Chapter 6

            "We're here!" Abby announced. The twins cheered, then started squirming around, eager to get out of their car seats. Abby was eager herself. She couldn't wait to see Eric!

            Once they were out of the car, Abby held their hands as they walked into the lobby of the apartment building. "I'm here to see Eric Wyczenski, apartment 7D?" Abby said, her heart pounding with excitement.

            "Name?" the man asked.

            "Abby Wyczenski," she told him.

            The man rifled around in the desk, then came up with an envelope. "He left this for you," he said handing it to her.

            Abby opened the envelope and took out the piece of paper. It said,

Dear Abby,

I had to go. I'm very sorry, but you won't be able to stay with me.

Let's just say there are some people who want a chunk of my money.

I'll try to contact you once I get someplace safe.

I hope you and the twins are doing okay.

Eric

            Abby's face paled, and she gulped back tears. This couldn't be real. How could Eric do this to her?

            What am I going to do? Abby thought. I have no money, almost no gas, and no place to stay.

            "Did he leave a key?" Abby asked hopefully.

            The man shook his head. "Nope, no key." He leaned forward and whispered confidentially, "He didn't pay his rent. The landlord's really pissed."

            Abby lowered her head in defeat. So this was it. She was out of options. She would have to call Carter.

            She didn't want to (God, she didn't want to), but what else could she do? They had absolutely no food or money, and less that an eighth of a tank of gas. Sighing, she realized that Carter was her only option.

            But how could she go to him? What was she supposed to say, "I still hate you for cheating on me, but here are your children?" She didn't want to say anything to him, expect maybe, "Go to hell."

            But her kids had to eat. Despondently, she headed for the car, twins in tow. Was she going to tell them that he was their father? How was she going to explain his absence? She wished she didn't have to go to him.

            "Where we going, Mommy?" Riley asked.

            "We're going to see a friend of Mommy's," she told him. Putting the twins back in their seats, she headed for the Carter mansion.

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            It was empty. It looked like Carter was still living here, but no one was home. Sighing, she walked back to the car. What was she going to do now?

            She considered going to County, but realized that she didn't even know if he still worked there. And what if he had a new girlfriend? He probably did. Abby shivered at the thought. She didn't want some other woman cozying up to her kids.

            "That looks like a princess house," Jill observed once Abby was back in the car. "Does a princess live there?"

            "Not exactly, honey."

            Abby decided to go to County. She didn't know where else to look. Hopefully no one would recognize her. If she didn't see Carter, she would leave. And go where, she had no idea.

            That settled, Abby headed for County General.

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            "I wanna get out, Mommy," Jill said when they arrived at County General.

            Abby thought for a moment, then said, "Okay." Having her kids with her would probably make her even harder to recognize to the people she once worked with.

            As she unbuckled the twins from their car seats, she wondered who still worked at County. Was Susan still there? Chen? Did Frank and Jerry still work the desk?

            Due to her excitement, Abby got out of the car a little faster than she intended. Standing up, she saw black spots, and was thinking, I better sit down, when she passed out.

            "Mommy?" Riley called from the backseat.

            Jill got out of the car and walked over to her mother. "Mommy?" she called, looking at Abby. Mommy did not respond.

            "Mommy's hurt!" Jill exclaimed. "Help!" she yelled, running towards the woman who had just come out of the building.

            "Help!" yelled Riley, running after his sister.

            "Mommy's hurt!" Jill said to the woman, tugging on her hand.

            "Um, what's wrong?" Lara asked nervously.

            "Mommy's hurt! She fell down," Jill explained. She led Lara over to her mother.

            "Oh, my," Lara said, seeing the woman passed out in the parking lot. With her whole body shaking, she ran towards the doors of the ER, yelling, "Doctor Carter! Doctor Carter!"