Chapter 7
It was Doctor Chen who stopped her. "What's wrong, Lara?" she asked, noticing how pale the girl looked.
Lara, suddenly realizing that Dr. Carter wasn't the only doctor in the hospital, said, "There's a woman who passed out in the parking lot!"
Chen nodded. Much calmer than Lara, she summoned Macy and told her to get a gurney. The three raced out to the parking lot to the spot where Abby was passed out.
"Okay, let's get her on a gurney. How did you find her?"
"I um, I...oh gosh, is she going to be alright?" Lara stammered hysterically.
Chen and Macy exchanged a glance. "Lara, maybe you should go and sit down," Chen suggested gently.
Lara nodded and ran off. "Somebody does not need to be a doctor," Macy observed.
Macy was wheeling the gurney through the doors when Carter walked up and said, "What do we have?"
Chen was about to answer him when she noticed the look on his face. He looked like he had just seen a ghost, so Chen asked him, "Are you okay, John?"
Eyes wide, Carter whispered, "Abby?"
Chen did a double take. The woman on the stretcher did look vaguely familiar... "Oh my gosh, it is Abby!" Chen said loudly, which of course made Chuny, Haleh, and Susan (who were standing around doing nothing) flock to the gurney.
"What's Abby doing here?" Susan asked, staring at the pale, gaunt woman on the gurney. Obviously, Abby had not been living the high life.
"Who's Abby?" Macy asked. Chuny gave her a significant look, and she said, "Oh," remembering the conversation they had had a few days ago.
"Wow, she looks terrible," Chuny observed.
Meanwhile, Carter was still staring at her in shock. Was it really Abby? It seemed so phenomenal, that he was thinking about her, and now, here she was. He wondered if it was some kind of sign.
He wondered what she was doing at County. Was she coming to see him? The thought made his heart race with hope. Why else would she be here? He prayed that she was here because after all these years, she had forgiven him.
All Abby's former coworkers seemed to be in a trance, so finally Macy said, "Um, guys? Don't you think we should take her into a treatment room?"
That broke the trance. Susan, Haleh, and Chuny all went back to the admit desk, and Chen, Carter and Macy took Abby into Exam 1. All were wondering the same thing: What was Abby doing here?
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Jill and Riley stood in the parking lot, holding hands. When all the people had come out of the big building, they had hidden behind the car. Now the people were gone, and they had taken Mommy with them.
"We could go inside and find Mommy," Riley suggested. Jill nodded her head, and they walked into the building.
Immediately recognizing her surroundings, Jill said, "It's a hospital!"
"But where's Mommy?"
Jill thought for a moment, then said, "We can go to the playroom. Maybe Mommy will be there." She marched over to a man looking at a piece of paper and tugged on his white coat. "Excuse me, where is the playroom?" Jill asked politely. Abby would have been proud.
Carter looked down at the cute toddler who was tugging on his lab coat. "Where's your Mommy?" he asked.
"In the playroom," Jill said, sure that Mommy would be waiting for them there.
"I'll show you where it is. My name is Doctor Carter."
"I'm Jill and this is my brother Riley," Jill said, putting her hand on her brother's shoulder.
"What are you guys doing at the hospital?" Carter asked.
"We came here to see Mommy's friend. She's a princess," Jill confided. "She lives in a big castle."
Carter raised his eyebrows. "Wow. A princess right here in Chicago?" Jill nodded emphatically.
"She has lots of money and she gonna give us some cause Mommy lost her job," Jill told him.
"That's very nice of her," Carter said, wondering what they were really doing here. And who would leave their children in an ER waiting room alone? He would make sure their mother was really there before he left them in the playroom.
They passed a waiting room on the second floor. Jill stopped in front of the sign and stared at it. Finally, she said, "W-A-I-T-I-N-G R-O-O-M. What's that spell?"
Carter was pretty impressed. "Waiting Room. You can spell really well," he commented.
"She can spell our name too!" Riley said proudly, finally joining the conversation. Carter looked at her expectantly.
"W-Y-C-Z-E-N-S-K-I. That spells Wyczenski," Jill told him.
"You're name's Wyczenski?" Carter asked, his heart quickening. Jill nodded.
He hadn't heard that name in so many years, but he still remembered it. It was Abby's maiden name. Maybe she was using it now. Were these Abby's kids? That would explain them being alone in the hospital. It seemed unlikely that there would be two women named Wyczenski in the ER on the same day. But ABBY- with kids?
Another thought occurred to him, and it stopped him dead in his tracks. How old were these kids anyway? They looked about three, which would mean Abby didn't waste any time after leaving him to start sleeping with someone else. Carter was hurt, but what could he expect? He had done it first.
