Loving the Surrogate

The Grace proposal

She dreamt of slicing a moist chocolate cake,topped with lots of sprinkles and lemon meringue and almond nuts. They even have colorful birthday hats on. Sipping from a long-stemmed glass of wine and laughing at Jo's hilarious jokes. Everyone was there; Cali, Dylan and Jo's few friends. Eating and drinking and goofing around.The room was full of festivities and just good vibes. Good times. Ah, the good times. Then she felt a stab of pain in her side. She had a dream. It was all a dream.

Hanna tried to open her eyes but closed them again.

The lights were too bright. Wait, is she dead? When did she die? Is this heaven? If so, where is God?

She remembered an approaching car and someone screaming. Jesus, she can't be dead. Is she?

Jo! What about Jo? She needed to save her brother. She felt wobbly. Her legs were as if made of jello. Was she drugged? Where is she? She tried feeling her wrists as if they were tied. No, they were not.She was not restrained like the ones she saw in movies. What about her feet? Were they bound? Not all. What is happening and where is she now? A wave of questions crashed on her brain.

" You're awake, oh thank God!" She heard a woman's voice. That was a woman, right? And she was talking about her. Did she sleep on the bench?

Hanna tried to sit to get a better look at her surroundings but her body kept on shrinking back to the bed. Exhaustion was not her friend now. This bed is softer than the ones they had at home, and even smells better than what they have. It was not actually helping her to know that the bed she was in now was good for sleep. She wanted to move, but she could not. She tried to move her head to have a better insight of her current location. She noticed that she felt freely, like there was nothing in between her and the sheets, not feeling her clothes and saw that her left hand had an IV on it. She's in the hospital! Oh thank God, better than waking up in some random guys' bed. It came to her as a shock. Parts of what happened flooded her brain in installments and in jumbles. Like a jigsaw puzzle.

What she knew was that Jo was in the station and was in deep, deep trouble. She was supposed to figure out how she could get him out.

She can't be here. How can she help Jo if she's unable to move? Hoping that her inability to move her limbs is nothing but temporary. What if it is not? What will become of them two? The thought alone scared her and sent shivers down her spine. Panic flooded within her and she tried to speak.

"Whe... re, where.. am...I?" She finally found her voice. Her voice was hoarse, like a dying person's voice. A very pretty woman who looked familiar approached her bedside.

"Hi, it's gonna be alright. You are here in the Lenox Hill Hospital ,miss. I did not see you crossing the street because I was trying to reach for my phone. It's my fault you are here." She was apologizing to her and she was very pretty. Pretty was not the word to describe her. She was beautiful. Like elegant, pretty and now Hanna remembers seeing that face on television. She is a New York socialite, only she can't remember the name. She cannot even think straight now.

"Ma'am, I accept your apology. I think I made a mistake too by not making sure it was safe to cross the street. I was in deep thoughts and forgot about safety rules."

Gracie liked this girl. She's possibly in her late teens. Not too young, but not a full-time adult either. Her face was kind and gentle. And she had good manners and it is possible that she does not know who she is because she did not even react when she saw her earlier. Most people would scream and often ask for her autograph or take a selfie. She was not a celebrity but she was relevant and more than that.

"It's alright, I will take care of everything. You need to be here for a few more days.The doctor says that you might have a slight fracture in your thigh and I cannot let you go out with an injury. Most of the time, they can cause even bigger problems when left unattended. " With that, the kid went into full panic mode. Her eyes grew wild and she trembled not out of fear but out of anxiety.

"Can I just go back to see if my fracture is doing okay?"

"What?"

"I am needed somewhere, ma'am.''

Gracie tried to see if this girl was married. She had no wedding band and she looked too young to be a mother either. She intrigued her.

"You heard me, you need to be here at least a day if everything is fine."

"A couple of days or a day ,ma'am? I--I--I can't be here for that long. I need to be out here." She tried to get up again. Gracie stopped her. She was very weak and groggy from all the medication pumped into her veins. Why does she need to be out of here? She was desperate to leave despite her current condition. As a doctor herself, she knew that this kid would be in so much pain after the painkillers wore off.

"Please lay down, you are not recovered yet." Gracie pressed the nurses' buzzer and two nurses came in to sedate her because she was getting hysterical. She kept on saying, even in her sleep, the name "Jo". Gracie wondered if he was a boyfriend or a husband. Her eyes caught the girl's purse. She needed a name, and she would get her name even though it meant that she had to go through her personal stuff.

