Don't Hold Your Breath

Disclaimer: yeah yeah, I dont own anything.

RACHEL- THE BESTEST BETA EVER! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!

Chapter 1

"Alright Mr. Jones, your CT looks fine, but I want to observe you tonight," Abby Lockhart spoke to her patient as she pulled up a chair to sit down next to him, "You're very lucky, most people wouldn't be in such good condition after being thrown ten feet from a car."

"Is he okay?" asked the elderly man who was now almost in tears.

"Who," She asked in a soft, compassionate voice, "the man who hit you?" As Abby talked with him, she reached over him to untangle his left arm from the multiple tubes that he was now connected to. Mr. Jones nodded, tears threatening to overflow. "He's actually in better condition then you, just a couple of minor scrapes and bruises. Once the drugs wear off, we'll be able to do a full neurological exam, and then he'll go to jail."

"I just don't understand why someone would go get so high then get behind the wheel and drive, putting others at risk" Abby watched the monitors as his heart rate increased.

"Okay, I know its okay. I don't know why either, but who knows maybe he learned his lesson tonight;" she grabbed a blanket and placed it over him. "I called you wife, and she's on her way, but until she gets here, I want you to rest." As Abby stood up to leave, Mr. Jones suddenly reached over and grabbed her hand, momentarily startling her. "Thank you for everything Dr. Lockhart, I know you probably get this a lot, but you are a wonderful physician whom I now owe my life to." Abby couldn't help but smile, it wasn't everyday that a patient actually thanked her for her hard work. She put her free hand on top of his.

"Your very welcome, get some rest, I'll be back to check on you soon." he nodded and closed his eyes as Abby lowered the lights and walked out of the trauma room heading towards the admit desk.

"How is he doing?" Jake's voice came out of nowhere.

"Medically he will be fine, just a little shaken up."

"Well I would be too; did you hear how it happened?"

"All I know is that he was rear ended by a driver, who was high on something, and he was thrown ten feet." Abby said and grabbed another chart.

"He's lucky to be alive, ten feet is quite a distance, for someone of his age." Jake paused for a second "when is your break?"

Abby glanced at her watch then back at the board. "I just got back from one about an hour ago,"

"Okay, then when are you off?" Jake smiled down at her.

"Well let's see, considering I'm an intern and have only been on for oh lets say, twelve hours, probably twelve more to go." Jake, suddenly, walked closer to her and pulled her into a tight embrace, instantly all the stress Abby had acquired that day, seemed to melt away. She rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes. She actually felt safe in Jake's arms. Something she hadn't been able to do since her abduction months before.

"Abby, are you okay?" he whispered to her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He could easily pick up on when she was thinking about what had happened. Her body would tense and she would seem to day dream. When she didn't answer, Jake became worried; he gently pulled her away from him and looked into her eyes. "Abby?" Instantly, she seemed to snap out of her day dream.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired. Can you come and find me when Mr. Jones' wife arrives?" Jake nodded and Abby turned around and headed towards her next patient. She scanned the chart looking for a name before knocking on the door. "Hi Sarah, I'm Abby Lockhart, what happened?" Abby asked looking at the teenager's leg which was encased in a large splint.

"I was at my gymnastics meet; on the balance beam and missed my dismount. I heard a crack when I landed." Abby looked over at the other person in the room as she went to exam Sarah's leg.

"Are you her father?" The man shook his head.

"Nope, just the coach, her parents are on the way though. Do you think it's broken?"

"I can't say for sure without x-rays, but judging from the swelling, it's either severely sprained or fractured."

"So that means no more gymnastics huh?" Sarah asked, looking at her leg, as Abby made some notes in Sarah's chart.

"When is your next competition?"

"Nationals are next week, the entire team is going." Abby could see the disappointment in Sarah's eyes, the way that her entire body was a little defeated knowing that she probably wasn't going to get to go. You could always tell the athlete's, for they were the ones that would do anything, for their sport, regardless of the pain that they might have been in.

"Well I'm not saying that you can't go to nationals, I just don't recommend competing on a broken leg. I'm not so sure that would help out your team so much." Sarah looked over to her coach.

"Can I still go?"

"As long as it's okay with your parents, I don't have a problem. You helped us get to Nationals; you have every right to be there,"

"See, and even if your leg is broken, it will be one heck of a story to tell. Okay, your nurse will be here shortly to take you to x-ray, I'll be back soon." Abby stood up to leave.

"Thanks Dr. Lockhart,"

"Anytime, oh by the way, I want to know how well your team does at the meet, deal." Sarah smiled just as Jake stuck his head in the door.

"Excuse me, Dr. Lockhart, we need you," Abby nodded her head,

"Okay, see you later Sarah," Abby followed Jake out into the hallway. "You needed me?"

"I always need you Dr. Lockhart;" he smiled at her "Mrs. Jones' is waiting for you. I took her to see her husband, is that okay?"

"Sure, did you explain to her what his condition is?"

"Yeah, but she wants to see you personally. Actually, Mr. Jones wants to introduce you to his wife. He really appreciates what you did for him," Abby smiled

"I just did my job"

"You really don't give yourself enough credit." Suddenly Jake's pager went off. He looked at it, then back up at Abby "Sorry, got a GSW coming in, talk to you later?"

"Yeah, I'm going to run to Jumbo Mart, do you want anything?" she shouted after him,

"Hmm, a bag of chips sounds really good about now," he smiled at her and then disappeared around the corner.

"Would you too just kiss already?" Susan's voice caused Abby to jump "sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Susan felt bad, ever since Abby was kidnapped, even the smallest thing could scare her.

"It's okay when did you get here?" Abby looked at her watch, suddenly realizing that she hadn't seen her best friend all day.

"Just about two seconds ago, about the time you offered to grab Jake something to eat. "

"Yeah, you just happened to over hear the conversation didn't you?" Abby laughed knowing Susan was dying to get the scoop out of her.

"Come on Abby! What is really going on between you two? You can trust me; I'm your best friend remember?"

"Later, I need to go talk to a patient. See ya Susan" Abby waved as she left the admit desk and headed towards the trauma room. She looked inside and saw Mr. Jones sitting up in bed, attempting to calm down his wife. "Hey, how are you feeling?" Abby said.

"I'm fine, but you might need to check on my wife, she doesn't seem to believe me. Here, Alice, meet Dr. Lockhart," Mr. Jones introduced the two.

"Thank you so much Dr. Lockhart, Ron means everything to Me." the elderly lady jumped up and pulled Abby into a tight embrace.

"He's a lucky man, no serious injuries. We want to observe him for tonight, and then we'll discharge him in the morning," Abby checked over his vitals and she and the couple talked for a while longer about the car accident.

"Okay, I need to go check on my other patients, if you need anything don't be afraid to have me paged," The couple nodded and Abby walked back to the admit desk, only to discover that the board was clear, and the waiting room empty. "Now's my chance," she thought to herself. Abby ran into the lounge grabbed her coat and headed out the doors for some much needed fresh air. She closed her eyes and suddenly remembered Jake's plea for a simple bag of chips. She reached into her pocket and was surprised to find a five dollar bill inside. Knowing this might be her only chance, Abby quickly headed for the Jumbo Mart, never seeing the speeding car heading straight for her. She never fully realized what had happened. The pain appeared and disappeared in a matter of seconds, by the time her body came crashing back down to the ground, she had already lost conciseness.