I was inspired to write this fanfic by the good people over at the
Television Without Pity site.
This fanfic is not based on one specific episode, but rather on a string of different plot lines we've seen over the years. I have always preferred Mary to Lucy in the 7th Heaven series, but lately the writers have turned her into such a bimbo that she's ridiculed by everyone, most of all her family. This work is focused on Mary and I've tried to being some humanity back to her.
None of these characters belong to me, they are sole property of the WB or Brenda Hampton. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
******
CHAPTER FIVE
The next morning Mary slowly opened her eyes to find herself back in the room that she and Lucy had shared practically all their lives. Her pounding head and stiff, achy body only served to remind her that everything that had gone on last night was real. It had not just been some kind of bad dream where suddenly you wake up and find that everything is all right.
As she slowly made her way down the hallway to the bathroom, she heard voices downstairs. It was Matt and her father, they were arguing about something. Mary had heard enough yelling and screaming last night at the hospital. She continued on to the bathroom where she started running a nice, hot bubble bath to relax and cleanse herself in.
*****
It was 6am when Matt had decided to head over to the hospital. He had hardly slept a wink all night. He thought that the doctors should have some news about Lucy by now, and anyway, it wasn't good for Mom to be by herself for so long in this kind of situation. He knew his Dad said she was being taken care of, but family is important, especially in moments like these.
On arrival at the hospital, he had gone directly to the Intensive Care Unit. His years as an orderly at the hospital had gained him a few friends in different wards. He only hoped that one of the nurses or doctors he had befriended would be on duty.
"Hello, I'm looking for Lucy Camden," Matt said to the receptionist manning the ICU station.
"Okay, that name does seem to ring a bell, let me take a look," replied the receptionist. After digging around in the various charts, she replied, "Oh yes! I remember Dr. Glass mentioning something about this patient this morning. Are you a member of the family?"
"Yes, I'm her brother, and I also used to work at this hospital. Now, can you please tell me how my sister's doing? Or better yet, let me take a look at her chart. I'm studying medicine myself. I'm in my first year at Crawford. I'm hoping to specialize in gynecology or obstetrics, but there are just so many options," rambled on Matt, as he smiled charmingly at the young, blonde receptionist. "plus, emergency care is beginning to look more and more interesting to me."
"That's nice and all, but I can't authorize you to look at a patient's chart. If you want to see your sister, she's in recovery. I'll page Dr. Glass and she'll be right in to update you on your sister's condition."
"Thanks a lot," replied Matt. "You know, I don't think we ever met while I was working here. Perhaps we could have a cup of coffee during your break or something?"
"Umm. I don't think that would really be a good idea. I mean, you should really be with your family at a time like this, don't you think" replied the receptionist. Even though Matt didn't know who she was, she had certainly heard stories about him. Plus the note in red pen on Lucy's chart about an incident with her mother did not exactly bode well for the Camden family.
"Okay, well, I'll check back later in case you change your mind," said Matt as he made his way down the hall in search of his sister.
*****
When Matt reached the recovery area, a surly nurse told him that visits were limited to ten minutes and that his sister was lucky to have Dr. Glass looking out for her.
Matt pulled aside the curtain and there lay Lucy. He hardly recognized her with all the tubes and machines. She was still unconscious from the surgery, but he sat down on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his. He only hoped that she would somehow feel his presence.
"Hi, you must be Matt Camden," said a young woman as she held out her hand for him to shake.
Matt was surprised to find himself shaking the hand of this pretty, young brunette. "Hi, I guess you're one of my sister's nurses then?" questioned Matt, although he knew that ICU nurses wore purple scrubs and she was wearing a lab coat, usually reserved for doctors.
"No, actually I'm Doctor Glass. Your sister was brought to the ER last night and I've been treating her."
"Oh," said Matt suddenly feeling embarrassed. "It's just that I was expecting a man, or at least someone older, and."
" Less pretty?" added Dr. Glass.
"Ummm, I guess you could put it that way," replied Matt regaining a bit of his confidence.
"Well, would you like to hear about your sister's condition or is flirting all that's on your mind this morning?"
"What?" said Matt stupidly.
"Never mind. Let's head over to the waiting room and I'll tell you about your sister's condition."
"Okay, but first of all, I'd like to find my mother, Annie Camden. I'm sure she'd like to know how Lucy is doing. Is she sleeping somewhere in the hospital? Did you find a spare room for her?"
