"Mum? Are you okay?" Lauren asked with concern. Abby nodded her head.

"Yes, I'm just tired. I'm going to go to bed." She slowly lifted herself out of the chair. As she stepped across the room she could see the room swaying around her. "Lauren…" Her daughter's hand grabbed her arm, holding her steady.

"Okay Mum, it's okay. I'm going to call Dad." She eased her mother back into the chair.

"Yes, get John," she smiled.

"John? Who's John?"

"John, my husband…the only man I ever loved." Lauren looked concerned, not sure what to do.

"You're not married to anyone called John, Mum."

"Yes I am, I am."

"Mum, do you know where you are?"

"I'm at home!" she exclaimed, confused at the question. "Why wouldn't I know?"

"Do you know what your name is?"

"Yes, of course, I'm Abby!" Lauren smiled with relief. "Abby Carter."

"No Mum. Who's Abby Carter?"

"Me. I'm Abby Carter."

"No, you're Abby Simmons. Do you…"

"Mummy," four-year-old Samantha cried, running into the room. "James hit me!"

"Okay Sammy, I'll come and sort you out in a minute. I just have to help Grandma, okay? She's not feeling very well." Samantha nodded, and ran out of the room. "Do you know who that was, Mum?" Lauren asked, turning back to her mother.

"Yes, that was Holly. John always gets the ribbons wrong. They always clash with her jumper! I always have to change them." She grinned.

"Who's Holly?" Lauren could feel tears welling up in her eyes. This wasn't her mother; there was something wrong.

"Holly's my daughter."

"No, Mum, you only have one daughter. Me. My name's Lauren, not Holly." Abby shook her head, becoming distressed.

"What have you done with Holly? Is she okay?"

"That wasn't Holly, that was your granddaughter Samantha. You remember her?" Once again Abby shook her head. "Do you know how old you are?"

"Yes, I'm thirty eight. My name's Abby Carter, I'm thirty eight, I'm a nurse at County General in Chicago. I'm married to John Carter, and we have a daughter called Holly."

"No Mum, you're seventy six." Lauren was crying freely now. "Please, please be okay."

"I'm fine!" Abby laughed. She stared at the woman crouching down by her chair. Should she know her? "Who are you? Why are you in my house? Are you a babysitter for Holly?"

"No! I'm your daughter!"

"No you're not dear. I'm sure you're a lovely woman, but you're not my daughter. Holly's my daughter. She'll be home soon, you can meet her if you like." Abby stopped, thinking. Something wasn't quite right. "There's something wrong…something happened…"

"Yes Mum," Lauren said, allowing herself to smile. "You've been daydreaming. Everything's going to be fine now though."

"No, it's…Holly." Lauren sighed sadly. "She…she was shot. He shot her. And John too." She looked up into Lauren's eyes. "Are they dead?"

"Oh Mum…"

"No, they're not dead," Abby said confidently. "I'm going to go to sleep – wake me up when John and Holly get home."

"Mum…" Abby shut her eyes, not wanting to talk to this woman anymore. "Mum, please!" She could still hear the voice, this wasn't right. She wasn't her daughter! "Mum, wake up." Abby shook her head violently. "Mum! Can you hear me?" She could feel herself being shaken, and then she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She wanted to cry out for help, but then she'd have to talk to the woman. "MUM!" She heard the voice yelling, and then Abby realised that she couldn't feel the pain in her chest or the shaking anymore. She smiled to herself. "Mummy, wake up." She pain and shaking may have been relieved, but the persisting voice hadn't stopped. "Mummy, come on." The shaking began once more, and the person that the voice belonged to laughed, a happy child's laugh. Abby gave up resisting the voice, and opened her eyes. A little girl sat in front of her, wearing a pink sweatshirt and blue hair ribbons. "You were all sleepy Mummy!" she laughed, pulling Abby out of the chair.

"Holly," Abby murmured, grinning. "They told me you were shot…"

"That's silly Mummy!" Holly laughed, taking her through to the next room. "Daddy made you coffee." Abby smiled, stepping forwards and taking a cup from her husband. She kissed him gently on the cheek as she took it.

"Thank you John." He grinned, taking her hand in his and holding it tight.

"Did I do the ribbons right?" She smiled, nodding.

"Yeah, everything's perfect."

***The End***

That's it, I'm not writing any more. I hope this wasn't too dreadfully depressing - if it was, I prescribe some fuzz. :) Please let me know what you think.

23/11/03 – Edited today because I've noticed from reviews (over a long time, I just never got round to editing before this!) that there's a little bit of confusion over the end. So, I just thought I'd explain what my thought was. Sorry if it wasn't too clear. :( When I wrote this, my thought was that Abby had died at the end, and that's why she was with John and Holly. If you find that too depressing and want to think she woke up and it was all a dream then that's fine by me, but that's not how I intended it! I just wanted to let people know, since I've noticed through comments that it may not have been entirely obvious. Thanks! Jo xx