that Samantha and Frances had had a rather happy life together from all that she'd learned about the Twists. Martha, herself, didn't know what she would do if something happened to William, particularly after their becoming weres had done far more to heal their marriage than anything else. And in some way she had some hope that Frances was perfectly fine, especially for Samantha's sake. The two of them had been friendly and had helped her in not only ultimately accepting Moon Lake's differences from Minnesota and in that had also helped her recognize things about herself that she'd tried to bury and hide. In that, Martha felt she owed both of them a lot for helping her.
She made her way in to find Samantha talking with one of the main desk clerks at the entrance to the hospital. As Martha came closer, she began to overhear what was going on.
"That's a relief," said Samantha, feeling like a tremendous weight had just been taken off her. "Then where is she? Frances is a doctor who—"
"Doctor Twist?" repeated the nurse, double checking her computer again. Then, after looking at the results, answered, "Oh, she's in labor."
"HUH?" replied a totally confused Samantha.
Martha blinked at that as well. Neither Frances nor Samantha even looked pregnant the previous night at the Halloween Dance, so how could Frances be in labor now. She made her way over to make sure that Samantha's obvious worry over her wife didn't lead to anything going wrong.
"Are you okay, Samantha?" Martha asked carefully.
"Fine... but..." Samantha looked and nodded to her neighbor and waved her over before looking back to the clerk in front of her, "but Frances can't be in labor. Both of us are women and she's not pregnant."
"We have her listed as a "coach" at the moment," the clerk answered, "Something happened this morning and sent a pregnant woman into labor and since the only one she had as a coach was apparently involved in the event that caused the woman to go into labor... Doctor Twist volunteered."
That made some sense. Samantha knew that Jade Drake was pregnant and that Dymixious's presence in Moon Lake had been to secure her medical treatment. The battle that had gone on that morning surely had the potential to raise the stress levels to the point that labor was triggered, and if Frances was alerted or awoken by the battle, she wouldn't be able to let anyone in need go without help. That was helpful for Samantha in being assured that Frances was okay, though it also sent a pang of guilt through her. In the bigger picture, she would agree that arresting Dymixious was needed, but that didn't mean she didn't feel responsible for the fact that things went wrong.
"Can we see her?" Samantha asked.
"You can check the delivery area..." the clerk said slowly, "but if the woman that Doctor Twist is coaching hasn't given birth, yet, I'm afraid you'd need to wait in the that area's waiting room so that she and the hospital staff may function without interruption."
"Thank you," Samantha said quickly and lead Martha along, though Martha did stay close, so as to make sure that there wasn't any trouble.
She didn't think that Samantha would cause trouble, but she could see that Samantha had been worried and worried tremendously. And that made sense to Martha, as when the gun shots were heard and Eric didn't answer his phone, the FIRST thing on her mind had been to get to the Stovalls and make sure that Eric was okay. Samantha's worries, while different in the sense that her worries were for a lover while Martha's worries for Eric was that of a parent, were important. They made their way through hallways that went into the rest of the hospital and stopped at a set of elevators.
"So, we know she's fine," Martha said to Samantha as they got on the elevator with as much of an assuring tone that she could muster.
"Yes... and that is a great relief," Samantha answered, "I... I... I don't know what I'd do if she got hurt because of me..."
"This wasn't your fault," Martha answered as Samantha pressed one of the buttons, "and I'm sure Frances would tell you that to. You couldn't predict what that guy would do when arrested and from what Mr. Stovall told us at lunch, the FBI was supposed to be sending people here today because of that guy. If he was to fight against the Moon Lake Police... he might fight the FBI..."
"And would have the potential to expose weres to the world," Samantha nodded, "I know... and I understand that I did what I had to do with regard the city's decision making... but that doesn't mean I am unaware of the consequences of these sorts of actions."
"I'm sure... but that's because you're a very smart and caring woman," Martha answered, "Both you and Frances. William and I... well, we were rather skeptical about things at first... But talking with you and talking with Frances... making friends... it pulled me through my personal troubles and actually raised the potential that if I were to turn... that I'd turn toward being a werecat. Both of you went out of your way to help me adjust. That has to go beyond what you're actually responsible for as Town Chancellor... And I've very grateful to both of you for that."
