Only You

Only You

A/N: In this you might find some of the facts are the same as the actual episodes of ER, so, just bear with me. I liked the storyline, you see, sorry. This chapter's longer, so more quantity. I don't know how many chapters I'm gonna do before wrapping this up. I'm just gonna follow my typing hands, I guess. And don't ask why I put in that scene with 'Dr. Dave'. It's just different and I like to think he has some compassion somewhere inside him for his colleagues. Or maybe not.

***

Chapter 3

Letting Go

Sometimes it's better letting go this way

I'll always know down in my soul

We really had so far to go

I've given all I had to give

And now it's time for me to live

And I won't look back

And I won't regret

Though it hurts like hell

Sozzi – Letting Go

***

Luka was walking up to Cook County Hospital, chewing on a donut, when he spotted a familiar woman carrying quite a few bags of luggage, also heading towards the hospital. Then he remembered that face – it was Abby's mom. He supposed that he should go and help her, so that's just what he did.

"Hello, Mrs. Wyzenski." She turned.

"Oh, hello Luka. And it's Maggie. It feels so formal when you call me that." He shrugged.

"D'you need help with those?" He gestured towards the suitcases.

"Oh, okay, thank you." She said as he binned the rest of his donut and picked them up wordlessly.

"Don't worry about it. Are you going on holiday? Quite a lot of luggage."

"Ah. Well, that's why I came here. I need to talk to Abby. Have you seen her?"

"No." He replied truthfully. Upon reaching the reception desk, he decided to leave Maggie until Abby got there, so that he didn't find out anything that Abby didn't know already. Besides, he didn't want to intrude on family business. He turned towards Maggie.

"Uh, see you around, Mrs…"

"Maggie."

"…Maggie. I gotta work now, but I'll send Abby this way if I see her." He retreated round a corner, and Maggie tentatively asked for Abby at the reception desk.

"What, ya mean Abby Lockhart? You're her mom, right? Okay…why don't you sit on the chairs over there?" She nodded, and dragged her stuff towards a chair and sat down. She looked around cautiously – she really didn't like hospitals. In fact, she didn't even know why Abby wanted to work in a place like it, but if it was what Abby wanted to do, then she would try to support her as much as possible. As if it was working. Recently, she had noticed a change in Abby, a more 'giving up' attitude towards everything. She wasn't even that excited whenever Maggie talked to her about med school and becoming a doctor. She was more reticent and more relenting whenever Maggie felt like doing something. Abby wasn't the only one who worried. She was so enraptured in her own thoughts, that she only just heard someone calling her name.

"Maggie?" Carter called incredulously. He swerved off his planned course and stopped flicking through the charts he was holding. "What are you doing here?" Then, eyeing her bags, he said, "Where are you going?"

"Oh, hello John." She said, nicely surprised. She found him so much more comfortable to talk to. "I'm waiting for Abby. I've got some important news." Eyeing the bags once again, he said,

"Right. You stay there, I'll go get her."

"She's here?"

"Yeah." He then turned away and walked away.

***

Carter was pretty shocked. Maggie had never done this before. She had never showed up at the hospital whilst Abby was working. He put it down to just something really important. He walked into a room and just as he thought, saw Abby on a patient.

"Abby?" She turned irritably, until she saw it was Carter, and turned away, giving the patient an apologetic smile.

"Excuse me for a moment."

Stepping out, she asked him what was going on.

"It better not be something personal, Carter." He looked straight at her, and she closed her eyes, laughing exasperatingly. When she opened them again, she sighed.

"It's my mom, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"God. I don't need this right now." She moaned, running a hand through her hair. "You know what Carter, I haven't got time for this, tell her I'll phone her back, I've got a patient right now." She turned, and started to push open the door, when Carter said,

"But she's not on the phone, she's here."

"What?!" Abby almost choked. "She never comes when I'm working!"

"That's why I think you should go see her – she's got a few bags of luggage too. I'm thinking that she's probably leaving Chicago." Abby laughed dryly.

"Yeah, on holiday, right? Okay, where is she?"

"Reception." She chewed on her lip.

