Author's note – Once again, I have no medical training so please bear with
me.
I'll never know how I made it through that shift. We worked on one little girl and two little boys. One of the boys, who had been shot in the chest, died. When things finally calmed down and our shifts were almost over Abby and I began making phone calls to every hospital in the area.
We finally tracked Annie down at Northwestern and set off to retrieve her.
"We're looking for Annabelle Carter," I told the man at the admin desk.
He glanced over at their bored. "Not here," he grumbled.
"But I called," I said. "They said she was here!"
"Are you looking for one of the kids from the school shooting?" a nurse asked.
"Yeah. Annie Carter."
"She was here," the nurse said. "I took her up to ICU a few minutes ago."
Abby and I ran for the elevator and waited impatiently as it made its slow accent to the ICU. Once there we ran to the nearest desk and asked for our daughter. We were directed to a room where Annie was fast asleep in a bed, gauze wrapped around her left arm, a spot of blood forming between her shoulder and her elbow. There was an IV pumping blood into her veins.
"Oh god," Abby cried, grabbing my arm. "Oh god."
"It's not as bad as it looks," a woman said, entering the room. "I'm Dr. Reeves. Are you Annie's parents?"
I nodded. "What do you mean, it's not as bad as it looks. We're both doctors at County and it looks like she's been shot."
Dr. Reeves nodded and said, "The bullet grazed her upper arm. It's pretty deep and she lost some blood but only just over a pint. She'll be fine. The only reason she's asleep in because she was tired out by all the excitement. She never lost consciousness. You can wake her up if you like."
Abby and I walked over to Annie's bed and I gently stroked her hair. Her eyes fluttered and then opened. "Daddy," she cried, tears springing to her eyes. "Daddy."
I bent down and kissed her head and Abby took hold of her good hand. "Hey butter bean," I said. "How you doing?"
Annie sniffed. "OK," she said. "There was a scary man at school. He hurt people. I hid."
Abby and I sat down in chairs that Dr. Reeves had brought in for us. "Honey," I said. "You have no idea how smart you are. I'm so glad you hid."
"What happened, Annie?" Abby asked.
"I was in the reading corner," Annie said. "I was looking at books and a man came in. He was yelling. I heard a big bang and someone screamed. I climbed on the bottom shelf and put a beanbag on me so he couldn't see me."
We both nodded - completely awed by our small daughter's resourcefulness. We knew the lay out of the room so we could see how it must have played out.
The reading corner wasn't really a corner but an alcove created by two bookshelves placed perpendicular to the wall and parallel to each other. The door to the classroom was situated so that if you stood in the doorway, you couldn't see anyone in the reading corner.
"How did you get shot?" Abby asked.
Annie lowered her eyebrows, trying to remember. "Ms. Judy said to run outside. I didn't wanna but she said to. I ran and ran and I heard more bangs and then he shot my arm. Then somebody picked me up and ran outside. I dunno who 'cause I couldn't see 'cause I was crying. Then a lady put me on a bed and took me in the amblence."
"You are so brave," Abby said. "You must have been so scared."
Annie nodded. "I was scared and there was blood. My arm hurt."
We sat there in silence, just looking at the beautiful, intelligent little girl in front of us. All three of us jumped when Abby's ringing cell phone broke the silence. "It's Hannah," she said, looking at the screen. Hannah was the nanny we'd hired to look after Kaden and Annie.
"Hello?" Abby said, her voice shaking. "Yeah, the shooting was at her school." Pause. "She's fine. A bullet grazed her left arm but she's fine. We might be home a little later than we planned, is that . . .?" Another pause. "Thank you so much Hannah. We'll pay you your usual overtime rate if we're not . . ." I could hear Hannah objecting, telling Abby not to worry about it, that she was happy to stay as long as we needed her, for no extra charge. Abby hung up and looked at me. "Can we go home?" she asked.
I went to find Dr. Reeves. "We were hoping we could take Annie home soon," I said.
She nodded. "As soon as the blood transfusion's finished she's yours to go."
I extended my hand. "Thanks," I said, offering her a smile.
She smiled back and shook my hand. "Not a problem. Kids like Annie make my job worth while."
Abby and I waited while the bag of blood emptied itself into Annie's arm. Annie slept a little, giving Abby and me time to talk. "She's gonna be so screwed up," Abby murmured, gazing at Annie.
"I know," I sighed. "Everything bad that can happen to a child has happened to her and she's only four-years-old. I mean, her mother died, she's been kidnapped, molested, and shot."
"My mommy's not dead," Annie said suddenly. "My mommy's right there." Annie pointed to Abby.
Abby smiled at me. "I think she'll be OK."
Response to reviews –
Fanfictionfanatic – Can I have the cookie now, please?
Higherbeingfriendsfan – You can be sweet and still get hurt. You need to smart. Like Annie. : )
Hyperpiper91 – I agree. Abby rocks.
Duckygirl – I wish the show would follow my lead. See how happy I make everyone? ;
Trish – I know what happens to Romano but I thought that scene would be better with him than with Weaver or someone. Besides, this fic is not based on anything that has actually happened so I'm allowed to fudge. : ) But yeah, England is slightly behind. It's one of the things I miss about America. * sigh *
Kayla – I know! Poor Annie. But she's OK and this is the last bad thing that will happen to her, I promise.
Connie – Well, I think this is best chapter yet, if I do say so myself!