Samantha gave a small smile.
"And in the course of all this... I think I've learned enough to know that wouldn't do anything callously or anything that would put others at risk," Martha finished, "and as such... while that guy may have fought and thus caused a scuffle... that's on HIM. Not you. And since we know that Frances wasn't hurt... everything will be fine."
Samantha nodded and did feel a bit of relief at that. Frances not being harmed was good and Samantha was pleased with that. She was also greatly pleased to have gotten some measure of assurance and encouragement from Martha who was the member of the Anderson family that both she and Frances had been attracted to and had allowed both of them to turn.. It was something that put her at ease, as Martha was a good friend and her support was enough to make her smile as the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. With that, Samantha and Martha both made their way out into the hallway that would lead them to area and level where the hospital's maternity ward was located.
Martha remained close to Samantha as they walked out, though a part of her remained a bit curious as they walked along. Part of it was the fact that she knew that once Eric and Nate had grown up and were able to be on their own, she had figured that she and William would be secured enough financially that the two of them could begin adding to Moon Lake's were population the old fashioned way. Martha hoped to have a baby girl, though Martha knew that given the lengthy lifespan that weres had, she knew that she and William could potentially have several children in the future before they'd reach the point where they could be too old to have children. In that she could be quite comfortable with more sons, the thing for the moment was simply to wait and see how things went. As such with the knowledge that there would be future Anderson children, Martha was a bit curious as to see what the ward looked like.
They walked along quietly until they came into the one they were searching for coming from another direction and it came as to a surprise for all of them.
"Frances!" Samantha exclaimed with surprise and soon leaped forward to pull her wife into a strong hug, "I'm glad you're okay!"
"I'm glad to be okay," Frances answered, her voice sounding surprised, "What are you doing here?"
"When the reports came back on what happened... I was worried," Samantha answered, "Worried that you were hit with a stray bullet... I finished my work quickly and came home to find you weren't there..."
"She's been greatly worried that you were hurt," Martha said to Frances as she watched the two hug.
"Well, I wasn't harmed," Frances assured Samantha, "The gunfire did wake me up, but I wasn't harmed... Dymixious was the only one shot... and mostly due to his own inability to accept having done wrong."
"I'm just glad that you're okay," Samantha said back, purring and nuzzling her head against Frances's.
Frances purred back, as her day had started earlier than expected and filled with plenty of difficulty. Not only had Jade Drake gone into labor and had yet to give birth but the hospital staff had asked her to talk with James Harper Senior. While she didn't truly wish the man harm, she wouldn't be hurt if the man ever ceased to exist.
"I'm sure we've both had a trying day... between early meetings to decide what to do and the fact that the result of that put a woman in labor with no one else to help her... things have been hectic," Frances purred to Samantha.
"I'd think the big thing was that all of this was so unexpected," Martha spoke up, "but thankfully you're okay and things can get back to normal."
"Or at least as normal as we get," Frances managed to chuckle, guessing that Martha had driven Samantha to the hospital, "Though Jade hasn't given birth yet..."
"We can wait," Samantha answered with a nod to Martha.
"Yes," Martha nodded, "I'm parked out front and when things are ready... I can drive you and Samantha home."
"That would be nice," Frances managed, "everything happened so fast this morning... between the battle and Jade going into labor... I ended up riding in the ambulance with her... I don't think I even had time to leave a note."
"I never found one," Samantha purred, still holding Frances to her.
"But for the moment... Jade still needs a coach," Frances spoke, "If you could go to the waiting area... " Frances then paused to point down the hall, which went past a series of large windows on the interior side of the hall. Martha guessed that they were the windows to the area where the hospital would have the newborns kept so that visitors could see the new babies while they rested and the new mothers recovered from giving birth. She remembered her nearly twenty hours of labor with Nate and nearly seventeen or eighteen hours with Eric. Frances then finished her statement, "I'll come to you after Jade gives birth."
"Right," Samantha said slowly and the two pulled apart.
"We're just glad that you're okay," Martha spoke.