"Right. Um, Carter, could you do a favor? Could you get another nurse onto this patient? He's called Mr. Von Duke and he's got a fractured wrist, whilst um…in bed, doing something he wouldn't reveal. Even to me. I tried the intimidation thing – 'I'm a nurse, and this is a hospital. We need to know what you were doing, or we can't treat you. I can get a doctor to verify this, you know.' He just said, 'You're treating me now, though.'" Carter laughed. "Yeah. So, could you do that for me?" She muttered, thinking that Carter wouldn't hear her,

"You would be doing me a really huge favor." But, Carter's keen ears caught it, and he asked,

"Why so huge? That means you owe me big time." Looking through the window at Mr. Von Duke, who cheerily waved at her, she sighed. As if her mom showing up wasn't irritating enough.

"He likes me. He keeps on coming on to me, with not so subtle hints." Carter laughed.

"What guy wouldn't like you, Abby?" Abby sparked to attention, after hearing this, and kept it in the back of her mind, where most of Carter's strange comments were stored. But he carried on, not noticing – "You're…"

"Something else? Beautiful? Witty? A genius?" Abby offered solemnly. He shook it away, despite him thinking it was very accurate.

"Nah, you're a homewrecker. Guys can't keep away. Under our cold exterior, a warm heart beats and bleeds for you only. Some of us break out though, a bit like him." He jerked a thumb in Mr Vont Duke's direction. They both grinned for a moment, sharing the same understanding and appreciation for their teasing banter.

"Okay, that sounds like something out of a porn movie. The pickup line, maybe? So. Go get someone male. I doubt he can come onto anything male if he came on to me right?"
"Some weird people out there, Abby. Now go on, don't keep your mom waiting. If Weaver catches you, you're dead, though." He placed his hand on the small of her back, sort of pushing her in the direction of the reception.

"Thanks for the warning." She turned away and put her hands in her pockets, heading towards the reception, sighing. Carter watched her walk away, sighing himself.

***

"Hey, mom." Abby said as she approached Maggie from behind. Maggie turned around, and her eyes lighted up.

"Hey, Abby!" Abby looked upwards, as if wishing why she had to go through this every time.

"Mom, don't 'hey, Abby!' me. What are you doing here? You know how important it is for me not to have personal visits right? It could get me fired." Maggie looked down.

"I-I know, and I'm sorry, Abby, but I have to tell you this. I'm leaving Chicago. I'm going home." Abby looked incredulously at her.

"Home? You mean California?"

"No, Abby, home, home. Minnesota, Minneapolis, home." Abby put a hand on her forehead.

"Minneapolis. Mom, you haven't been there in what, two years? What exactly are you going to do there? Play happy families – with yourself?" Maggie looked as tired as Abby felt.

"I want to start over Abby, I don't want to be in your way here, in Chicago, I want to be able to know I can look after myself. I'm an adult, Abby."

"Yeah, but you haven't proved to be a very responsible one in the past have you?"

"That's why I want to start over Abby. The neighbors over there'll take care of me if I need them." Abby shook her head, her hands on her hips.

"So. When exactly did you plan this?"

"Well, I had a few counseling sessions with Dr. Legaspi, and, I decided this is the right thing for me to do."

"Oh right, and you couldn't even get the guts to tell me until today, right? The day you're leaving. Well, that's just great. You tell Dr. Legaspi, before you tell your own daughter. The lord knows all I need right now is my very own drama." Maggie started to stand up, her eyes searching, pleading for understanding within them.

"Abby, I-" Abby closed her eyes and put her hand up, halting Maggie's desperate explanation.

"Look, I don't need this right now. I'm at work. How are you going to get there?"

"I'm driving."

"You, driving?"

"Abby, I'm not taking the plane, and I'm not taking a coach, so it's got to be a car."

"That or a motorcycle." Abby's face seemed conflicting, and then, certain, she announced, "I'm taking you, mom."

"What? No Abby, if I want to start over, I want to go by-"

"Yourself. Right. Mom, tell me one thing. I have looked after you for most of my life. I have worried about you for even longer. I think I should do this. I know I should do this." Abby then looked at her mom, and turned away, but there was no mistaking the grief and anger that pained her so much. She started to walk away.

"Abby, wait!"

"We'll talk later mom. After work." Abby called over her shoulder. Maggie stopped and looked at the retreating figure of Abby. Once again, Abby had found a way of stopping Maggie's resolutions.

