A/N: Okay been able to really work on this and I am not suffering from writer's block currently so here's the next chapter of Listen to your dreams. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time, read, and reviewed, love to know what you all think. Keep the reviews coming please, that way I know what you think and really it does influence where the story will go.

The beginning of the end

Carter pulled up in front of the mansion, worried about the two women inside. There were cars everywhere mostly police vehicles, hopefully nothing had happened to them. He got out of the car and explained to the officers whom he was and why he was there as they let him closer to the house.

Abby had stayed hidden in the kitchen with Anna. She had heard the car pull away, "Anna," She said gently shaking the woman next to her, "Anna, come on open your eyes for me." She called again, getting no response from her. "Anna!" She shook her a little harder and called a lot louder. When Anna did not move that time, Abby started to check her over to see if where she had been hurt. She checked her over looking almost frantically when she found the entrance wound. It was near the base of her neck, she must have been hit when they dove for the floor. Abby got up from their hiding space running for the door.

"I need help," Abby called as she ran, "I got a woman down, I have a woman down."

Carter heard Abby as he caught a glimpse of her running from the house. When the words that she was screaming sank in, he ran towards the house, "get the medics in here now." Carter ran toward the house, "where is she Anna, where is she?"

"In here." Abby said grabbing Carter, "single gun shot wound." She pulled Carter along towards where she and Anna had been hiding in the kitchen. She slid to her knees next to Anna.

"Anna," Carter said looking her over, "Anna can you hear me, squeeze my hand if you can hear me."

Anna could hear voices in the background someone who sounded like Carter but she could not get her eyes to open. Her shoulder burned, sharp pain shooting thru her body, she remembered hearing the gun go off, and so she made the natural assumption that he must have hit her. She tried again to force her eyes open looking at Carter

"I can't, I can't feel my hand." She said softly when she got oriented.

"You are going to be okay Anna." Carter said as he picked her up off the kitchen floor and headed out side to find the paramedics, "I'm going to take good care of you."

Abby followed them out towards the ambulance that had just pulled up. "Go with her Carter I will drive and meet you at County."

Carter nodded at Abby as he got Anna onto a gurney and into the back of an ambulance. The doctor inside him started to take over and he tried not to think that it was his friend laying there on the gurney again. This time from a gunshot, her husband had inflicted up her.

Anna laid there in pain, "John," she said softly now barely being able to talk and she was having a hard time staying awake, "it hurts."

"I know Anna," He said, "we'll be to County soon and we can give you something there." He knew that this was not good since she could not feel her hand and the blood loss that she was suffering from was extensive. He helped the medic's pack the wound to slow the bleeding and opened the IV's that they had in her wide open to keep the volume up as best the could in route to County. He needed to get her out of Chicago and soon, he could not risk Max coming back again to finish the job that he had started. Carter had promised Anna that he would keep her safe and that was what he intended to do.

Carter kept a close eye on her as they sped towards County. He knew that Abby was behind them following in the jeep although she probably was not driving as fast as they were. He watched the monitors that were hooked up to her, almost saying a silent prayer for Anna.

"John was Abby alright, her arm, it wasn't serious was it?" Anna asked pulling the oxygen mask away from her face with her left hand. "Max didn't hurt her did he?"

"I don't know Anna, she appeared to be okay when I saw her," In all the commotion Carter had not even noticed that Abby had been hurt. He would have to look her over really well when he got Anna taken care of. "I'm sure she's fine Anna. Put the mask back on please." Carter said as he pulled her hand away from it settling it back over her nose and mouth.

Carter watched Anna's eyes fluttering open and shut repeatedly. He knew she was losing the battle to stay awake and there with him, "hold on Anna we'll be there in a few minutes, just hold on and stay with me."

She glanced over at him trying to stay away but it was getting harder and harder by the moment she was so tired and getting cold. She still could not feel her arm and Anna knew that was a bad thing. "Carter I'm cold. I'm getting really cold."

Carter knew now that she was fading faster, "hold on Anna we'll get you warmed up soon." He said reaching over to double check and make sure those IV's were wide open. He took one of the bags and started to squeeze it in faster by hand, before checking the bleeding from her shoulder, which had slowed a little but not enough. He needed to get her to a surgeon quickly. "Call County tell them to have a surgeon in the ER, she needs red lined to the OR." Carter said to the medic sitting near him, "she's losing volume faster than we can get it into her."

Anna heard him and knew what was going on now, why she was so cold, she was slowly bleeding out and it would not be long before there was not enough blood in her body to carry oxygen to her brain. She was simply was going to fall asleep soon and all she could do was hope that she would wake up again.

Carter felt the ambulance pull up into the bay and he did not waste any time getting out and meeting the other doctors and the doors, "35 year old female, single gun shot would to the shoulder there's an entrance and exit wound." Carter then rattled off her vitals as the rolled into trauma one. Carter snapped on gloves as he had more to work with now than what was in the back of the rig. It did not take long for them to get her stabilized enough to take up so that vascular could repair the vessel damage done by the bullet. Carter walked with the gurney to the elevator.

"I'll see you in a little bit okay Anna." He said to her as they pulled her into the elevator. Anna's eyes were barely open now. Carter headed off to try to find Abby and make sure that she was all right.

Abby came running into the ER, "Carter where is she how's Anna is she okay?"

Carter grabbed her, "she's fine are you okay? Anna said that you were hit too?" Carter instinctively started to look her over.

"Yeah I'm okay." She said looking at him, "I was just grazed, nothing more than a scratch." She said showing him his arm.

Carter looked it over as he pulled her into an exam room to clean up her arm. "Anna's going to be fine, they took her up, it tore thru some vessels and there's pretty severe blood loss but I am sure that they will get her right as rain here soon. When she gets out I have to find a way to get her to Seattle sooner rather than later"

"Well get her there Carter," Abby said looking at him now, "all she has to do is make it thru surgery."

"Yeah," Carter said softly, "she's a fighter I know she'll make it, she has to make it. Anna has come too far to give up now." He went silent now as he patched Abby up. His mind wandering to his friend up in the OR, and Carter was hoping against all the odds that she would pull thru this nightmare.