"How old are you?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
Jill held up three fingers. "We're twins, but I'm older than Riley by twenty minutes," she told him.
"Oh, really? When's your birthday?"
"April 24."
Carter stopped walking. Jill said, "What's wrong?" but he didn't hear her.
Abby had left him October 19, four years ago. Which would mean that Jill and Riley were born six months after she left.
Which meant that Abby was three months pregnant when she left him.
Were these HIS kids? Carter was looking at them in a different light now. Riley had dark, curly hair like him, and Jill's eyes were shaped like his. Fortunately, neither of them had inherited his nose.
Carter suddenly realized that he was blowing this whole thing out of proportion. He didn't even know that these were Abby's kids; maybe it was just a huge coincidence. But he had to find out. Obviously, another woman waiting for them in the playroom would prove his theory false.
He realized Jill had asked him what was wrong. "Oh, nothing, I just remembered something," he said.
Jill started to chatter about her favorite doll, and Carter studied her face.
She looked like Abby. She even made the same facial expressions as Abby. Carter had a feeling that these were Abby's children.
But why was she bringing them here? Carter's heart thudded with hope. Maybe she wanted to make a fresh start. Why else would she bring her kids to his place of employment?
There was one way to confirm that they were Abby's kids. "Where do you guys live?" he asked.
"Nowhere. We were coming here to live with Uncle Eric."
Uncle Eric?! As in, Eric, Abby's brother? "What city did you live in before you came here?"
"Atlanta. That's in Georgia," Jill informed him.
It was confirmed now. How likely was it that two women named Wyczenski from Atlanta with a brother named Eric were admitted to the hospital on the same day? Carter realized they must be Abby's kids.
But that didn't mean these were his kids. What if she had cheated on him first? He hadn't even considered that. She could have been sleeping with some other guy, and these were his kids.
But he knew she wouldn't do that. Unlike him, Abby was honorable. She wouldn't have cheated on him. Which meant...
His thoughts were interrupted by his arrival at the playroom. Except for two boys sitting on the floor fighting over a truck, it was empty.
"Mommy?" Riley called out, his voice trembling.
"She's not here," Jill said disappointedly.
"I think I know where she is," Carter said, and led them towards Abby's room.
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Abby's eyes felt like they were pasted together. Using all her eyelid muscles, she slowly peeled her eyes open to view her surroundings.
She was lying in a bed. A hospital bed. There was an IV hanging over her head, and she wanted to get up and see what was in it, but she didn't have the strength.
She suddenly realized that she was not alone in her room. Very not alone. Susan, Chen, Chuny, and Haleh were standing next to her bed, talking. Chuny noticed that she was awake, and nudged the others. They all looked at her, waiting for her to say something.
"Well, I guess you guys still don't have any work to do around here." She was mortified by how gruff her voice sounded. Had they given her a voice box transplant while she was unconscious?
Chuny smiled and gave her a (gentle) hug. "It's so good to see you again, Abby. It was like you just dropped off the face of the earth."
Abby smiled and feebly attempted to hug Chuny back. Suddenly she remembered something. "Where's my kids?"
All four jaws dropped. Chuny and Haleh exchanged a wide-eyed look.
Susan was the first to recover. Stammering slightly, she said, "You have kids?"
Abby nodded vigorously. "They were with me when I got here. Where are they?" she asked, looking around the room as if they were hidden in a corner somewhere.
Haleh gave Chuny a knowing look. "It's that stupid girl, Lara. She's the one that found you. Let me tell you, she's never gonna make it as a doctor."
Chuny nodded in agreement. "I know! We had a patient with a rib fracture, and she said-"
"Anyway, back to my kids," Abby said, annoyed. Then, realizing how rude she sounded, she added, "I'm sorry; I shouldn't be snapping at you guys. But does anyone know where they are?"
On cue, Carter walked through the door, Jill and Riley in tow. "Mommy!" Riley yelled, flinging himself on his mother.
"Are you okay, Mommy?" Jill asked, seeing the hospital bed and IV.
"I'm fine, honey," Abby said to Jill, but she was looking at Carter.
He hadn't changed a bit in four years. Still good looking, still the same smile that she used to love. He was wearing it now. Abby was reminded of the purpose of her visit, and she felt like melting into her pillow with embarrassment. How was she supposed to beg him for money now? Surely her pride would not survive.
Her friends could sense the tension between the two of them. "Hey, you guys, want to go and get some ice cream from the cafeteria?" Chen asked.
Jill and Riley looked eagerly at their mother. She nodded her head, and they leapt off the bed and went to stand by Chen.
"We're ALL going to get some ice cream, aren't we girls?" Chen said, staring daggers at her coworkers. Reluctantly, they followed her out of the room, and Carter and Abby were left alone.