***

Abby walked away from Maggie. Her face was of annoyance and disbelief, but mostly of perplexity. She knew her mom had to go her own way, had to look after herself, but Abby couldn't bring herself to let go. As far as she knew, she believed she could never let go. She ran a hand through her hair. She was heading towards the toilets, when Malucci caught up with her and stopped her.

"Hey, Abby."

"Heey, Dr. Dave." She said scathingly. "What do you want?"

"You okay?"

"Just peachy."

"Really?"

"What do you care?"

"You know, just before hand, I wanna know if you're mad, cos working with you when you're mad is really infuriating, you know?"

"Am I hearing this right? I'm infuriating? You're kidding. Sounds like someone I know." Abby carried on towards the toilets.

"So you're not okay?" He persisted.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I just wanna know if you're okay."

"I told you, I'm fine. Malucci, why are you not being an idiot at the moment? I'm scared." Then she said, "Did I just use the words 'Malucci' and 'idiot' without using the words 'is an' in-between? Wow." He looked annoyed and then persisted again,

"Are you okay?" She pushed open the toilet doors, and walking in, she said,

"No." Which left Malucci standing outside the toilets wondering why exactly he had persisted for an answer.

***

Throughout the whole morning, Abby worked persistently and excruciatingly fast, dashing about here and there. She was trying not to think about anything that had happened that morning. Namely her mom. It wasn't until lunchtime that she slowed down and allowed space for herself to think. She was heading towards the green bench by the river, when Luka stopped her.

"Lunch with me?" Abby looked at him. She would have said yes, and she appreciated the effort he was using, trying to mend the rift between them, but now wasn't the best of times to talk about their relationship. She needed time to let Maggie's information sink in. She had heard it all clear enough, but she hadn't really thought about it – she had protested more. So she told him the truth.

"Luka, I really would, but right now, I want to be by myself, I need to think." His face hardened, if only a little, but she could see the change.

"I see."

"No Luka, you don't. It's not about you, it's about my mom, okay?"

"Your mom?" He looked puzzled for a while, then remembering, "Oh yeah, this morning right?"

"Yeah." Abby looked confused with how he knew, but she guessed news traveled quickly in the ER. Darn Malucci. "She-she told me she wants to go home."

"California?"

"No, Minneapolis."

"Wow."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. And then I told her I was going to take her."

"What? Abby, you don't need to take her, you need to be here. You don't need another road trip."

"Oklahoma was not a road trip." Luka looked skeptical. "Whatever. So, I'm not eating lunch with you because I have thinking to do. About my mom."

"I understand. But I don't see why you have to go with her."

"Nor do I. Maybe next time."

"What?"

"Lunch."

"Yeah. Next time. But Abby, I still don't-"

"See you Luka." Then she turned away and went to eat a solitary lunch.

***

Abby was sitting on her bench, once again, chewing on her sandwich, and just thinking.

When her mom had told her she was leaving for home, Abby hadn't known why she wanted her mom to stay in Chicago. There was nothing for Maggie in Chicago, apart from Abby. And Abby herself had even stated what a hindrance Maggie was, trying to commit suicide all the time, not taking her medicine, not being very responsible. Abby hadn't known why she had reacted so against the idea. Maggie was an adult – she was her mom. She wasn't meant to look after her mom. Her mom was meant to look after her, but since she could remember, it had been the former. Maybe that's why she found it so hard to let go. Maggie was the one thing she could feel as if she had some control over. Abby had no control over her life, her relationships, with Luka and Richard, had no control over the fact that her life was falling in pieces around her. All she had was her reliable mom, who would, at the wrong moment, try to kill herself, run away, lock herself away from social society. Abby laughed. It wasn't a laugh of joy – it was a laugh of exasperation. She was digging way too deep. It wasn't like she was a psychologist or anything. But, she thought shrewdly, some of the stuff is quite true. Thinking about it now, it did seem to all fall in place. But Abby wasn't so ready to condemn herself. It wasn't all her fault, and she knew that. It was just the way she coped with her mom.

***

Cater was strolling along the river on his lunch break, after finishing his solitary lunch, and was heading towards the green bench that he and Abby usually sat on. And maybe he did have an ulterior motive. Not as if Abby would really suspect. It was common enough, meeting by the benches. If neither of them were found, they would probably be by those benches, but Abby didn't realize its significance for Carter. It was their place. Their area, where Luka probably didn't even know about. Carter hated feeling so sentimental. It made him think of Lucy. But he would stop there. Lucy is gone, he told himself, and you can't do anything about it. Maybe he couldn't, but it always brought back painful memories. Always.

