"You gave her the keys to your apartment? How do you know she really is who she says she is?" Mark Greene asked looking down at his friend.
"I just know Mark. She's my sister. All those years Ray came and went and now I know where he went when he left. He had another family. I don't know why I'm surprised. The bastard always did have a way of spreading as much pain as possible." Doug said pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"How long is she in town for?" he asked sitting at the table in the doctors lounge.
"I don't know, but Carter seems to have a thing for her. And I think she likes him too." he smiled looking over at him before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Carter? How does he know her?" he asked smiling up at him.
"It seems they met in the ambulance bay and he came in and told me to go after her. So don't be surprised if she moves to Chicago." he smiled looking down at him.
"How do you feel about that? Carter dating your little sister?" Mark asked looking up at him.
"She could do worse." he smiled putting his coffee mug down.
"Dr. Ross, Darrien is waiting for you at the desk." Carter smiled opening the door to the lounge.
"Come in a minute Carter." Doug asked looking over at him.
"I'm gonna go check on a couple of patients. Have fun Doug." Mark smiled looking over at him before getting up and leaving.
"Thanks Mark." Doug smiled as Carter entered the room.
"What's the matter Dr. Ross?" he asked curious.
"I wanted to thank you for before. With Darrien. I was being a pig headed jerk and you really stuck up for her. Thanks." he smiled looking over at him.
"No problem, she was just really upset and I don't know. I'm sorry if I over stepped." he said looking up at him.
"You like her, don't you?" he asked looking down at him.
"No, I mean..." he stammered looking up at him.
"It's OK Carter. I think she likes you too." he laughed fixing his tie.
"Yeah?" he asked smiling at him.
"Yeah, I do. But if you hurt her, you're a dead man." he smiled before leaving the room. Carter looked over at him smiling before shoving his hands into his pockets and leaving the lounge.
"Hi Doug." Darrien smiled looking up at him. She was wearing a pink sweater and black dress pants. Her long blond hair was hanging down to the middle of her back.
"You look great Darrien." he smiled leaning down to kiss her cheek as everyone looked on. "Everyone, this is my sister. Darrien. Darrien, this is everyone. You know Carter. That's Carol, Mark, Haleh, Chuny, Malik and Jerry. Stay away from Jerry, he bites." he laughed looking down at her.
"That was only once and I hadn't eaten all day." Jerry laughed looking over at Doug.
"Hi, it's nice to meet all of you. Hi John." she smiled looking up at Carter.
"Hi, Darrien." he smiled looking down at her.
"Can I talk to you for a minute, John?" she asked smiling up at Doug, who was smiling back.
"Sure." he smiled as they went to the exit.
"Is that such a good idea?" Carol asked looking over at Doug.
"What? It's not like he's a mass murderer. They like each other. What's the harm?" he smiled looking back at them.
"I'm glad everything worked out with you and Doug." he smiled looking down at Darrien.
"I hear I have you to thank for that. Doug told me you came after him. Thank you John." she smiled looking up at him.
"Well, you were upset and I didn't like seeing you upset like that. I had to do something" he said looking down at her.
"John, would you like to go out sometime? Um.. with me?" she asked looking up at him.
"I would like that. When?" he asked looking down at her.
"Well, I have plans with Doug tonight, so how about tomorrow night?" she asked looking up at him.
"Tomorrow night is perfect. Um... do you want me to pick you up, or do you want to meet me here?" he asked looking down at her.
"Well, I'm staying with my brother, so would you mind picking me up?" she asked smiling up at him.
"OK. It's a date." he smiled as Doug came out of the hospital.
"OK. I'll see you tomorrow." she smiled looking up at Doug. "Are you ready?" she asked looking up at him.
"Yeah, I'm ready. See you tomorrow Carter." he smiled as he and Darrien left for dinner. "So what was that all about?" he asked smiling down at Darrien.
"If you must know, I asked John out. We're going out tomorrow night." she smiled as he put his arm around her.
"You are? Wow. But what about Baltimore?" he asked looking down at her.
"I left. I quit my job and gave up my apartment. There's nothing for me there anymore. My mom died 5 years ago and who knows when, or even if Ray's coming back. And Chicago has my big brother." she smiled looking up at him.
"And Chicago has John Carter." he teased looking down at her.
"Having a big brother has it's downfalls." she laughed looking up at him. "Where are we going anyway?" she asked looking up at him.
"You'll see." he smiled looking down at her. When they arrived at their destination, it was a small house.
"What is this place Doug?" she asked looking up at him.
"It's where I grew up. My mother still lives here. I figured I'd surprise her." he smiled as they walked up the steps and knocked on the door. An older woman answered the door and she smiled up at Doug.
"Hello Douglas. What are you doing here?" she asked looking up at him.
"Hello to you too mom. Mom, there's someone I'd like you to meet." he smiled looking down at her as she directed her attention to Darrien.
"Hi Darrien." she smiled looking over at her.
"You know me?" she asked smiling at her.
"Yes, your father showed me a picture of you. You were only 12 years old, but you haven't changed much since then." she smiled looking at her.
"You knew I had a younger sister and didn't tell me?" he asked looking down at his mother.
"Douglas, why don't you come in so we can talk about this, OK?" Sarah Ross said looking up at her son.
"Mom, why didn't you tell me I had a sister?" he asked looking down at her as Darrien followed them uncomfortable.
"Douglas, you know how your father always was. I was afraid if I told you that Ray had a daughter that you would hate the poor girl because he chose to stick around and raise her, but not you. I didn't want you blaming her for that. I was trying to protect you both, so you could have this. A relationship when you got older." she said looking up at him.
"But mom, that was..." he started before Sarah interrupted him.
"11 years ago. Yes, I know Douglas. But there's not statute of limitations on resentment." she said looking up at him.
"If it makes you feel any better, he abandoned me too. My mom used to tell me he was out of town on business a lot, but when she died I learned the truth. He was out cheating on my mother. My mother knew. I found her journals and I found out everything. After she died, he pulled away from me. We used to be so close, so I wondered why. I went up into the attic and started going through my moms things and that's when I found out. She talked about how stupid she felt after knowing what he did to this woman named Sarah." she said looking up as Sarah raised her hand. "So my mother knew about you. He must have told her, which means she knew about you too." she said looking up at Doug.
"I'm so sorry sweetie." Sarah said looking over at her.
"It's OK. I guess we're all casualties of Ray Ross, huh?" she said looking up at them with tears in her eyes.
"You're not alone anymore sweetie. You have a family again. And we stick together." Sarah smiled leaning in to hug her.
"Thank you Sarah. I guess I didn't only find my brother today, I found you too." she smiled looking over at Sarah.
"Yes you did sweetie. Now, who would like some dinner? I could make my specialty." she smiled looking up at Doug.
"Oh yeah, my mom makes a killer chicken catchatorie." Doug smiled looking down at her.
"I'd really like that. Thank you Doug." she smiled looking up at him.
"For what?" he asked looking down at her.
"For bringing me here." she smiled looking up at him.