Disclaimer: You know the drill. They're not mine, except the characters I make up!

Thanks for the reviews!

This chapter is from Carter's POV.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a slow night in the ER. I was pretty bored actually. Until two teenagers were wheeled in on gurneys.

"What happened?" I asked the EMT.

"Car crash, someone ran a red light, slammed into the passenger side." I looked down at the girl, and my heart sank. It was Christina. I knew Abby had gone home. I had to tell her. Susan was standing at the admit desk.

"Susan!" I choked out. "Susan..it's Christina." As soon as I told her, she was at my side.

"Go call Abby." She wheeled the girl into a trauma room.

I dialed the number and the phone rang a few times before Abby finally picked up.

"Hello?" She sounded like she had just woken up.

"Abby.." I had trouble forming the words. I didn't know how to tell her.

"Carter, what's wrong?"

"It's Christina."

"I'll be right there." She hung up the phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was waiting for Abby to show up. There were so many doctors in the two trauma rooms, and Susan wouldn't let me either of them. She told me to wait for Abby. After waiting for almost ten minutes, Abby came bursting through the emergency room doors.

"Where is she?"

"She's in trauma one"

"Is she okay?"

"I don't know, they won't tell me anything."

"Damn it Carter! Go find out!"

"Okay, okay...just take a seat." She gave me a look that said 'bite me' as I walked down the hall.

"John wait!" I turned back around and looked at her. She had tears falling down her face. "John..she's yours." She was telling me something, that in my heart, I already knew. I knew that night we went out to dinner that she was mine. I'd just been waiting for Abby to tell me.

"I know." I smiled at her and walked down the hallway to the trauma room.

"John, I told you to wait outside." Susan snapped at me.

"Susan, I want to know what's wrong with my daughter." There's a sentence I never thought I would say. Susan looked up at me. She was shocked to say the least.

"Abby told you?" I nodded. Susan took a deep breath before she began to talk. "She has a ruptured spleen, a broken hip, a broken leg, and some broken ribs. We have to take her up to the OR." I nodded and left the room as they took Christina upstairs.

I went back to where Abby was waiting.

"Is she okay?" She was searching my eyes for an answer.

"They're taking her up to the OR, she has a ruptured spleen and some broken bones."

"Can I see her?"

"I think you should probably wait, they're on their way up to the OR now." She nodded and sat down. I sat down next to her. She was staring straight ahead, and I noticed how beautiful she still was. She hadn't changed much. Her hair was darker than I remember it. That was about it though. She hadn't aged a bit. I wanted to reach out and touch her. Somehow I refrained.

"Was she in a cab?" She asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

"No, she came in with a boy, his name was Mark Jones."

"Is he okay?" She glanced over at me.

"His injuries aren't as bad as Christina's. He has some broken bones. The car crashed into the passenger side."

"Did someone call his parents?"

"Yeah, they're on their way." We sat in silence for a few moments.

"John..I'm sorry about the way I told you Christina was yours."

"It's okay Ab, I figured it out a few weeks ago anyways."

"When?"

"That night we went out to dinner."

"She figured it out then too."

"She knows about me?" Abby nodded slowly.

" I expected to tell you over dinner or something, not in this hospital. I wanted it to be a special moment."

"I'm just happy to know she's mine." I smiled at her and silence fell among us again.

"I better go call my mom, I'll be right back." I nodded as she walked over to the payphone.

Since when was Abby close to her mother? I had missed out on so much the past sixteen years. I remember when we would talk about her, and she wouldn't even call her mom. She always called her Maggie.

Things had definitely changed over the years, but sometimes change is good. After all, I did get a beautiful daughter, out of all of this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Christina was finished in the OR, she was taken into a recovery room. She was still unconscious, so Abby and I just sat with her in silence, holding her hands. Christina's face was bruised and swollen. Her leg was in a cast. Before, she always looked so strong and independent. Maybe it came from being Abby's daughter. Now, she looked so weak and helpless. It made my heart ache.

"Jason?" I heard Christina choke out. Her eyes slowly opened, and she looked over at her mother.

"Oh baby, Jason's on his way with grandma, grandpa, and Alessandra."

"Who?" I whispered.

"Jason's her boyfriend, and Alessandra is her best friend." I nodded. Christina slowly turned her head a looked at me. She squeezed my hand.

"Hey Carter." Her voice was so quiet. It was barely a whisper.

"How about you call me dad instead." Her face lit up, and I knew I was grinning like a fool too.

"Dad." She smiled up at me.

Susan walked into the room for what seemed like the tenth time tonight. She noticed Christina was awake and walked over to the bed.

"Hey, how's my girl?"

"Never been better." She answered sarcastically.

"Do you need anything?"

"No." Christina looked up and Abby and me. "I've got everything I need right here." Susan smiled at us and left the room, to give us some time alone before Abby's family got here.

"Is Mark okay?"

"Yeah, he had some broken bones, but he's home now." I answered her.

"Who is he?" Abby asked.

"Just a friend from school. We were playing basketball, and he offered to drive me home. Well, he said he'd give me a ride home if I went to the movies with him."

"You mean like a date?" For some reason, I didn't like this boy so much anymore. Maybe it's my paternal instincts kicking in. Disliking guys that ask my daughter out. Sounds fatherly to me.

"No, just a movie as friends." Yeah right, being a guy, I know what goes on in our minds. He doesn't just want to go to a movie with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nearly an hour later there was a knock at the door. It startled the three of us because we were all half asleep. Abby's mother walked into the room with three people following behind her.