He shook his head, looking down at the ground whilst he walked, and when he looked up, he spied the bench. He also spied Abby. He picked up his pace, and reached it within moments. She was too preoccupied with her thoughts to notice him. Then he remembered. It was probably about her mom. And she looked as if she didn't really need any company at the moment, but he figured she could use someone to talk to. He looked out on the river, leaning on the rail.

"So, what happened with Maggie this morning?" She looked up, knowing who it was already before she saw him.

"Carter."

"Hey." Abby looked out at the river, its calm current washing over itself, folding sheet after sheet of water. Her brain felt as clear as the murky water. She didn't actually want to talk about it, she just couldn't be bothered to go over it again, but for Carter's sake, she said briefly,

"She wants to go home to Minneapolis."

"Today?"

"Originally, yeah, but I told her I was gonna take her. Guess we'll just have to go at the weekend." She frowned, "Damn. I was gonna…oh well. There she goes again. Wrecking my plans."

"But why do you have to go?"

"Luka asked exactly the same question, you know."

"What did you say?"
"I dodged the question. And you know why? Because I don't know." Carter simply looked at her, and she could feel the intense gaze burn into her, but she remained staring at the river. Then his gaze left her, and he looked towards the river too.

"Why don't I go with you?" Abby blinked.

"What, again?"

"Yeah. I've got no plans on the weekend."

"You are one sad man, John Carter, but no."

"Why not?"

"Why not? Let's see, this whole thing with my mom is getting at Luka already, he sees the trip to Oklahoma a 'road trip', and another one with you would make it all worse."

"He going with you?"
"No. My mom and me. Happy families, that kinda thing."

"Okay. I won't go." Abby's suspicions rose. He never gave in so easily.

"What are you thinking?"

"I think that if you don't want me to go with you, I don't mind. It's your mom."

"Yeah, my crazy mom. Really, what were you thinking?" He grinned.

"Nothing that you would like." Abby rolled her eyes. She stood up and scrunched up her sandwich bag, with an empty coffee cup inside and dusted her trousers free of crumbs. So maybe thinking by herself hadn't shed any light, Carter had once again found a way – just being there – to cheer her up slightly.

"Coming?" She said simply, and he turned, and in companionable silence, they walked back to work.

***

After that, the day passed quickly, by Abby's judgement, and she was thankful she didn't have to attend Mr Vont Duke again. She was yawning as she left the ER, and realized that she had told her mom she would talk to her after work. She was unlocking her car in the staff car park, when Luka approached her.

"Hey." He said easily.

"Hey."

"Going home?"

"No. I'm going to mom's."

"Why?"

"If I'm gonna go with her to Minneapolis, I think we have something to talk about."

"Abby, you didn't tell me before. Why do you have to go?" She hesitated for a moment.

"I don't know. I just…I don't know. It's too difficult to explain."

"Even to your boyfriend? Try me." She shook her head.

"You wouldn't understand." She could tell he was agitated by his reply, and she looked down, away from his eyes. He gently tilted her head up, so that her eyes were facing his, but his tone was harsh.

"How would I understand, when you don't give me a chance to?" Her eyes questioned his, wondering if he would ever understand, but if he hadn't before, why would he change now? She shook his hand away, and started to get into the car.

"Have you ever understood?" She closed the car door and put her key into ignition, switching on the engine, she drove away. She looked back, and saw Luka, watching her go. Luka stood there, her question echoing in his ears. Have you ever understood?

***

Abby rapped on her mom's door impatiently, looking down the corridor at the peeling wallpaper, the worn carpet.

"Mom, open up!" She banged on the door. She waited for a little while longer, and Maggie opened the door.

"Hello, Abby." She said weakly. Abby looked inside and sat down.

"Nice place."

"I know it's not much, but it's enough. Do you want a coffee?"

"No. I came here to talk to you about Minneapolis, mom, so cut the small talk." Maggie sat down.

"So, what exactly do you want to talk about Abby?"

"Why don't you tell me? There seems to be so much I don't know. Because I wasn't there at your counseling sessions, remember?"