I'll never know how I made it through that shift. We worked on one little girl and two little boys. One of the boys, who had been shot in the chest, died. When things finally calmed down and our shifts were almost over Abby and I began making phone calls to every hospital in the area.
We finally tracked Annie down at Northwestern and set off to retrieve her.
"We're looking for Annabelle Carter," I told the man at the admin desk.
He glanced over at their bored. "Not here," he grumbled.
"But I called," I said. "They said she was here!"
"Are you looking for one of the kids from the school shooting?" a nurse asked.
"Yeah. Annie Carter."
"She was here," the nurse said. "I took her up to ICU a few minutes ago."
Abby and I ran for the elevator and waited impatiently as it made its slow accent to the ICU. Once there we ran to the nearest desk and asked for our daughter. We were directed to a room where Annie was fast asleep in a bed, gauze wrapped around her left arm, a spot of blood forming between her shoulder and her elbow. There was an IV pumping blood into her veins.
"Oh god," Abby cried, grabbing my arm. "Oh god."
"It's not as bad as it looks," a woman said, entering the room. "I'm Dr. Reeves. Are you Annie's parents?"
I nodded. "What do you mean, it's not as bad as it looks. We're both doctors at County and it looks like she's been shot."
Dr. Reeves nodded and said, "The bullet grazed her upper arm. It's pretty deep and she lost some blood but only just over a pint. She'll be fine. The only reason she's asleep in because she was tired out by all the excitement. She never lost consciousness. You can wake her up if you like."
Abby and I walked over to Annie's bed and I gently stroked her hair. Her eyes fluttered and then opened. "Daddy," she cried, tears springing to her eyes. "Daddy."
I bent down and kissed her head and Abby took hold of her good hand. "Hey butter bean," I said. "How you doing?"
Annie sniffed. "OK," she said. "There was a scary man at school. He hurt people. I hid."
Abby and I sat down in chairs that Dr. Reeves had brought in for us. "Honey," I said. "You have no idea how smart you are. I'm so glad you hid."
"What happened, Annie?" Abby asked.
"I was in the reading corner," Annie said. "I was looking at books and a man came in. He was yelling. I heard a big bang and someone screamed. I climbed on the bottom shelf and put a beanbag on me so he couldn't see me."
We both nodded - completely awed by our small daughter's resourcefulness. We knew the lay out of the room so we could see how it must have played out.
The reading corner wasn't really a corner but an alcove created by two bookshelves placed perpendicular to the wall and parallel to each other. The door to the classroom was situated so that if you stood in the doorway, you couldn't see anyone in the reading corner.
"How did you get shot?" Abby asked.
Annie lowered her eyebrows, trying to remember. "Ms. Judy said to run outside. I didn't wanna but she said to. I ran and ran and I heard more bangs and then he shot my arm. Then somebody picked me up and ran outside. I dunno who 'cause I couldn't see 'cause I was crying. Then a lady put me on a bed and took me in the amblence."
"You are so brave," Abby said. "You must have been so scared."
Annie nodded. "I was scared and there was blood. My arm hurt."
We sat there in silence, just looking at the beautiful, intelligent little girl in front of us. All three of us jumped when Abby's ringing cell phone broke the silence. "It's Hannah," she said, looking at the screen. Hannah was the nanny we'd hired to look after Kaden and Annie.
"Hello?" Abby said, her voice shaking. "Yeah, the shooting was at her school." Pause. "She's fine. A bullet grazed her left arm but she's fine. We might be home a little later than we planned, is that . . .?" Another pause. "Thank you so much Hannah. We'll pay you your usual overtime rate if we're not . . ." I could hear Hannah objecting, telling Abby not to worry about it, that she was happy to stay as long as we needed her, for no extra charge. Abby hung up and looked at me. "Can we go home?" she asked.
I went to find Dr. Reeves. "We were hoping we could take Annie home soon," I said.
She nodded. "As soon as the blood transfusion's finished she's yours to go."
I extended my hand. "Thanks," I said, offering her a smile.
She smiled back and shook my hand. "Not a problem. Kids like Annie make my job worth while."
Abby and I waited while the bag of blood emptied itself into Annie's arm. Annie slept a little, giving Abby and me time to talk. "She's gonna be so screwed up," Abby murmured, gazing at Annie.
"I know," I sighed. "Everything bad that can happen to a child has happened to her and she's only four-years-old. I mean, her mother died, she's been kidnapped, molested, and shot."
"My mommy's not dead," Annie said suddenly. "My mommy's right there." Annie pointed to Abby.
Abby smiled at me. "I think she'll be OK."
Response to reviews –
Fanfictionfanatic – Can I have the cookie now, please?
Higherbeingfriendsfan – You can be sweet and still get hurt. You need to smart. Like Annie. : )
Hyperpiper91 – I agree. Abby rocks.
Duckygirl – I wish the show would follow my lead. See how happy I make everyone? ;
Trish – I know what happens to Romano but I thought that scene would be better with him than with Weaver or someone. Besides, this fic is not based on anything that has actually happened so I'm allowed to fudge. : ) But yeah, England is slightly behind. It's one of the things I miss about America. * sigh *
Kayla – I know! Poor Annie. But she's OK and this is the last bad thing that will happen to her, I promise.
Connie – Well, I think this is best chapter yet, if I do say so myself!
