DISCLAIMER: I do not own ER nor any of its characters. I am making no profit.

Chapter Four: Hawke and Helping

The plane skidded to a halt as Abby looked out the window at the foreign surroundings of Africa. She hadn't known what to expect, but it wasn't this. There were people everywhere. The airport was loud, hot and crowded. She scanned her surroundings for a familiar face, or some sort of guidance. Finally she saw a man holding a sign, "Dr. Abby Lockhart."

"Abby?" The man asked.

"Yes." She replied with a sigh of relief.

"Ethan Hunt." He said as he extended his hand and took her bag.

"Thanks. Abby Lockhart…But I guess you already knew that." She said with an embarrassed smile. He was cute. Five ten, maybe eleven, a subtle tan with deep brown hair that had grown out from its style. He wore a long sleeve white shirt, sleeves rolled up, with stained kakis and New Balance tennis shoes. Abby smiled as she realized he was watching her look at him.

"So you're here for Jonah." He stated, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I guess so." She replied as they moved towards his jeep outside the airport.

After exiting the city the country was beautiful. The awe of the plains, and then the jungle. A drastic change from the Chicago skyline.

"You know why I'm here, what are you doing here?" She asked after finishing practically her life story.

"Photographs." He simply answered.

"Photographs." She restated.

"I was hired to come out here and record what was going on." He said with a smile as he gave her a look she couldn't quite describe.

"What?" Abby replied to his smile.

"Nothing." He defensively stated.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why do they want you to take pictures?'

"Mostly for an awareness ad they want to release, and partly just to do it."

"I see."

"This place is forgotten. I mean sure we think about it when they televise some big fundraiser, or when Oprah comes to visit. But everyday these people are suffering, they're dying, and we have the ability to stop and help them."

"Seems like this is more than just a job."

"This place has that effect. You'll see."

"I'm sure I will" She said with a warm smile. "How much longer?" Abby asked.

"About two hours." He said returning her smile.

Abby just continued smiled and looked out the window. She couldn't help but feel that this trip was somehow just what she had needed. Sure the problems with Greg weren't positive, but she knew that eventually they would have come to the surface. Jonah would get the help he needed, and perhaps she just needed a change of scenery.

……….

"Abigail Lockhart!" A familiar voice shouted as she exited the jeep.

"John." She replied as she turned around to greet him as he walked towards her.

"How was the flight?"

"Long."

"How was the drive?"

"Long…" She replied "But good." She said with a look Carter understood.

"I see. Well, let me show you around."

"Absolutely." She replied as Carter led her to the clinic.

"This is the clinic." He stated with his arms open. "Over there is where you'll be staying, and everything else…You can learn as we go."

"Okay, so where's this Jonah I keep hearing so much about?" Abby asked.

"He's right in here." Carter said as he led her into the clinic.

There were patients everywhere, on cots, on the floor, in a few chairs. This put the ER's busiest day to shame. Carter led her to a cot in the back room. Laying on it was an undersized nine year old boy.

"Jonah." Carter quietly stated as he sat down on the side of the cot.

The little boy opened his eyes and smiled at the kind and familiar face.

"There's someone here I want you to meet, Abby." He said as he waved her over.

"High Jonah, I'm Abby. I'm Dr. John's friend." The little boy smiled.

"Abby is going to go with you to America." Carter added.

"That's right." Abby stated as she placed her hand on his.

The boy smiled and said "Thank you." It was enough to bring tears to her eyes. Click. Abby looked up to see Ethan with his camera. Unsuspectingly she was glad he had caught the moment. He smiled and put down his camera.

"Jonah, Abby and I will be back in a little bit, okay?"

"Okay." He replied, and with better English than Abby was expecting.

……….

Abby was sitting in a chair staring into the jungle that surrounded them. "So when do you leave?"

Ethan asked as he pulled up a chair.

"Two days. Jonah's mother had to go back to her village, she'll be back tomorrow, we leave the next morning."

"One day huh?"

"I guess so."

"We better make it count."

"How do you plan to do that?" She sarcastically asked.

"We're going to a local village tomorrow morning. Just for the day, you should come."

Abby stared into the jungle. "They could use you." He said in a serious tone.

"I know." Abby replied. The few images of this reality she had already seen were enough. All of the people in the clinic, few supplies, most outdated. She knew John's money kept most of it going. Her only thought was how could we be letting this happen. How could we ignore this.

"Abby?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah." She replied bringing her attention to back to Ethan. "How many people have made comments on how close your name is to Ethan Hawke?"

"That's what you were thinking about?" He replied jokingly.

"What if it was, Hawke?"

"Like I haven't heard that one before. Can't you be a little more original?" He replied as he lightly threw a dirt rock and hit her in the leg.

……….

The jeep plowed through the small trail at about ten miles an hour. Carter drove, Abby volunteered shotgun to Ethan. She sat in the back with the supplies.

"A couple of weeks ago there was some activity near here." Carter stated.

"What kind of activity John?" Abby asked.

"Over in the states we would probably call them a terrorist cell."

"I see." Abby replied.

"That's why Kem took Kristin back to France, until things cool down a bit."

"That's why you guys are so short."

"Yeah." Carter replied.

"How dangerous is this?" She asked.

"They usually leave us alone, and let us help the people."

"Ok."

"Hey don't worry, if I can make it anyone can." Ethan added.

"Thanks Hawke." Abby replied with a smile.

"Hawke?" Carter asked.

"The actor." Ethan explained.

"I see."

"I think it fits him." Abby added.

"It kind of does." Carter stated.

