Disclaimer: All characters in this story have no existence outside the imagination of this author (and the creators of ER) and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention unless otherwise noted. I do not own any of the characters except those who are noted in this and future chapters...


Chapter 2: The Dilemma

Early Monday Evening

Rays P.O.V

"That was my father." I began, my voice bitter. "He left when I was eight, while Mom was pregnant with Madison. When I was 16, he decided he wanted to be a part of our lives again. Madi was 8 and she accepted him with open arms. She'd always hated the fact that she didn't have a father, and most likely resented the fact that I wasn't able to be just her brother; I also had to play father to her. I however, refused to accept Chris back into my life. I remembered the things he had done to us, and I didn't want it to happen again, ever. But Madi just didn't understand. I don't know, I guess she thought that I wanted her and mom all to myself. Over the years she had pretty much built him up to hero status in her mind; he could do no wrong, and she didn't want to believe anything else, wouldn't believe anything else. I never told her the things that he had done to mom and me, it would only upset her. Two years later, my mom died, and Chris gained custody of both of us. It was my senior year, and it passed in a blur. I finished high school, and somehow managed to win a full scholarship to the college of my choice, despite all the trouble I'd gotten into over the years. The night before I left for college, I promised Madi I would come for her as soon as possible, once I was finished with college and had a pretty good job. I worked my way through med school, and landed this internship. It's been at least 6 years since I made that promise, and I still haven't made good on it. I think about her every day, call her whenever I get the chance, but I haven't seen her since I left, when she was 11. God I can't believe how long it's been. Time flies by so quickly."

"God Ray, that's awful. I take it something's happened to her, judging by your reaction?"

"She's in the hospital, and I'm sure she's terrified. She hasn't stepped foot in a hospital since our mom died. She hates them. I need to get there, and I've got 9 days of vacation, starting at the end of this shift. The only problem is that my car is in the shop, and I can't borrow Neela's because she's on her way to Michigan, as we speak. I can't afford a rental and a U-Haul to get her stuff here. I have no idea what I'm going to do." I glanced over to see what she thought of everything I had just spilled out. She was thinking about it pretty hard, judging by the expression on her face.

'I can take you." She said after about five minutes.

"Abby, you don't have to do that. It's not like I was expecting you to offer just because I told you what was going on."

"First of all, I don't mind at all. In fact I want to go; I need a change of scenery." We both chuckled at that, "And second, what makes you think I was offering out of pity? I was the one who asked you to talk to me, not the other way around. You're supposed to be a doctor Barnett, get your facts straight!" That got a real smile out of him. He held his hands up in mock defeat,

"Ok, ok! Seeing as you've made a rather convincing argument, there is one other thing you're forgetting about."

"And what would that be?"

"Work."

"That's not a problem; I actually have 9 days off starting at the end of this shift."

"Well…okay…if you're sure. When does your shift end?"

She looked down at her watch,

"Actually, it ended 5 minutes ago…Let me hand off my patients and grab my stuff, and I'll meet you in the ambulance bay in 10 minutes."

"Yeah, sure, that's good." I said distractedly.

"This shouldn't take too long, than we can head over to your place to get whatever you'll need, stop by at my place, and then hit the road."

"Take your time."

She could tell that I only said it so that I didn't seem pushy or something. She started for the door and I followed close behind. She stopped abruptly and turned around to face me, asking

"Ray, what exactly happened to your sister?"

That stopped me dead in my tracks.

"I…I don't know. He said she was in the hospital and I freaked."

"Oh."


Thats all folks! You know what to do!