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"Alec? C'mon, Alec, wake up. What the hell is going on?"
His eyes are closed, he's flat on his back on something hard, and he can hear the not-so-dulcet tones of Tess Henchard nagging him to do something he's already trying to do. He recalls how he ended up there and suddenly the confusion fades and he's fighting his way up from the depths.
A male voice this time. "Y' want me to call an ambulance?"
"No ambulance," Alec slurs, eyes still closed.
"Wait, he's comin' around. Alec? Alec, what happened?"
Alec moans and sits up, and a fresh wave of dizziness hits him. He tries to take a deep breath but that doesn't help.
"Christ, Alec, you look like shit! Are you sick?" Tess exclaims. Concern turns to annoyance a second later. "Are the pair of you gettin' pissed back here?"
The room is finally coming into focus as Mack, a fellow detective (and his best man), is arguing with a white-clad Tess. Her furious expression is quite at odds with the tiny flowers in her hair.
Alec finds his voice at last. "M'fine! Just...dizzy."
"You were unconscious!" Mack turns his incredulous expression from Tess to Alec.
"M'fine!" Alec repeats louder. He struggles to his feet and Mack is quick to help him.
"What is goin' on, Alec?" Tess demands. Alec briefly wonders what's she more worried about, him or the guests waiting in the church. He suspects it could go either way. Not for the first time warning bells go off in his mind. But that gorgeous white dress she's wearing hides an abdomen just beginning to round out with the new life she's carrying, so he doesn't ask.
He only says, "You're gorgeous. And isn't it bad luck for me to be seein' ya? Go on, your dad'll be wonderin' where you are."
"Are you sure you're okay?" This time Alec sees true concern in her eyes.
He nods. "Pre-weddin' jitters," he tells her. He ignores the surprised tutting from his best man. "Go on, Tess. See you at the end of the aisle."
Tess doesn't look convinced but there's a schedule to keep and a room full of guests so she nods and gives him a quick kiss. "Are you sure?" she asks. He nods. She leaves, sparing him one look before the door closes.
"Hardy," Mack begins. "How long has it been since that last spell?"
"Ages," Alec answers. "Why the hell did you involve Tess?" He's trying to distract Mack, and his partner knows him all too well.
"Not good to have a wedding with a dead groom. Thought she should know. She always that blasé about findin' you unconscious?"
"She hasn't found me unconscious. I've had a dizzy spell or two around her. But nothin' serious." When Tess confessed her pregnancy his heart skipped beats, from the shock of her news, but he didn't lose consciousness. He chooses not share that information.
Mack groans in frustration. "Hardy, you've gotta keep an eye on that."
Alec wants to yell at Mack that he is keeping an eye on it and he's not liking what he sees but the spells are few and far between (for now, his traitorous mind chimes in) so there's really nothing to worry about today. But he doesn't.
They hear the organ music change. He knows they maybe have ten minutes before the ceremony so instead of railing at Mack he asks, "Got the ring?"
"Yeah," Mack answers, annoyed.
Alec takes another deep breath. This time it works. "Right, then. M'fine, don't worry." He wishes he didn't sound like he was trying convince himself as well as Mack. Mack just rolls his eyes. Alec dusts off his tuxedo jacket and adjusts the white rose boutonnière.
Alec tells himself it was nerves and worry about Tess' commitment to him. As he steps into the sanctuary he's managed to latch on to the hope that in fifteen minutes she'll make her vows and mean them, in five months they'll have a family. Surely this is what his mother meant about being in the right place. He sends a prayer up to a God he's really not sure he believes in anymore.
Then Tess is arm in arm with her father, walking down the aisle. His heart speeds up, but not dangerously so. A couple of minutes later she's slipping her hand into his. She whispers, "You okay?"
"M'fine," he reassures her.