"Oh did we ever!" thought Dr. Glass, but replied instead, "Your father didn't tell you about what happened last night?" Dr. Glass noticed the dandruff that fell to Matt's shoulders as he shook his head no. "Well," she sighed, "I guess there's no easy way to say this, but your mother was sent to the psychiatric ward last night after attempting to physically attack your father, myself and a nurse. She was given a sedative and she should be released later this morning, barring any further incidents."
"What!?!" screeched Matt. "My mother would never attack anyone, least of all her own husband and medical personnel. If someone should be in the psychiatric ward, I think it should be you!"
"Everyone deals with stress differently, Mr. Camden. Your mother had a violent reaction and we did what was necessary. I'm sorry, but I don't really have any further time to waste, I've got other patients to tend to. I guess I'll talk to you or your father later about Lucy's condition"
With that she turned and walked down the hall. Even though he didn't really like this woman, Matt couldn't help but watch her as she walked away. And he definitely liked what he saw.
*****
At around 8am, Matt stormed into the house to find his father drinking a cup of coffee alone in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Matt," said Eric tiredly. "Where have you been?"
Matt didn't say a word as he took a swing at his father, hitting him square on the cheek and knocking the coffee cup and its contents to the floor. 'You bastard! How could you have done this to her!" screamed Matt.
Eric did not reply. He simply stooped down to pick up the pieces of the broken coffee mug. No sense in anyone else getting hurt around here.
"I said, how could you do this to your own wife!" Matt continued as he pushed his father back down into a chair. "You, who always said family is first, you, who taught us to take care of one another, you, who preaches every Sunday that we are all one family under God. And you go and have your wife committed to a psychiatric ward!" yelled Matt, "Who are you? You are not my father! You are a hypocrite and a liar!"
Eric whispered, "You don't know your mother, not the way I do."
"No, I think you've got it the wrong way around. It's you who doesn't know anything about Mom, about any of us," growled Matt. "I'm going back to the hospital to be with my family."
Eric watched as his eldest son slammed the back door. He then heard the screech of tires as Matt drove away. Suddenly everything that happened overtook him and he started to cry. He felt the sting of the blow Matt had thrown at him, but what hurt most were his son's words. "A hypocrite," Eric murmured to himself, "that's exactly what I am."
In his hand, he held the pieces of the coffee cup. Broken up, just like his family.
This fanfic is not based on one specific episode, but rather on a string of different plot lines we've seen over the years. I have always preferred Mary to Lucy in the 7th Heaven series, but lately the writers have turned her into such a bimbo that she's ridiculed by everyone, most of all her family. This work is focused on Mary and I've tried to being some humanity back to her.
None of these characters belong to me, they are sole property of the WB or Brenda Hampton. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
******
CHAPTER FIVE
The next morning Mary slowly opened her eyes to find herself back in the room that she and Lucy had shared practically all their lives. Her pounding head and stiff, achy body only served to remind her that everything that had gone on last night was real. It had not just been some kind of bad dream where suddenly you wake up and find that everything is all right.
As she slowly made her way down the hallway to the bathroom, she heard voices downstairs. It was Matt and her father, they were arguing about something. Mary had heard enough yelling and screaming last night at the hospital. She continued on to the bathroom where she started running a nice, hot bubble bath to relax and cleanse herself in.
*****
It was 6am when Matt had decided to head over to the hospital. He had hardly slept a wink all night. He thought that the doctors should have some news about Lucy by now, and anyway, it wasn't good for Mom to be by herself for so long in this kind of situation. He knew his Dad said she was being taken care of, but family is important, especially in moments like these.
On arrival at the hospital, he had gone directly to the Intensive Care Unit. His years as an orderly at the hospital had gained him a few friends in different wards. He only hoped that one of the nurses or doctors he had befriended would be on duty.
"Hello, I'm looking for Lucy Camden," Matt said to the receptionist manning the ICU station.
"Okay, that name does seem to ring a bell, let me take a look," replied the receptionist. After digging around in the various charts, she replied, "Oh yes! I remember Dr. Glass mentioning something about this patient this morning. Are you a member of the family?"
"Yes, I'm her brother, and I also used to work at this hospital. Now, can you please tell me how my sister's doing? Or better yet, let me take a look at her chart. I'm studying medicine myself. I'm in my first year at Crawford. I'm hoping to specialize in gynecology or obstetrics, but there are just so many options," rambled on Matt, as he smiled charmingly at the young, blonde receptionist. "plus, emergency care is beginning to look more and more interesting to me."
