Hey hope you like it guys, sorry its a bit shorter but i got writers block.


Tommy tried the stairs, desperate for his bed, and winced as the pain in his side grew so much that he thought he was going to pass out. It felt like there were shards of glass embedded there. But he was determined to get upstairs; he didn't want his parents to make a fuss about him when they came back from their shift. That was the curse of living with doctors. If he could just get into bed then he could get to sleep and hopefully the pain would have subsided by the morning.
Gritting his teeth he pulled himself up the first step, using the banister for support. Slowly and painfully, he managed to reach the landing and his bedroom. Lowering himself gently onto the bed, he pulled off his shirt and inspected his bare chest. There was a huge, ugly-looking, purple bruise swelling on his side. It did not look good. But Tommy decided it would probably go down by the time he woke up. Carefully not to brush the tender skin, he slid under the covers and fell asleep.


"What are you doing Barnett?" Abby raised an eyebrow, "Why are you beating up a kid?" Ray was wrestling with a small boy behind Curtain 2. His name was Louie Black and he was two years old. He had just put a rubber glove in his mouth and was trying to swallow it.

"No, stop it Louie, don't swallow the damn thing," Ray grunted, trying to prise his jaw open. "Ouch," Ray yelped as Louie bit down on his fingers. Abby struggled not to laugh at his antics and came over to help.

"You better hope he doesn't have rabies or something," Abby joked.

"Don't Lockhart, he's been giving me hell all day," Ray sighed as Abby managed to catch the boy by surprise and snatch the glove from his mouth.

"He's been here all day?" Abby asked, surprised. He looked pretty healthy to her.

"Yeah, came in this morning with a high temperature according to his mom, but then she just disappeared and left him here. There's nothing wrong with him. Unless you count the habit of putting things in his mouth," Ray glared at the Louie when he tried to bite him again, "That includes: rubber gloves, paper, stethoscopes, pens, Morris' keys, and my fingers." Abby smiled at that.

"Where's my mommy?" Louie suddenly interrupted them, looking upset. His big brown eyes looked at them for the answer, his lip trembling. Ray and Abby exchanged a look, knowing it was very likely, under the circumstances, that his mom had just dumped him.

"Er…sweetie, I'm sure she's just gone to get a coffee," Abby reassured him quickly.

"Are you sure?" Louie asked.

"Um…" Abby looked at Ray for support, knowing she couldn't lie to Louie. Ray joined her by Louie and crouched down to be at his height.

Ray took a breath and said, looking the little boy in the eye, "Louie, your mom may not be coming back, we just don't know. But you just gotta hope, okay?" Louie's eyes welled as tears threatened to spill onto his cheeks. But he just nodded. "Good. Now will you stop with the teeth?" Louie nodded again, smiling cheekily. Ray ruffled his hair and asked Abby to keep an eye on him because it was the end of his shift.
After meeting Neela at admit, Ray and she headed home. They opened the front door to the house and turned on the lights. "Tommy, are you still up? How was the match?" They got no answer.

"He must be in bed," Neela said, dumping her bag down in the hall, "I'll go check on him."

"All right," Ray nodded and walked into the lounge, throwing himself onto the couch and flicking on the tv. Neela climbed the stairs and slowly opened Tommy's bedroom door. She looked in and saw his outline sprawled across the bed. She padded over and stroked his soft hair; he looked so peaceful. Then she noticed the slight twist to the corner of his mouth and the crease from his eyes. It looked like he was in pain. Maybe a bad dream, Neela thought to herself and left the room.


Sunlight filtered through a crack in the curtains and Tommy blinked rapidly, trying to adjust his eyes to the light. He rubbed his face with one hand and then gasped as pain shot through his side. The throbbing hadn't stopped. He felt absolutely awful. Not just from the injury, but he felt exhausted and somewhat sick. He thumped his head on his pillow and wondered whether he would have to tell his parents now. Suddenly his door swung open and he almost jumped out of his skin. His dad's grinning face popped through, "Hey Tommy what ya doing? Isn't it a school day?" Ray strode over to his bed and plonked himself down. Tommy's eyes widened in pain and he bit his lip to stop himself from crying out in agony. Luckily his dad did not notice.

"Er…I don't feel so good Dad," Tommy said. Ray instantly looked concerned.

"Where? Is it just like a bug or something else? You gotta tell me if it is," Ray said his parent and doctor sides fighting for precedence. Tommy fought with himself about whether to let his dad fuss or tell the truth, but decided to tell him because he was feeling really terrible and did not want to have anymore pain.

"I think it's this," Tommy pulled the covers away from him and showed Ray his injury. Ray's eyes widened.

"God Tommy, when the hell did you do this?" Ray gently pressed on the wound, assessing what the damage was done and Tommy winced, "Your rib's broken!"

"It happened at the soccer match, bad tackle; I scored though," Tommy mumbled, "Is it really that bad?"

"Yes, I'll have to take you to County. Why didn't you tell us when it happened Tom? You must have been in agony." Ray couldn't believe Tommy didn't tell them.

"I didn't want you to worry," Tommy said feebly.

"Worry?!" Ray said incredulously, "We're taking you in now; our shifts start in half an hour anyway." Ray went to get up, "Can you get out of bed?" His son nodded weakly and pulled himself up, his face scrunched up in pain. Ray grabbed his arm and supported him.


By the time they reached the hospital Tommy wished he hadn't said anything. In between the ear bashing from his dad and the constant fuss from his mom, Tommy was quite desperate to escape the whole situation. They took the EL to the hospital and Tommy had been in pain all the way. They walked through the front doors and into admit. Ray went over and talked to a girl at the desk and then led Tommy over to Curtain 3. "Ok, now Tommy, I need you to take your shirt off so I can examine you properly," Ray said pulling on some gloves. Neela left them because she needed to see other patients.

"Dad, you already said what was wrong. Can't you just bandage me up?" Tommy sighed.

"Thomas, if you don't take your shirt off now, let me take a look and then go to x-ray; you won't get a bandage. Who knows what the extent of the damage is!? In the last few hours the broken bone could have punctured any of your vital organs. I need to check properly," Ray growled at his son. Tommy flinched at his father's tone and pulled his t-shirt over his head.

"There, happy now?" Tommy scowled and winced as Ray touched his side.

"No," Ray said but did not add anything else.

"See? It was no big deal," Tommy told Ray as he pulled his t-shirt over his newly bandaged chest. Ray said nothing. "Dad? Are you still mad at me for not telling you? Christ, it won't happen again."

"It better not," Ray muttered.

"I don't plan on hurting myself deliberately you know," Tommy retorted and stormed off. Ray watched him go and then went back to work.