True Love

"By-pass has been switched off," Graham mumbled from behind his mask, "heart is beating on its own, 93 beats per minute. Pulse-Ox is hanging steady at 87." Graham mumbled from behind his mask, Mia nodded, running the suture through the last bit of the ten-inch incision.

"He's closed up, I want him moved straight up to SICU, you'll need to by-pass him through post-op, they can't handle him down here. Have them keep him on two-liters of oxygen and they are to call me if his saturation level drops below 87. Got it?" Mia spoke at Christine, the lead nurse for this surgery.

Mia tore the mask off, tossing it in the trash as the automatic doors slid open. Graham mimicked her actions, trailing just behind her. "Thanks for your help," Mia mumbled, turning the faucet on, washing the powder the gloves left off her hands.

"No problem," Graham spoke, watching contently as Mia dried her hands, "you need help talking to the family or-" Mia just shook her head.

"No, I've got it, but thanks." she offered one last smile before tossing the towel in the trash, her feet still covered in paper booties as she trailed down the long hall, hanging a right at the sign that read 'surgical waiting'. She walked in, spotting Mr. Green's nervous wife and children.

"Dr. Winters-" she spoke, her eyes wide.

"He did great." Mia started, letting the look of worry melting from the family's faces, "We removed the entire papillary fibroelastoma and we were able to salvage the valve. His oxygen levels are still a tad low, they're hanging steady at 87. I generally prefer low 90's, but considering he's just come off bypass, it's completely normal. And I do expect him to make a full recovery, it'll be a long one, but I think he's going to do great." Mrs. Green grabbed Mia's hand, grasping it firmly. Mia gave her a reassuring squeeze, "Now, I'm not on call tonight but you have my number. If anything changes, don't hesitate to call me okay?" the woman nodded. "I'm sending him straight up to SICU, they just don't have the capabilities to watch over him in post-op that I need right now." they all nodded in understanding. "They'll give you a room number once they get him settled in."

Mia was on autopilot.
She had just spent the past seven hours in surgery pulling a tumor from a man's right ventricle and his tricuspid valve. A tumor that, had it gotten any larger, would have certainly stopped his heart from beating.

Letting out a deep breath Mia opened her locker, rubbing roughly at the back of her neck. She pulled the green scrub top over her head, tossing it into the linen bin.

"Dr. Winters?" Mia spun around, spotting her favorite nurse, Renée standing in the doorway.

"Hey..." Mia quipped, pulling on a clean t-shirt over her tank.

"There's someone here to see you."

"Did you get a name?" Mia grumbled, slipping her lab coat back on.

Mia suddenly found herself praying it wasn't Chance.

The words that escaped her made Mia's blood run cold: "Yeah, Maria Baker."



Zack rolled down the windows, pressing his foot to the accelerator smiling wildly as the engine roared to life.

It had been a great morning, Zack had spent the night at Mia's last night, waking up this morning while she left for work. He took the girls out to breakfast-- kind of, Emma ordered chicken tenders and Kenzie ordered a cheeseburger. He would make a mental note, they were like their mother, not breakfast people. He then proceeded to drop them off at Mia's dad's place.

He had been instructed to meet the guys at Larry's office. Luckily, Mia had an extra car and had offered it to Zack until he could find the time to get back out to start looking for a new car. He could have easily taken the Challenger sitting in his garage at home, but he opted not to mention it because after catching a glance at Mia's "secondary mommy-mobile" he knew the Mercedes AMG G Wagon would be the infinitely better ride. After all, the AMG was military grade and could do 60 MPH in just 5.3 seconds.

He hit the button in the center of the dash, letting the music fill the cabin, his brows furrowed for a moment at the song.



He wanted to turn the station-- really, he did but he hesitated. His finger hovered over the '2' button, instead he mumbled a 'fuck it' under his breath and turned the radio up and without a care in the world he began to sing along, "If only you saw what I can see, you'll understand why I want you so desperately! Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe, you don't know- Oh oh, you don't know you're beautiful!"

Zack pulled into the parking spot in one swift motion but his eyes went wide as he caught sight of his bandmates, both Brian and Johnny were doubled over laughing like hyenas while Arin and Matt were staring in wide-eyed wonder.

Zack felt his face flush hot as he rolled up the windows, cutting the key from the ignition.

His feet hit the pavement, he didn't even have a chance to shut the door before Matt's voice boomed, "what the fuck are you doing?" Zack's eyes went wide.

"It's Mia's car-" he groaned, pointing to the grey SUV, "the girls left it on satellite radio and I-" Matt had his arms crossed over his chest, his head shaking adamantly from side to side.

"Just admit it Vengeance, you like it." this statement only making Brian and Johnny howl even louder. Zack glowered at Matt.

"You'll understand when you have kids-" Zack huffed before he started striding towards the building. The guys trailed closely behind.

"Oh yeah!" Matt taunted, his arms wide, "Because you've had kids for like a month!" Zack reached behind his head, flipping the guys off.

The boys would be escorted straight up and into Larry's office, where he was planted behind his desk, his nose buried deep in a mound of papers. He didn't even bother to look up as he turned to his computer and began to type.

