Prelude:

Tom and Margo had been separated for three months now, with Tom moving out of the house and into the Lakeview Towers. Tom had come to find out about Doc and Margo from Jill, the waitress at the Oakdale Country Club. What Jill left out is that she walked in on Doc trying to force himself on Margo. Casey moved out too, angry at his mom for hurting his dad like that. Tom had even served Margo with separation papers. She's been trying to hold off on signing them for the time being, holding out the slightest glimmer of hope that they could possibly reconcile. She hasn't spoken with either one of them since Casey told her that he didn't want anything to do with her and she overheard Tom telling Jessica that the thought of being in the same room with Margo made him sick.

Doc had been in jail, having been arrested and charged with sexual assault of another woman shortly after he tried forcing himself on Margo. Jill was facing theft/burglary charges herself after having been caught stealing money from the Oakdale Country Club. She agreed to turn evidence against Doc as part of a plea deal.

Shortly before the Doc incident, Margo found out she was pregnant, with Tom's child. The only thing is that because of her HCV status, liver transplant, and her age, Margo's pregnancy is high risk. She didn't even get the chance to tell Tom and Casey about the baby before they moved out. Margo decided at that point this pregnancy was something she was going to deal with by herself, that she was going to keep it hidden from Tom for as long as she possibly could.

Chapter 1:

Oakdale Police Department, 9:30 am.

Margo had just gotten to her desk after having a doctor's appointment earlier that morning. She was relieved that the baby was doing fine, but she wasn't too happy when Dr. Samuels told her that she needs to start taking it easy because of her HCV status and the liver transplant. Margo was also keenly aware of the fact that this pregnancy so far wasn't like when she was pregnant with Adam, Casey, and the baby she lost in the catacombs because the morning sickness had usually ceased around her fourth month of pregnancy and this time around, she was still dealing with it.

She was just sitting down when Hal comes down the stairs. Hal sees her sit down and put her head in her hands.

"Hey! Is everything okay with you? You were late this morning and I was beginning to worry about you." Hal says as he comes and sits down on the corner of Margo's desk.

"Sorry about being late, there. I had a doctor's appointment this morning. It's nothing more than being exhaustion and stress." She states quietly.

"What else did the doctor say?" Hal asks.

"The same old—I need to start taking it easy. I'm sorry; I think I am going to get sick…" Margo says as she gets up from her chair and heads for the ladies' room.

Margo comes back to her desk about fifteen minutes later, surprised to see Hal still sitting there. Hal had just got off the phone with Tom. He knew very well that Margo was trying to avoid Tom at all costs these days, and it had to do with the separation. Hal knew that Margo was still dealing with the pain of Tom believing Jill's side of the story of what she saw with Margo and Doc over hers.

"Margo, what's going on here? You don't look alright. You look really pale. I know you've been avoiding Tom at all costs. I just got off the phone with him about a file he was looking for. I know it's a case that you have been working on. There is something more to exhaustion and stress here and I kind of would like to know what's going on, not only as your boss, but also as your best friend. Does Tom know about this?" Hal asks her, very concerned for her well being.

"Hal, I can't talk to you about it here. He didn't say anything to you about the separation papers, did he?" Margo says quietly.

"No, he didn't say anything about them. How about I take you home? I am giving you the rest of the week off to take it easy, okay. I know what you've been dealing with lately and you could use the time off and get some rest."

"Hal…" Margo begins to protest.

"No, Margo, I am serious. I don't need to deal with you being in the hospital again because of your illness."

"Alright." Margo says as she grabs her purse and gets up out of her chair.

"Hey, Shanks. I am going to take Margo home. She's not feeling all that great. I'll be back later." Hal states as Shanks walks by.

"Okay boss." Shanks replies.

"Hal, I feel like I am going to be sick again. I'll be right back." Margo says as she runs off to the ladies' room, just as Tom walks over.

"Is Margo alright?" Tom asks, seeing Margo run off like that. "I know that we haven't spoken to each other since I moved out of the house, but what is going on?"

"Margo hasn't been feeling all that great for the past couple of weeks. She's been running herself ragged for the past three months—working an awful lot, barely taking any time off. I don't know how much I should tell you because when I asked if you knew anything, she said that she couldn't talk about it and it wouldn't matter to you anyway. I am very worried about her. What brings you down here?" Hal asks.

"I came down to see if you knew anything about that file I asked you about on the phone." Tom replies. "I need it for a preliminary hearing today."

"Margo gave it to me. She was waiting for forensics to come back on some evidence she had submitted for Jack. It's on my desk; you can ask Shanks for it. I don't know if you were aware of it, but Margo asked Jack to take over as lead investigator on the Kramers case when she started feeling ill." Hal states.

"No, I wasn't aware of it. Margo didn't notify me on it, even though she knows she's supposed to." Tom says as Margo walks out of the ladies' room, towards Tom and Hal.

"Hal, I'm ready to go." Margo interjects quietly, without acknowledging Tom.

"I've got to go, Tom. I'll be back sometime this afternoon if you need anything further on the case. Come on, Margo. Let's get you home." Hal says as he puts his arm around Margo's shoulder to lead her out of the police station.

Tom felt a pang of hurt when Hal said that it wouldn't matter to him anyway when he asked about Margo, then he felt another one as Hal put his arm around Margo and led her out of the police station. He was still pretty angry with her and hurt over what Jill had told him about the incident with Doc, but he was still concerned about her. He didn't like hearing from Hal that she was working way too much and not taking any time off. Upon seeing her for the first time in a couple of months, Margo didn't look like the same to him and she was more reserved, kind of withdrawn. He knew that was nothing like his wife. He realized that this separation was harder on her than he thought, harder than when they had separated after she found out about him and Emily.

Standing there in the atrium of the police station, Tom remembers the time when he had just come home and John was there. He sat down on the couch next to Margo and John had told the both of them that the pregnancy test he had ordered came back negative and that he wanted more tests ran. After John had left, Tom had noticed that she was shaking and she told him that she couldn't remember another time when she felt so afraid. That was shortly before they had received the devastating news that Margo had contracted the Hepatitis C virus when she was raped and the virus was attacking her liver.

"It can't be her HCV," Tom mumbles to himself as he walks into the squad room to retrieve the file that Hal told him was on his desk.