"Great." Ethan said.

……….

Somehow when they said village this wasn't what she had picture. Four small huts in a small clearing. As the noise from the jeep filtered through the jungle more than thirty people emerged from the huts and surrounding woods. Abby couldn't help but be overwhelmed.

"There one of the last villages remaining. Most of the people have gone to the refugee camps."

Abby didn't reply. Ethan removed his lens cap and placed extra film into his pockets.

"Are you ready?" Carter asked. Abby nodded.

As Carter exited the jeep he began to speak. "I need every one to step this way and sit down. We'll get to everyone we can. Please line up and sit down." To Abby's amazement that is what they did. Those who spoke English quickly told those who didn't what Carter had said. Once they began to work Abby became oblivious to Ethan, the heat, and the passing time. By the fifth person Abby came to she had a groove working.

"What's your name?" Abby asked a young girl.

"She doesn't speak English." The woman beside her explained.

"Can you translate?" Abby asked.

"Yes." The woman replied.

A rustling from the jungle got the attention of the small girl she was tending to. Abby turned around just in time to see five large men emerge from the jungle and fire their weapons into the air and then at the people. Before she knew it she was lying on the ground with Carter shielding her as the men spoke. She couldn't understand them, but the people's reactions were enough to tell her that this wasn't going well. The men yelled again, one man stood up and placed his hands in the air. A woman began to sob as the one man with a gun grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him to the ground. He raised his gun to the air and yelled at the people again. The children were crying and covering their eyes. Abby could see the man who had been thrown down, she could see the feet of the man with the gun.

A loud noise echoed through the jungle as every person in the village flinched. Silence encompassed them all after the loud shot rang through. Them man spoke again and then all of them disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. Carter ran to the man, he then motioned to Ethan who quickly helped Carter move the body.

Abby quickly moved into the crowd of people to see if any one else was shot. By the end of the day three people had died.

"Abby." Carter said seriously.

"John? What?"

"Is your knee bleeding?" He asked as he looked down at her torn pants.

Fear shot through her body as she looked down. She went to one knee and slowly opened the slit in her pants. "It looks like just an bruise. Possibly a minor abrasion, no blood."

"You'll go on the cocktail when we get back."

She went to argue, but before she started she conceded. "My arm on the other hand hurts like hell."

Carter sighed with a light a chuckle as they moved towards the jeep to pack up.

……….

The ride back to the clinic was uneasy, and filled with tension and sorrow. Finally Ethan broke the silence. "That's why we need to show what's going on."

No one answered. "I got some shots. I'm not sure what of. I tried to keep shooting as long as I could. It's not right."

"I thought they left us alone." Abby said.

"They did." Carter replied. "That had nothing to do with us. They said the man had made some sort of a deal. We just happened to be there."

Abby sat in her seat, and looked out the window. How could this be their reality, how could they be ignored? This injustice is going on and most don't even bat an eye, she thought. There was no reasonable answer she could conceive to answer these questions.

"How is your arm?" Carter asked Abby.

"Just bruised."

Carter smiled back at Abby through the mirror. "So, tell me about Chicago? How is everyone?"

"They're good. Susan and Chuck are good, Susie is with them now. Ella is so big, Elizabeth is seeing this guy named Allen. They met at Ella's school. Kerry is…well. The hospital is as crazy and understaffed as ever."

"Sounds like things are good."

"They are." She replied. She hoped he wouldn't mention Greg, would he? Surely not? She didn't want to divulge he relationship woes, especially in front of Ethan. She looked up to smile at John, it was good to see him.

……….

Back at the clinic Carter and Abby sat and had soda together.

"Now that we're alone how are you?" He asked.

"Good. I think it's over with Greg."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. We're just too different. He wants what I can't give him."

"This trip didn't have anything to do with it, did it?"

"I'd say it was a catalyst. How are things with the family?"

"Good. Kristin is so big. I wish you could have seen her. Kem says hello."

"She's working from Paris."

"Yeah. I'll fly there at the end of the month."

"Good." Abby said warmly.

"So you and Ethan then?" He asked with a smirk.

"No." Abby denied.

"Come one. I've seen you, you flirt." He joked.

"Yeah yeah, technically I'm still with Greg."

"Technically."

"About the trip home…"

……….

Jonah, his mother, and Abby got settled in their seats on the plane. Abby flexed her shoulder and felt the stiffness move throughout it. Jonah was stable, and calm. His mother on the other hand was nervous. Abby tried to calm her, and prepare her for the plane ride.

They had been in the air for hours, Jonah and his mother were asleep. Every time Abby shut her eyes the picture of the man's body going limp flashed through it. Then the lines of people waiting for medical attention and food came back to her. The sick and dying lying on cots, crammed in a room. The men with guns, screaming, the fear in the people's eyes. The desperation, the pain, the neglect. How could we neglect them?

Ethan was right, Africa did have an effect. It had changed her completely. How could she go back? She had only been gone five days total. How could that have changed her? The simple fact was she had seen enough, she had seen enough to feel the pain, to feel the burden, to be motivated. Something would have to change, otherwise she wasn't sure if she could live with herself.

She looked over at Jonah. Helping this one boy seemed almost insignificant, and yet so monumental at the same time. Saving his life was everything and nothing at the same time. Abby tried to readjust herself and get comfortable. Resting her head on the back of the seat she shut her eyes.

Author's Note: Sorry again for the delay. Being that I have never been to Africa, nor am I knowledgeable about Africa the descriptions of the land, people, and situations are kept to a minimum. More Life and Death, romance, and plot twists to come.