"Abby-"

"Why don't we start with why you want to go home. I mean, yeah, you want to explore your independence, right? So you got bored with trying to kill yourself? You know, for years, I have had to take care of you, wondering, and worrying. Wondering when you would next try to harm yourself, and if I would be able to stop it, whether I would have to watch you dying. And then, now, you expect me to let you go so easily, to forget it all, to let you live by yourself, miles away, so if you did try to harm yourself, I would definitely not be able to stop it. It's easy enough for you to adapt to the change. It's not like you've been doing much over the years. Mom, moving to Minneapolis will not change the past."

"Nor will dwelling o it Abby. I want to move forwards, not backwards."

"That is so clichéd. You want to move forwards – so you're going back to Minneapolis. How can you expect me to be supportive? And even worse, you didn't consult me. You just thought, hey, I'm gonna go start my life over in Minneapolis, and didn't even tell me till today. Why-why is that?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't say yes. I knew you would condemn the idea from the beginning. And it's my choice."

"Yeah, it's always your choice. Always your choice to kill yourself, to run away, to cause a ruckus. But I'm the one who always has to clear up after you."

"I never asked you to." Maggie said quietly.

"No, you didn't, you just left it on me, just let me get on with it. Who else was going to try and help you get your life in line? When you go, don't you think that some amount of worry will stay with me forever, until the day you die? I can't help but worry – it was part of the bargain when I took care of you. And it's not that easy to let go and forget. Yet here you are, trying to lose it all, to lose your terrible past, your daughter."

"Abby, I never wanted to get away from you. Chicago holds too many memories, that I'm not ready to cope with, so I would rather run than fall."

"You would always rather run than fall. Have you ever thought that maybe you won't fall? That if you faced it, then you would stand. Isn't' that what you've been doing in your counseling sessions?"

"Yes. But, I figured that I wasn't ready to do that. I need to have everything to be stable around me first, to have something to fall on."

"I was always the one you fell on. What, am I not trustworthy enough?"

"No, Abby, I need to stand on my own two feet, I don't need you to be there all the time. You're young. You have your own life, your own boyfriend, your whole future ahead of you, and I don't want to stop your doctor ambitions. Without me, you'll do so much. I think that we would do so much better if I didn't have to lean on you, and you didn't have to hold me up." Abby nodded her head, in such a way that mocked Maggie, that it stung her to the core. Abby stood up.

"Right, mom. I'll see you at the weekend."

"Why the weekend?"

"Cos I'm not free any other time. You'll just have to wait, mom." Maggie didn't say anything as Abby left. The world was more screwed than she thought it was. Someone up there really did have a sick sense of humor.

***

The days came and went for Abby, and before she knew it, the weekend had arrived. Everything still hung over her like a dark cloud, but she had the weekend to blow it all away. She rose early on the Saturday morning, and had already packed her bags. As she dressed, she watched Luka sleep. It was an amazing thing to watch someone sleep. Luka's eyelids fluttered every now and then, his mind in deep sleep, wafting along those pleasant fairytale dreams they all had. Everyone also had their nightmares. Everyone had their demons. Abby had already told Luka her plans, and was about to leave, when she felt like leaving him a note. He looked so unconcerned, so blissfully unaware, that something compelled her to leave him a note. On it, she simply wrote, Goodbye, Luka. She didn't sign her name. She didn't even know why she had written it. If she was to leave a note, she should have written something like 'I love you'. But she hadn't. She walked over to his still form and leaned over and kissed him on his forehead, and then, watching him as if it were the last time she would ever see him, she went out with her bag and closed the door quietly behind her. As it closed, Luka's eyes opened slowly.

***

Abby drove along the almost deserted roads, following her memory to get to Maggie's apartment. She slowed to a halt at the curb and waited for Maggie to come out. They had arranged for Maggie to come out when she saw Abby. So now, Abby just waited. She looked through the windscreen. She watched the sun rise, it's rays reflecting off the tacky pink painted buildings, but even the light found something good in the crumbling edifices. The pink walls became rose under the expanding light and the windows glinted in the sun's eyes. She knew it was going to be a beautiful day, which she hadn't experienced for a while. She felt as if she could sit all day and watch the sun. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied Maggie coming out of the building, carrying the same amount of bags she had seen the other day at the hospital. She dropped them into the boot and climbed into the passenger seat. She looked apologetic.

