Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Judging Amy, they are owned by CBS and what not. This part may get alittle confusing again. I know I am moving the setting around all of the time but just work with me here. It should become clear soon. I was having a major case of writer's block during this chapter. Sorry it took me so long to post this but with school and some personal stuff I haven't had the time to get it ready.Thank goodness for spring break. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Three: Family Ties

The halls of the hospital were quiet as the early morning hours passed by. The Gray family sat wearily waiting for some news. Peter and Jillian had left their son Ned with the babysitter that was watching Lauren, and rushed over to the hospital as fast as they could. By the time they gotten there, Amy had been rushed into emergency surgery and neither of them were able to find out how she was doing. Now all they could do was wait.The doctor hadn't given them any news for hours, but to them it seemed more like an eternity. Maxine was finally forced to go hunt down someone so she could get some information, while Peter and Jillian sat in the waiting room.

" Peter! Will you stop pacing? Its making me crazy, and I don't really think its helping." Jillian grabbed him by the arm and stopped him.

"I can't help it. When I get worried, I pace, and right now I have a lot to be worried about. Its not everyday that someone calls my office and tells me some crazy, dilinquent convict shot my baby sister! How do you sneak a nine milimeter pistol into a juvenile courthouse anyway? Don't they have metal detectors and guards to protect against that kind of thing? Sombody has to be responsible for this."

" Peter, calm down, your ranting"

" Its just that she's my sister and I am supposed to protect her. It kills that I wasn't able to be there. What's even worse is she's in there all by herself, fighting for her life and we're stuck out here." small tears slipped one by one down his cheeks as he spoke.

"There wasn't anything you could do honey. There wasn't a thing any of us could have done. Its useless to beat yourself up about it. You have to stay strong for Amy, she wouldn't want you to feel guilty. Think of how Vincent must be feeling right now, he's three thousand miles away." Jillian would do absolutely anything to ease her husbands fears and her own as well. It was almost as if the words coming out of her mouth were meant to reassure her more than him.

"No, actually he's not. Mom called him around eleven, i'll bet that he is in the air as we speak."

"Is he bringing Carol with him? She is family now."

"Mom didn't say. It feels like I don't even know her. I only met her a few times and then *poof* their married and Vincents off to San Fransisco. I understand and all that, I just wish we knew her better."

"I think that Amy needs all the support that she can get." By now Peter had sat down and his hand was firmly in Jillians anxious for more news.

" How long are they going to be there? Its been hours. What are they doing that could possibly take that long?"

" Their trying to save your sister." Maxine chose that moment to walk back into the waiting room. The brief silence was deafening and you could cut the tension with a knife.

" Did you get an update from the doctor?"

" They're not finished yet, its not good Peter. That's all I know"



Hartford Express Airport

Vincent stepped off the plane in Hartford Connecticut around five a.m followed closely by his wife Carol. It was hard for him to believe that just last year he was saying goodbye to his family bound for San Fransisco. He never imagined that he would be coming home under these circumstances. A birthday or a holiday, but definitely not this.Things like this weren't supposed to Amy. She was the invincible Judge Amy Gray. As if she didn't see enough pain and tragedy everyday, now she had become a victim of it as well.

The trip to the hospital was a long one and by now Vincent wished they had asked someone to pick them up. The cab was small and the driver was extremely irritable.

"Hartford General Hospital and step on it." he ordered the driver and then he began staring out the window. The silence between him and Carol was growing by the minute. For some reason neither of them had anything to say. He couldn't tell her what he was thinking for some reason, so he mulled it over in his head for the rest of the ride, until they pulled up to Hartford General Hospital. Vincent got out, paid the cab driver, and headed through the doors to the front desk.



The double doors to the OR waiting room swung open and a tall wiry man stepped out. Throwing his latex gloves and mask into the trash can, he grabbed a white lab coat and walked over to the anxious family waiting in the chairs.



"Would you like me to take you somewhere a little more private? He asked politely.

" No thanks, we are fine right here. Will you please tell me how my daughter is doing?" Maxine looked as if she was about to strangle the poor man.

"Alright then........." he began.

" Hey mom, wait!" came a shout from down the hall. Vincent and Carol were sprinting down the hall with all of their luggage in tow. They reached the group completely out of breath and hugs were passed all around.

"As I was saying, Mrs. Gray, my name is Doctor Coolidge and I was part of the team that worked on your daughter. As you know she was hit with two nine milimeter bullets. The first one entered at the back of the left shoulder, shattering part of the scapula. There was also some extensive muscle and tissue damage. We were able to repair most of the damage and full movement will eventually be possible. That's the good news. The second bullet entered in the lower back near the L1 and L2 vertabrae, or the lumbar one and lumbar two vertabrae, just to the right of the spinal cord. Luckily none of the fragments managed to sever the spinal cord but there is a large amount of profuse swelling in that area. One of the bullet fragments traveled up through the right lung puncturing it, others caused internal bleeding." he explained slowly.

"Is she going to be alright?" Vincent asked.

" Looking at the tissue damage coupled with the massive amount of blood loss I am surprised that she made it this far. We are still giving her transfusions to replace all of the blood that she has lost. She's stable for now but I can't even be sure that she will survive the next few hours."



End of Chapter Three

This did originally have a scene in the beginning where Vincent explains what's going on to Carol but I couldn't find a way to put it into the story and I didn't really think that it was necessary. So its just implied. If you want me to post it for you then I will put it up as a separate chapter.