Oh wow, they were pretty long reviews for Chapter 7, so thanks all for the contributions
Angel Dust, Dracula5555, maura, sam, starbright, britgirl2003, jen and caroline25 (I hope ya feelin a whole lot better and happier)
Anyway, onwards to Chapter 8
Honesty really is the best policy, but oh well.
Enjoy! Love LJ xXx
Beyond All Of Everything. Chapter Eight. Get Your Skates On
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o SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 7: Hmm…I don't really know how to summarise this. It's fairly short so you can go back and read it. Abby's pretty messed up.
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Oliver Elliot Lockhart is used to this but that doesn't mean he's okay with it. He still cries, though he knows how to deal with the situation. He's almost six years old. Almost. For now, he's still five, and it still scares him when he wakes up but his Mom doesn't. He's still scared.
This is not the wood laminate flooring she fell asleep on – this is a hospital bed. With a sinking heart, Abby recognises the County General ER and med student Neela Ragostra coming through the door. She's holding onto Ollie's hand and he grins wildly when he sees she's awake.
"Mom!" he whoops and runs to the bed.
"You gave us quite a scare there, Abby," Neela tells her with a kind smile. "You've been concussed – your son here called 911. We've had to put five stitches in your forehead and we want to take you up for a head CT in a moment to make sure there's no brain damage, but everything looks okay."
"Thank you," Abby replies politely. The med student nods and leaves – efficient, professional. Ollie clambers onto the bed.
"Guess what, Mom? I got to ride in the ambulance!" Ollie says, excitedly.
"Hey wow, that's great. Did it go really fast?" Abby asks, wide-eyed. Ollie explains in detail about the ambulance ride, often repeating himself and getting his words mixed up in his enthusiasm. Then he falls silent.
"I'm sorry, baby," she wraps her arms around him and kisses him. "I'm really sorry if I scared you. But you were very, very smart to phone 911 – I don't think many kids would've thought of that." Ollie smiles proudly.
"That's okay – I wasn't scared." He claims. The med student pokes her head around the door again.
"We're ready to take you up now, Mrs Lockhart." She takes Ollie's hand. "Shall I take your son to the family room? Only for a while until you're done."
"Okay then," Abby ruffles Ollie's hair. "I'll be alright, honey. There's an X-Box or something in there – go have fun." Ollie nods and waves and then he is gone.
Dr Carter is walking by when a familiar face catches his eye.
"Hey, Frank – what's Abby's son doing in the family room? Isn't he meant to be in school?" he asks, quietly when he returns to the desk.
"Well I don't think he's skiving off like that Taggart kid," Frank says with a shrug. "Abby got brought in here this morning."
"Why?" Carter asks, with narrowed eyes.
"Hell, I don't know – ask him yourself." Frank snaps and turns back to his computer screen as Carter heads off towards the Family Room. He pushes the door open and smiles at Ollie when he looks up.
"Hey there, Ollie!" he greets cheerfully.
"Is my Mom out yet?" Ollie looks hopeful.
"Not yet. Sorry, little guy. Do you want a soda or something?" Carter offers.
"Okay." Ollie pipes up. "Thank you, John."
They sit at a table in the cafeteria and Ollie holds his cold 7UP with both hands.
"So what happened to your Mom, Ollie?" Carter presses, gently. Ollie tips the drink into his mouth.
"She got up at night and it was dark and she walked on my fire truck and then she hit her head on the table." Ollie explains, talking more into the aluminium can than at Carter.
"Okay then," Carter nods but his voice hints at doubtfulness.
"I called 911," Ollie adds, looking up at him with a proud grin.
"I'll get someone to take you back down in a second," Neela notifies Abby who is sitting on the edge of a gurney after having had her head CT.
"That's alright, no rush." Abby can't help but feel a little guilty; the poor girl is rushing about while Abby feels a whole lot better; she'd go back down by herself and work if they'd let her.
"Hey, Neela – it's okay, I'll take this one down," the familiar voice of John Carter floats down the hall.
"Thanks, Dr Carter," the med student replies, breathlessly. "I was just about to discharge her. Could you do that for me?" She doesn't wait for an answer but thrusts Abby's chart into his hands while she dashes off to respond to a furiously bleeping pager.
"Sure," Carter murmurs, bemused. Then he turns to Abby. "So, Mrs Lockhart – what happened to you?" Abby can't help but hear the bitter sarcasm in his voice.
"I got up in the middle of the night," Abby recounts while she is wheeled through the halls and down the elevators. "But Ollie had left his roller skates out and I skidded on one and whacked my head on the table. And then I guess I woke up here."
"Roller skates?" Carter repeats. "I thought Ollie said it was a fire truck."
"No," Abby shakes her head, though it still aches a little. "No, it was a roller skate. I remember cos it seemed so stupid - like something out of a cartoon." She forces a laugh: self conscious laughter.
"It must've hurt," he comments blandly. "Well I guess that's it, then. I take it that Neela has been through all you've got to do – keep it the cut clean, dry and all that."
"Yes," Abby nods. Something is wrong with him. He is suspicious, he doesn't trust her.
"I'll come back and see you later." He leaves the room and she stares after him, dreading what all this is building up to.
"So, Ollie," Carter sits down beside the boy in Chairs.
"Is Mom out?" he asks again. Carter smiles at his eagerness.
"She's just getting changed, but soon she'll be out," he promises him. "So, Ollie – you must be pretty excited with your birthday coming up, right?" Carter goes about this carefully.
"Yep," Ollie grins broadly. "I'm gonna be six in two weeks." He holds up two fingers.
"Hey wow!" Carter gasps. "Maybe on your birthday we could go play baseball or something; what do you like?"
"I've never played baseball, but I like soccer," Ollie begins to talk more excitedly with Carter; he's no longer shy or wary of this strange guy.
"Cool, or maybe we could go roller skating, how about that?" Carter offers. Ollie looks up at him.
"Ok," Ollie says. "But I don't have roller skates."