"Guys, take a seat!"

The boys did as they were told, falling into the hard plastic chairs, "So what's up Lar?" Brian asked, lacing his fingers behind his head as he leaned back in the chair.

"The people from Rock on the Range called..." he finally looked up, "Megadeath pulled out of the show, they asked if you could perform. I said yes."

And while the other four men grew excited, Zack began to panic.

"Larry, I can't, what about my kids?" Larry turned to Zack calmly placing his arms beneath him, his brows furrowing.

"Zack, dude," he huffed, "you had to know that you would leave them eventually. I mean, Jesus Christ, you're in a band. It's kind of your job." Zack just shook his head.

Of course, he knew that. But he didn't think it would be happening so soon and things were going so well between him and Mia-- granted she had only kicked Chance out yesterday but he had assumed this would give him a chance to really work on things with Mia, and he could hardly do that if he were leaving for a show. He knew it was only a three-day show-- but by the end of it all, it would be an additional day of set-up and sound check and two days travel time.

He would be gone a week-- more than long enough for Chance to swoop back in and ruin things.

"Well," Zack grumbled, his mind racing as he scratched nervously at the back of his head, "can I take Mia and the girls with me?" Larry let out a deep breath before finally looking between all the guys.

"If the guys are okay with it, then go for it."



Mia's heart slammed against her chest as the elevator descended through the floors her breathing becoming shallow as the number blinked a bright '1'. A ding sounded and the doors slid open, and standing in the lobby of the hospital clutching her purse close to her body as she glanced around, was the woman who hated her more than Satan himself.

Maria Baker.

Mia swallowed hard, her hand tightening around the steaming mug. Her grey Nike's hit at the floor and with every step her heart beat faster.

"Maria?" Mia started, catching the woman who spun around and much to her surprise, she offered a tiny smile.

"Mia," she huffed.

"Is everything alright? Are you feeling okay?" Mia asked carefully, looking the woman up and down, not spotting any initial signs of distress.

"Oh no, I feel much better, thank you-" she grumbled, nervously tucking a strand of her dark hair behind her diamond clad ear, "I actually came to talk to you about Zachary...is there some place we could talk?"

"I have an office if you don't mind walking?" Maria just nodded before Mia lead her to the elevator, taking it up three floors before she lead Maria through a winding maze of halls, it seemed like an eternity before the two women came to the door.

"Have a seat..." Mia spoke, motioning as she fell into the chair behind the desk, "so," Mia began hiding her trembling hands under the desk, "what brings you in?"

Mia took a deep breath before looking into Mia's azure colored eyes.

"I want to hate you." the words rolled off her tongue so calmly it was almost as if she had practiced it, "But..." Maria began as she fidgeted with her gold wedding band, "I can't. I can't hate you,"

Mia wasn't sure whether she was supposed to be offended or flattered, honestly, she was a little of both.

"Where exactly are you going with this, Maria?" Mia asked, sipping at the steaming tea.

"I haven't seen Zack smile like that in years...since you left." she mumbled.

"Like what?" Mia asked, one eyebrow raised.

"He is truly, truly happy. And I--" she made eye contact once again with Mia, "I'm sorry I treated you the way I did. I am truly ashamed of myself and the way I acted. He...you make him happy."

Mia took a moment, letting what she had heard sink in. Mia nodded slowly before pulling open the drawer on the bottom right side of her desk. She pulled out a black picture frame that was filled with a black and white professional picture of the girls.

They were standing on the shore in Myrtle Beach with their hair blowing in the wind, wide smiles gracing their tanned faces as they hugged each other. Mia glanced quickly at it, her lips curling into a smile before she handed the picture over the desk, letting Maria take it.

She grasped the frame tight in her hands as the corners of her eyes filled with tears.

"This...this is them?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"Yeah, Kenzie is on the right and Emma is on the left..." Maria smiled, tears freely streaming down her olive face.

"They're perfect..." Mia let out a soft laugh.

"Zack said the same thing. I told him they have him fooled."

"James and I," Maria began, wiping at her eyes, "we would love to meet them." Mia nodded.

"I think we can arrange that," Maria's smile went wide as she squeaked out a 'thank you', "I'm sure they would like to meet you-" but Mia was cut off when a knock sounded on the door, "Come in!" Mia sounded without even thinking, assuming it was Graham or Renée but again, the door opened and she was left shocked.

"Mia-" Zack squeaked out, looking between Mia and his mother, "Mom?"

"Zack, honey-" Mia huffed quickly standing, "I just came to see Mia and-"

"What did you do?" Zack huffed at his mother, quickly jumping to Mia's defense.

"Zack, calm down." Mia went to Maria's defense, gently taking Zack's clenched hands into hers, "she was just here to apologize-"

Instantly Zack's body relaxed, his eyes lightening, "Oh..."

Zack thought for a moment, but suddenly snapped back to what had brought him here in the first place, "Hey, how do you feel about you and the girls going on tour with me it'll just be a week and I-"

"Yes."