Hanna Twill Summers. That's what's written on her identification card. Nice name.

She dials Amanda Seymour's number. One of her best friends who holds a high position in the force. She can help her with what she wants to know. Amanda had the right resources. The right people to do the job and sometimes, friends ask small favors.

"Sup, Smithson?"

" I need a favor. Could you look up this person? The name is Hanna Twill Summers."

"I'll see what I can do, so you call your best friend for a favor but never bother to drop by my humble office?" Amanda said while giggling. "What is she to you? Someone who ended up in your forensic lab?"

"No, Mandy. Just run her for me. Okay. Love you." She hung up and waited for Mandy's return call. Things like this are easy to come by when it comes to Mandy. Her office holds the central data base in the whole of New York and if she is a local, it's peanuts to Mandy and her people. Three minutes later and her phone rang again ,it was Mandy bearing the fruits of her tech guys' fruit of labor.

"I've got everything on her.I already emailed it to you and we have a dinner date tomorrow. That is non negotiable, I earned it and you are paying. Bye. Love you." And that's how you talk to Mandy. Short and precise. Gracie opened her email and found out who Jo was and what this girl meant. That she had some place else to be. It became clear why she was so desperate and was almost begging to be let go. Gracie felt bad that she had to ask for sedation, but it was for her own good too. She might pass out in the middle of the road and that is something she cannot bear on her conscience.

So that explains it. Now she knows. She was not sure but she felt a connection to this girl.

Gracie and Shiela are still talking about her dilemma and have come up with a few solutions. In vitro and surrogacy are the best possible answer for them. James does not know anything about her situation and she is afraid of how this might affect their relationship as a couple. Gracie never kept a secret from James ever since except for this one. She was just not ready to talk about it. He might not take this lightly. The truth might set their relationship into dust, but she knows James must be informed sooner or later. If they had to undergo a medical procedure, James had to sign it as well for consent to keep the hospital and the doctors from possible lawsuit if things went south. He had to know and it was his right to know as her husband.

She needed to tell James. Sheila reminded her too and told her that she would not do the procedure unless James was on board.

Hanna Summers woke up and found the nice woman on the couch reading a magazine with practically her face on the cover. She felt a whole lot better physically but remembered Jo again. He must be thinking that she abandoned him at the station. She tried to get up but Gracie stopped her by placing her hand on her arm.

"Hi, Hanna, right? Please don't freak out, but the hospital needed a name, so I looked inside your purse."

"It's fine, ma'am. I am not worried about its content. But I really have to go." She sat up and tried to center her gravity. Gracie knew that as the medicine wore off she could now feel her whole body was sore in all places. The girl winced as she moved. A sign of pain. Any minute now, she needed another dose of pain killers.

"Not to intrude or anything, but what is so important that you had to leave in that condition?'' Of course, Gracie knew. She just had to test this girl's honesty.

"My brother, his name is Jo. He needs me. He has been in the station since last night,ma'am. We are twins, we have no parents, just us .Today is our eighteenth birthday. I have to bail him out today. He is sickly and the station is not a good place to spend our birthday." Gracie smiled inside. Hanna is an honest girl because she already knew what she had told her from the information she got from Mandy.

"You need money ,Hanna?" That was one of Gracie's test questions too.

"From you ma'am? Oh no. I am grateful that you took me here for medical attention. My insurance can cover my expenses here. I need money for my brother's bail but I will make a way to acquire it. No idea how or whom to ask, but I will do anything for Jo."

Gracie could see herself in this girl. A person who will do anything and will not stop at nothing until she gets it. That is pure love and dedication and no amount of money can compare to that. An idea came up for Gracie , a very risky one, but if it is okay with Hanna, they will both benefit from it.

"Hanna, let us help each other." She sat beside her. Hanna was confused.

"Ma'am, I'd love to. I know you don't know me and I don't know you, but I'd love to, but how?"

"Be our surrogate. In return, I will bail your brother out and pay your surrogacy services a million dollars." She said, eyes boring down on hers. That was no joke. She was serious.

Hanna froze. A million dollars is big, big money, but the best part is, his brother can get out of prison, but is she willing to carry another person's baby? For a price? Will her love for Jo let her go to that length?

She said "YES."