"That's nice and all, but I can't authorize you to look at a patient's chart. If you want to see your sister, she's in recovery. I'll page Dr. Glass and she'll be right in to update you on your sister's condition."
"Thanks a lot," replied Matt. "You know, I don't think we ever met while I was working here. Perhaps we could have a cup of coffee during your break or something?"
"Umm. I don't think that would really be a good idea. I mean, you should really be with your family at a time like this, don't you think" replied the receptionist. Even though Matt didn't know who she was, she had certainly heard stories about him. Plus the note in red pen on Lucy's chart about an incident with her mother did not exactly bode well for the Camden family.
"Okay, well, I'll check back later in case you change your mind," said Matt as he made his way down the hall in search of his sister.
*****
When Matt reached the recovery area, a surly nurse told him that visits were limited to ten minutes and that his sister was lucky to have Dr. Glass looking out for her.
Matt pulled aside the curtain and there lay Lucy. He hardly recognized her with all the tubes and machines. She was still unconscious from the surgery, but he sat down on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his. He only hoped that she would somehow feel his presence.
"Hi, you must be Matt Camden," said a young woman as she held out her hand for him to shake.
Matt was surprised to find himself shaking the hand of this pretty, young brunette. "Hi, I guess you're one of my sister's nurses then?" questioned Matt, although he knew that ICU nurses wore purple scrubs and she was wearing a lab coat, usually reserved for doctors.
"No, actually I'm Doctor Glass. Your sister was brought to the ER last night and I've been treating her."
"Oh," said Matt suddenly feeling embarrassed. "It's just that I was expecting a man, or at least someone older, and."
" Less pretty?" added Dr. Glass.
"Ummm, I guess you could put it that way," replied Matt regaining a bit of his confidence.
"Well, would you like to hear about your sister's condition or is flirting all that's on your mind this morning?"
"What?" said Matt stupidly.
"Never mind. Let's head over to the waiting room and I'll tell you about your sister's condition."
"Okay, but first of all, I'd like to find my mother, Annie Camden. I'm sure she'd like to know how Lucy is doing. Is she sleeping somewhere in the hospital? Did you find a spare room for her?"
"Oh did we ever!" thought Dr. Glass, but replied instead, "Your father didn't tell you about what happened last night?" Dr. Glass noticed the dandruff that fell to Matt's shoulders as he shook his head no. "Well," she sighed, "I guess there's no easy way to say this, but your mother was sent to the psychiatric ward last night after attempting to physically attack your father, myself and a nurse. She was given a sedative and she should be released later this morning, barring any further incidents."
"What!?!" screeched Matt. "My mother would never attack anyone, least of all her own husband and medical personnel. If someone should be in the psychiatric ward, I think it should be you!"
"Everyone deals with stress differently, Mr. Camden. Your mother had a violent reaction and we did what was necessary. I'm sorry, but I don't really have any further time to waste, I've got other patients to tend to. I guess I'll talk to you or your father later about Lucy's condition"
With that she turned and walked down the hall. Even though he didn't really like this woman, Matt couldn't help but watch her as she walked away. And he definitely liked what he saw.
*****
At around 8am, Matt stormed into the house to find his father drinking a cup of coffee alone in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Matt," said Eric tiredly. "Where have you been?"
Matt didn't say a word as he took a swing at his father, hitting him square on the cheek and knocking the coffee cup and its contents to the floor. 'You bastard! How could you have done this to her!" screamed Matt.
Eric did not reply. He simply stooped down to pick up the pieces of the broken coffee mug. No sense in anyone else getting hurt around here.
"I said, how could you do this to your own wife!" Matt continued as he pushed his father back down into a chair. "You, who always said family is first, you, who taught us to take care of one another, you, who preaches every Sunday that we are all one family under God. And you go and have your wife committed to a psychiatric ward!" yelled Matt, "Who are you? You are not my father! You are a hypocrite and a liar!"
Eric whispered, "You don't know your mother, not the way I do."
"No, I think you've got it the wrong way around. It's you who doesn't know anything about Mom, about any of us," growled Matt. "I'm going back to the hospital to be with my family."
Eric watched as his eldest son slammed the back door. He then heard the screech of tires as Matt drove away. Suddenly everything that happened overtook him and he started to cry. He felt the sting of the blow Matt had thrown at him, but what hurt most were his son's words. "A hypocrite," Eric murmured to himself, "that's exactly what I am."
In his hand, he held the pieces of the coffee cup. Broken up, just like his family.