A week passed by, but Abby couldn't get Annie, Ben, and Gracie off her mind. Something about them worried her—and something about Annie reminded her of someone...
Abby kept the stuffed Elmo in her locker in case they came back for it, but she didn't think they would. Abby had probably scared Annie with their talk of foster care. She couldn't blame her really.
Just then, a call from the paramedics came in on the radio. Elderly women in late seventies...full arrest...ETA 5 minutes out...
Great...thought Abby. It didn't sound too hopeful.
Abby waited out in the bay with Sam and Carter for the rig to pull up. When the doors opened, the EMTs were bagging the women and giving her chest compressions. They said she never had a pulse. I guess we'll just be going through the motions for the family, thought Abby when the children who were in the rig with the elderly woman caught her eye.
"Annie, Ben," she said, surprised. "You got this?" she asked Carter. He nodded in reply. Abby turned her attention back to the kids. "What happened?"
Ben spoke first. "Nana fell down and she wouldn't get up. Annie wouldn't move. I had to call 911." Annie stood motionless holding Gracie, who was drinking from her sippy-cup.
"Lily!" Abby called to the passing nurse. "Could you watch these two for a minute?"
"Sure," she replied. Abby handed Gracie to her and motioned for Ben to take her free hand. Abby then led Annie to an empty exam room where they could talk. Annie still looked shocked and scared and hadn't said a word.
"Annie, honey, are you all right?"
"She's dead, isn't she?" Annie finally said.
"Yeah, most likely... I know it's hard when someone you love dies, but your grandma lived a good, long life and it was her time...
"She's not our grandma." Now it was Abby's turn to look shocked.
"What?"
"She's our neighbor. We just call her 'Nana.' She helps out a lot when Mom's not around. Well, she helped...I don't know what we're going to do now..."
"What do you mean?"
Annie looked Abby straight in the eye. "Don't you get it? Our mom's not around. Well, sometimes, but not enough that we can count on her. She never came to the hospital that other day. I had to forge that note for you... You see, she's fine when she takes her medicine, which is rare, but usually she's either gone for a week at a time or home crying and sleeping in bed."
Abby's eyes grew wide. "Your mom's bipolar..." It was more a statement than a question.
"Yeah, she's bipolar. She's bipolar and she doesn't take her medicine, so I have to be the mom." She paused for a moment before continuing. "See my arm?" She held out her burnt arm for Abby to look at. It looked infected. "It hurts like hell," Annie continued. "And I know that Dr. Carter said to keep it dry, but how am I supposed to do that? How am I supposed to do the dishes and give Gracie a bath and do the laundry and fix an over- flowing toilet without getting my arm wet, huh? How? How?" By now, Annie was in tears. Abby hugged her tightly and tried to calm her down.
"Shh...It's okay sweetie. Everything's going to be okay..." Abby whispered.
"Please don't let them take Gracie and Ben from me. Please don't let them separate us," she pleaded.
"I won't," said Abby. "I promise."
"So what's going to happen to them?" Abby asked Adele, the social worker, a few hours later. Carter was standing by and listening as well.
"Well," Adele started. "I'll probably be able to find a foster family to take Gracie, but Annie and Ben will probably have to go to a group home..."
"No," said Abby firmly. "You can't separate them."
"I might not have a choice."
"Then we'll take them," Abby stated matter-of-factly.
"What?!" Carter was surprised and caught off guard by her statement. They hadn't discussed this. "We can't take them."
"Why not?"
"Because it's crazy. We barely know these kids. We don't know anything about them or what they're like. We're getting married soon. We can't just take in three kids just like that."
"It's not that simple, anyway," Adele cut in.
"Why?" Abby asked.
"We can't just give children to anyone. You have to be licensed."
"Then we'll get licensed."
"Abby!"
"What, Carter? I promised that girl. I promised Annie that they wouldn't be separated."
"You shouldn't have promised that. I'm sorry, but this is the way it's going to have to be," Adele said before she went in the room to talk to the kids.
Abby walked down the hall, away from Carter.
That night, Abby and Carter lie awake in bed facing opposite directions. Carter was worried about Abby. Abby was worried about the kids.
Carter heard Abby move. "Hey, are you awake?" he turned toward her and asked.
"Yeah," she answered, still facing the opposite direction.
"What's wrong?" he asked. "Why did you get so upset today?"
"I'm worried about those kids," she answered.
"No, there's something else..."
"What do you mean?" she asked, finally turning around.
"We've had kids at the hospital taken away by social services before and even seen them separated. We can't save them all; you know that. Why are these kids different?"
"I don't know. I just..."
"Hey, what is it? You can tell me."
"Their mom's bipolar..."
"What?" Carter eyes grew wide. "How do you know?"
"Annie told me today. She has to be mother to those kids. She's so protective of them. She'd do anything..." Abby was starting to cry. Carter held her.
"Shh... It's okay."
Abby pulled away from him a little. "It's just... I look at Annie and I see... I see me in her. I see me as a kid. I see me trying my best to take care of Eric. I don't know what I would have done if they would have taken Eric from me. He was all I had. And Gracie and Ben are all Annie has. I can't let them be separated. I can't do that to Annie."
Carter held her close again. "Shh... It's okay. We'll make sure their not separated. Tomorrow we'll see what we can do about getting licensed."
Abby pulled away from him again. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Annie deserves what's left of her childhood to be happy. And they all deserve a mother like you."
Abby smiled. "I love you, John Carter."
"I love you, too."
One month later...
"Hey, what are you doing?" Abby asked Carter. It was two o'clock in the morning and he was getting out of bed.
"Gracie's crying. I was going to go see what's wrong."
"It's okay; I'll go." Abby got up and put on her robe.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yeah, you have to work in the morning. You need you rest. Go back to sleep." She kissed him on the forehead.
"You're an angel," he said as he climbed back into bed. Abby smiled.
When she reached Gracie's room, she found Annie already there, rocking her sister.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Abby asked.
"Just trying to get Gracie to go back to sleep. I didn't want to wake you and John."
"It's all right, honey; I've got her. You go back to sleep."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, you need your rest." Annie handed Gracie to Abby and headed for the hall, but she stopped before she got there.
"I was thinking about what Ben asked today." Abby looked up. "About calling you and John 'Mom' and 'Dad,'" she continued. "I just wanted you to know that it's all right with me. And I think we should teach Gracie to do the same."
Abby smiled and a tear streamed down her face, "Thank you."
"No...thank you...for everything. Good night...Mom."