AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am not a doctor; this chapter (and any other following) will most likely NOT be medically accurate. I'm sorry. But deal with it. It's just a fic. : )

FOUR YEARS LATER *****************************

I stared at the locker that used to be his. The name on it now was Johnson. I sighed. I hadn't seen him almost four years. Last I heard he was living in Boston with Jessica and their baby.

God, I missed him. And hated him. I hated him for leaving me. Leaving me for an unborn child. Jessica's child. And even after four years, all I can think about is him. I shook my head as I headed out of the lounge. I had to get him out of my head. . . at least until my shift ended.

"OK Chuny, what have we got?" I asked, entering exam four.

"Three-year-old girl, jumped off the monkey bars," Chuny said. "Possible broken leg."

The little girl sat on the bed. Her sandy blond hair was in messy pigtail braids and her brown eyes were wet with tears. Her olive colored face was dirty and tear-stained. I glanced at the girl she'd come in with. "You her mother?" I asked.

The girl shook her head. "No," she sniffed. She'd been crying. "I'm her baby-sitter."

"Have you called her parents?" I asked, gently touching the little girl's leg. She cried out in pain.

The baby-sitter nodded again. "Her father's on his way," she said.

Chuny took her to the cafeteria while I got the girl ready for x- rays. "Is my daddy coming?" she asked.

I smiled. "I think he'll be here soon," I said. "What's you're name, sweetie?" I asked, picking up her chart.

"Annie," she said through her tears and the hiccups, which had developed as a result of the crying.

"Annie?" I repeated. "That's a pretty name. We have to go to another room now, Annie, to take pictures of the bone in your leg to see how we can make it better, OK?"

She shook her head violently and the pigtails flew from side to side. "Not without my daddy," she firmly, and formed her lips into a pout.

I sighed. "We have to go so we can get your leg to stop hurting," I explained. "You're daddy will know where to find us," I said.

Fresh tears spilled down her face. "OK," she said.

I went to tell whoever was behind the desk to inform Annie's father that we were having x-rays taken when I realized I needed her last name. "Annie, what's your last name?"

She looked confused for a minute and then smiled with pride as she remembered. "Carter," she chirped. "Annie Carter."

*****************************

"What color cast do you want?" I asked Annie.

She thought for a moment. "Purple!" she decided. "Is my daddy here yet?"

I shook my head. "Not yet, sweetie." And thank God for that. Of course, I couldn't be sure this was Carter's child . . . I mean, it's a pretty common name, isn't it? But those eyes . . . those are his eyes. I silently put the cast on her leg. "Now don't touch it until it's dry," I said.

"I want my daddy," she said sadly. She wasn't whining, she just really wanted her daddy to comfort her.

As if on cue, Carter burst though the door. "Annie!" he cried. "Honey, are you OK?" he asked, kissing her on the head.

He turned to me, not seeing me as Abby, but as the doctor who treated his daughter. "Is she OK? Did she hit her head?"

"She's fine," I said. "She has a fractured tibia and two fractures in the fibula of the right leg," I said. "No sign of head trauma."

Carter sat down next to Annie. "Oh thank God," he said, kissing her again. "I don't know what I'd do without my Anna Banana!" he said playfully.

Annie giggled. Then she became serious. "I was scared," she said. "I called and called, but you weren't there." She buried her face in his stomach.

"I'm here now, baby," he said. He looked up at me. "Hi, Abby," he said softly.

"Hello John."

Annie looked up. "Do you know my daddy?" she asked.

I nodded. "We're old friends," I said. I looked at Carter, unsure whether to be excited or angry. Why was he here? Why now? Where was Jessica? Why hadn't he called me? Did he think he could show up after four years and I'd just fall into his arms?