"Oh Christina.." She quickly walked over to the bed and gave Christina a quick kiss on the forehead. "Are you alright sweetheart?"

"Yeah grandma, I'm okay."

"We were so worried about you." The older man, who I'm guessing was Maggie's husband, spoke up.

"It's okay. I'm okay." She smiled at them.

"Are you her doctor?" The teenage boy standing by her bed looked over at me.

"Well.."

"No, he's my dad." She seemed so excited. It made me happier than I ever imagined I could be. I was afraid she would hate me. That she would think I walked out on her.

"What?!" The girl blurted out. She looked embarrassed after she said it, but they all looked pretty shocked. Except for Maggie. She looked sort of pleased.

"Yeah, this is my father. John Carter."

"Nice to meet you Dr. Carter, I'm Jason." The boy stuck his hand out and I shook it. I saw Christina glance at me. Like she was looking for my approval on Jason. I smiled at her.

"John, this is my husband Mike, and this is Ally." Maggie introduced me to the other people standing in the room. We all shook hands and got acquainted.

"Where's uncle Eric and aunt Sandy?" Wow, Eric was married?

"Sandy's out of the country until tomorrow, that's why Eric couldn't come. He had to stay with the kids." He had kids?! This is insane. I'm not even sure if I believe all of it.

"They'll be here on Sunday though." Mike assured her.

"Well we better go get checked in to a motel and let you get some rest."

"Mom, don't do that. You all can stay at the house." There was a time, when Abby would have never offered a place for her mother to stay. When she would have been happy to send her off to a motel for the night.

"Are you sure there's room?"

"Of course." Abby looked over at me. "Carter, can you stay here for a while so I can take everyone to the house and get them settled in." Hey, I'll do anything for you.

"Sure."

"Oh mama, your exhausted, you don't have to come back. I'll be okay by myself tonight."

"No, I'll come back."

"Mom, you worked all day, you need some rest."

"I'll stay with her Abby." I wanted some time alone with Christina. I wanted to get to know her. Abby let out a small sigh.

"Okay, I'll be back first thing in the morning." She gave Christina a kiss on the cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too mom." Abby walked out of the room with her mother and her stepfather.

"Get better Christie." Jason gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Take care of Ally, she looks a little shaken up." I heard Christina whisper to the boy, and I looked over at Alessandra, and noticed that she did look a little out of it. Jason nodded and left the room with the girl.

"Is Ally okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah, when things like this happen, she gets freaked out. She's lost a lot of people that were close to her."

"Oh, are Maggie and Mike her parents?"

"Well, they are sort of. They adopted her two years ago when her father died."

"What about her mother?"

"She walked out on them right after Ally was born."

"So how did Maggie and Mike end up adopting her?"

"Well her and Antonio were very close to the family. Especially to mom."

"She was close friends with Antonio?" Why do I feel so jealous all of a sudden?

"Well you could say that..they were engaged." What? Abby was engaged to someone? I shouldn't be upset. She wasn't mine anymore. I lost her when I walked away from her and went to Africa. She had moved on.

"Dad, are you okay?"

"Yeah..yeah I'm fine."

"Do you have any other kids?" Not that I know of.

"No, just you princess." She smiled at me.

"Married?"

"No, I was with someone a couple of years ago..we had been together for about three years but it didn't work out."

"Why not?"

"She cheated on me."

"Oh, I'm sorry." I shrugged. I didn't really care that much anymore.

"When did Abby um..patch things up with her mom?" I had to know how things changed, and when it happened. Well, that and I wanted to get my mind off the fact that Abby had been engaged.

"About two years after I was born. Grandma had managed to track mom down, and she found out about me. Grandma was back on her meds, and she was around a lot. She ended up moving to the city, and when aunt Susan came back to Chicago, grandma helped take care of me. They just worked their problems out and moved past it. She married grandpa about ten years ago. Mom really loves him. He's the father she never had."

This was great. Abby finally had the things she'd missed out on, a good mother that cared about her, and a father. She'd gotten the kind of family she deserved.

"What about Eric? How long has he been married?" I remember when Abby went searching for him so many years ago. That was a hard time in her life.

"Well mom and grandma found him twelve years ago. They got him to take his meds and they helped him out a lot. He's been married to Sandy for five years, and they have three kids."

"Wow, I can't believe Eric's married."

"Nobody can. He's really amazing though. He's the one that taught me how to play basketball. He's been at all of my games since I was seven. He's changed so much from what I hear, but only for the better."

"That's really great, Abby used to worry about him constantly."

"Do you still love her?"

"Abby?"

"No, Susan." I had to laugh at that. She was so much like Abby. It was amazing. She was amazing.

"Yes, I love her as much today, as I did sixteen years ago." That's something I hadn't even admitted to myself. For years I tried to tell myself I was over Abby. But there was no getting over her.

"You should tell her." I remember the day Susan said that to me. After we had spent the whole cold, snowy day in that sexual harassment class.

"I'm not looking to get my heart broken."

"Don't leave her again and you won't. She loves you, and don't try to tell me she doesn't. I've heard her talk about you all my life. Not a day went by that she didn't mention you. Don't miss out on this chance dad. Don't let her get away from you again."

I smiled at her, and sat with her for the rest of the night. I thought over everything she had said. Maybe this was a whole new beginning for all of us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, getting inside Carter's head sure was fun. :-P This chapter was really hard for me to write, so I'm sorry if it wasn't very good. If you still want more after this, leave me some reviews please! :)