Title - Every Day Dawns

Author - Katriona

E-mail - JNButler19@aol.com

Rating - PG-13 just in case, but not sure

Summary - Abby and Carter are together, but something major will happen.

Authors note - AU fic. It's the first fanfic I've had the courage to let others read. Please R and R, I need all the help I can get!

Disclaimer - I don't own anything, etc

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Miracles

Carter's POV

I rub my eyes, and open them, and I am in hospital again, and Abby is lying in front of me, and Kerry is standing beside me with her hand on my shoulder.

'John.' I look at her. 'You've been asleep.' I look back at Abby, lying there so peaceful and realise that, although the funeral was all a dream, this is still a reality, and my heart sinks.

'How long? How long have I been asleep?' She looks at her watch. 'Almost five hours.' My mind can't quite take it in, and I look at Abby again. 'Five hours? But Elizabeth said.' I trail off as I am filled with dread. Abby must have died, and I was asleep, but Kerry starts talking.

'John, Abby has been breathing on her own for five hours, and she is showing significant signs of improvement. We need your permission for Elizabeth to take her up to surgery and see if she can repair some more of the damage.' I look at Abby again in shock.

'You mean, she's still alive.' Kerry nods her head. 'Yes. It's a miracle.' I take the consent form from her and sign it quickly, and watch as Abby is wheeled away. I had been unaware of other people in the room, but I see Elizabeth leave, and Susan and Luka are standing in the corner. Susan moves over to me, and starts pushing the wheelchair out of the room, following them towards the elevators.

'Come on. You need your rest.' I can hardly think as I look down the hall and see all the people standing round the admit desk, smiles spread across their exhausted faces. The ride back up to surgery recovery is blurry, and I can't quite focus on anything as Susan talks constantly to me. She wheels me into the room and helps me into bed, but I hardly realise she has done so until she is tucking me in.

'Am I dreaming?' I speak for almost the first time since Kerry told me, and Susan shakes her head.

'No, you're not.' I can't believe it, and suddenly I feel my eyes getting moist and I look down at the sheets, but Susan reaches out and lifts my chin again.

'It's ok to cry Carter. God, after what you've been through, I'm amazed you have held out this long.' I look her in the eyes.

'I really thought I had lost her you know.' She sighs, and glances out of the window.

'She's got a long way to go Carter. She still might not make it.' I sigh as well, one minute I could dance on the clouds, the next I am brought to earth with a bump.

'I know. But she has got past the first hurdle, the big one. It's all downhill from here.' I am trying not to cry, but the tears run down my cheeks, and Susan stands up from the bed, moving over to the window as I surreptitiously wipe the tears from my eyes. Susan turns back towards me, and leans against the wall.

'I just don't want you to get your hopes up too much. She suffered absolutely horrific injuries. There could be severe brain damage, septicaemia could set it, anything could happen.' I nod.

'I'm a doctor. I know the risks. But if this has taught me anything, it's live for today. And at the moment, she is alive, when an hour ago I thought she was dead.' Susan looked at me strangely.

'An hour ago you were asleep.' I chuckle slightly, but then stop as the horrors of the dreams set in.

'I dreamt that Abby had died. It was the day of the funeral. You helped me get ready, and then it was the funeral and I had to say goodbye and.' The tears start again, a flood, and she sits back down on the bed and fishes out a tissue from her pocket. I take it and wipe the tears away, but they don't stop, and she takes hold of me and rocks gently as I cry. For a minute, there is nothing but pain and worry, and all the tension and stress I have been holding inside pours out.

'I though she was dead. I really thought I was going to have to spend the rest of my life without her and she was lying there and she looked so small, so weak, and I didn't want to say goodbye.'

'I know. Shh, come one. I know.' She talks to me like I was a small child, and slowly I begin to control my breathing and pull away from her.

'You weren't the only one suffering you know. I thought I was going to lose my best friend. Everyone was really upset about it. None of us wanted to say goodbye.'

'I know.' Wiping the tears away, I suddenly feel exhausted, and flop back onto the pillows.

'Careful Carter. You only had surgery a few hours ago.'

'Yeah. Doesn't feel like it though.' It doesn't. It feels like a million years ago that I was saying goodbye to her, and now she is alive again, and nothing else matters.

Susan pulls the blinds across, and I struggle to keep my eyes open.

'Get some sleep Carter.' Her voice sounds far away, but I open my eyes again, and look at the clock.

'Not until Abby gets out of surgery.' She shakes her head at me.

'She'll be hours Carter. You'll be better off if you sleep now, and then you can sit with her in recovery. I promise I will come and wake you when she is out ok?' I make a vague, grunting noise. I want to reply, but my eyes are shut and I can feel myself floating away.

::

There is someone shaking my shoulder, and although I try to ignore, I can't and slowly open my eyes. There is Susan, leaning over me, and looking worse than I feel as she tries to wake me up.

'Carter. Wake up. Now.' I try to sit up and pain sears through my body as I slowly remember what has happened and, looking down as my chest, I can see the dressings, and the cuts and bruises.

'Is Abby out of surgery yet?' I still haven't focused yet but I can see just enough to make out Susan nodding.

'Can I see her?'

'In a minute.' There is something in her voice, and suddenly nothing is fuzzy any more, everything is so clear and sharp it hurts.

'What's wrong?' Susan sits down beside me.

'Nothing's wrong. It's just...Well, they had to put Abby back on the ventilator.'

'Why?'

'It's just a precaution, her sats were a little low, and they didn't want to do anything to risk the baby. They have said she should be off in a couple of hours.' I hardly hear the last part; my mind is still focused on the words before, more specifically the word baby. Then, I remembered Kerry saying something about Abby being pregnant, and the baby still being alive but I had forgotten all about it, I was so focused on the grief. But now there isn't grief any more, there is a future and there is hope. I feel like dancing round the hospital singing the news, but decide that maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea, and settle for going to see Abby. Susan loads me up into the wheelchair and I am like an excited child as she pushes me through two sets of doors.

And there she is. She looks beautiful, wonderful. I ignore the ventilator and instead focus on the baby monitor strapped round her tummy. I can hear two sets of heartbeats, the fast of the baby's and the slower of hers, but they are both there, they are both alive and I move closer.

Touching her hand, I run my index finger over the white gold wedding ring on her left hand, and then stroke her arm gently, the pads of my fingers negotiating the bruising and scratches she is covered in. I touch her cheek gently, and her eyelashes flicker. Taking her hand, I whisper,

'I love you. I love you so much. You have no idea how scared I was. I thought I had lost you. And now you're back, and there are two of you.' I touch the sheet where her tummy is, and for a second, I think she squeezes my hand, but there is no more movement and I realise I have an overactive imagination. It doesn't matter though. She is here, and she isn't going to die, and maybe I will get that dream, with the white picket fence. But all that is in the future, and I bend and kiss her hand slightly. Our future.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- You didn't really believe I would kill off Abby did you? Sorry if this doesn't make sense or is a bit rushed, I am a bit tired and stressed at the moment but I didn't think I should make all you people who have been reviewing wait any more. Please continue to R&R though. Thanks.