"Sorry I came out late. I was just captured by the sight of the sunrise. Isn't it beautiful?" For a moment, mother and daughter sat unified, watching the rays lengthen, touching as much of the land as possible. Then Abby gunned the engine, and pulled away from the curb.

"Yeah, it's beautiful."

***

It was well into the day, when they spied a sign saying that they had reached Minnesota. Abby had been driving non-stop on the highway, only stopping for gas. In turn, they had gotten far and it wouldn't be long before they reached Minneapolis. All the windows had been rolled down, letting the cool air sift in, whipping Abby's hair back, making her feel free, as if she had no certain direction, didn't have to actually know where she was going. She felt liberated. They had sat in silence for most of the way, only uttering things to each other when necessary. Neither minded.

"Minnesota. We're out of Wisconsin." Abby said, informing Maggie. Maggie just nodded. Abby drove on for a while, getting irritable with the everlasting silence. She switched on the radio and music came blaring out, immediately. That was better, she thought.

Saturday morning alone and barely feeling

Sitting at home after rocking and a-reeling

All night in a cat fight

With the only one who can make me cry

As Abby carried on driving, she thought how true that would've been, if she had stayed with Luka for the weekend. Their conversations always exploded into arguments. And she always cried. She didn't know why, but his words cut at her, mocked at her. His words made her feel so small. She knew that he only lashed back out at her because something she had said evoked him, but she still felt so unwanted, so misunderstood.

Open the blinds and the world is in rotation

Shaking my mind like an Etch-a-Sketch erasing

Sunshine, you were bad, I'm

Still mad but I can't remember why

She was starting to not like the song. Though it had a happy tune to it, its words hid a darker truth. Abby hated songs she could relate to. Besides, she thought, at the moment I'm not with Luka. She switched off the radio. She didn't need to think about Luka at the moment. After a while, Maggie said,

"Good thing you switched the radio off. It was too loud and noisy." Abby nodded, indicating that she had heard. Maggie carried on, "Abby?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You were always pretty. Always ambitious. Always loved. When, when I'm in Minneapolis, and you're in Chicago, just remember that. You've got Luka, who loves you. I know you two are having problems, but someone would have to be blind not to see that he loves you." Abby chuckled dryly. "I love you, and maybe I haven't shown you examples, but I always have, and I never meant to put all of it on your shoulders. And Carter loves you too. Your friendship with him means so much to him. I can tell that." Abby kept quiet. "Don't turn them away, Abby. Don't turn me away. Confide in them, and just remember, whatever you say can change their lives completely. We're all so fragile." Maggie sighed and looked away. Abby glanced at her mom's, tired, weary face, the apology coming out, hidden after years of pain. Abby thought it had sounded too planned, too acted, but something told her that this situation was all very real, and the apology had come from her heart. Abby turned her head onto the road.

"I love you, too, mom." Maggie, not looking at Abby, knew that she had been forgiven, and smiled with genuine happiness.

***

After a whole day of driving, four gas stops and one food stop, they had finally reached Minneapolis. Abby climbed out the car and helped her mom with her luggage. She couldn't keep her eyes away from the house. She hadn't been there for so long, it felt so strange, yet familiar. They climbed up the stairs onto the open porch, and laid Maggie's stuff onto the old rickety swinging bench. Tearing her eyes away from the house, Abby glanced around, and saw identical houses all around, just as she had remembered them. Then Abby and Maggie looked at each other. It was the long awaited, but dreaded goodbye scene. They didn't say anything, but Maggie handed her the phone number and address for the house. Abby felt uncomfortable. She had to say something.

"So. I'll see you mom." Maggie looked at her with undefined pain.

"Yeah. Have a good trip back to Chicago." Abby looked down for a moment.

"I will. I'll call later." Neither of them could bring themselves to say goodbye. They stood, and smiled at each other, until Abby hugged her mom. For years, the estranged mother and daughter hadn't hugged. Maggie could feel her eyes watering.

"I'll miss you." She whispered.

"Me too." Abby whispered back. And for a while, they stood hugging, compensating for the lost years that had flown by so quickly. Maggie was starting over, becoming independent once again. And Abby? Abby was starting to let go.

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A/N: Like? I'm pleased with the outcome. This was all about Abby and her mom, though, not L/A or C/A, problems. Not yet! :-)