Ok, once again stick with me. Kicking off from exactly where we left off we're just going to carry on…

I still own nothing although it's my birthday tomorrow so if you fancy donating something?!?

Chapter 25

"Amelia." Jasper yelled after her as the doors shut fully and the elevator started to move, trapping him inside. He smashed his palm hard against the closed door, his desperation finally getting the better of him. "Don't you dare fucking run away from this." He yelled at the wall, breathing heavily. Abby looked quickly to Carter who tried to move past her in the confined space, failing comprehensively. Slowly Jasper looked up, defeat etched on his face, his eyes watering with grief, he looked from Abby to Carter and back, "Sorry." He mumbled.

"We caught this early, chances are she'll recover fully." Carter tried to reassure him empathetically, Abby shot him a sideways glance, knowing that, that wasn't actually the truth, Lauren condition was serious, all that had happened was that it had become a waiting game.

"Jasper, yelling at her isn't going to help any of this." Abby told him quietly, a pained expression on her face as she stroked the hair back off Lauren's forehead.

"Running away isn't either." He retaliated. They fell silent, she couldn't argue with him. She stared down at Lauren, studying her features, every time Abby had seen her before she'd had a glint in her eye, or a grin on her face, looking at her now, her eyes closed, breathing through a tube she hardly recognised her, she'd never seen her looking passive, and now she did, her chest was rising and falling as she continued to bag her, the drips slowly administering to the virus running her body ragged, the rash on both arms now slowly continuing to spread as it would until the antibiotics fully took hold. God, this was unfair. She smiled weakly, sadly down at Lauren, unable to stop herself, vainly trying to make herself feel a little better.

The elevator, having stopped on every floor, finally arrived at the appropriate one and the doors slid open once again; the trio remained silent as they escorted Lauren.

"This the meningitis case?" A nurse asked popping out from behind the desk.

"Yeah." Carter replied, adding a variety of symptoms and stages for the nurses' benefit.

"The mother's filling out the paper work." She informed them oblivious to their mildly surprised reactions. Jasper laughed bitterly and shook his head never leaving Lauren's side; Abby stole a glance at him before checking Carter had the situation covered and heading off to find Amelia. Abby glanced through the window into the family room, it was dark and empty, she headed over to the waiting area, a few chairs were occupied but none by Amelia, she turned back around, scanning the open plan admissions area, a concerned frown on her face. Deciding her search was futile she set off back to find Lauren and Jasper, she passed by the family room again, throwing a look over her shoulder as she went, that was when she saw her. Amelia was sitting on the floor in the dark, in a small space between a couch and the wall, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees, the documents she was supposed to be filling out hanging limply from one hand. Abby paused for a second, staring through the window, cautiously she pushed the door open and entered, quietly shutting the door behind her. Amelia didn't make a sound or even acknowledge the presence of another person in the room. Abby moved over towards her, she was staring into space, as if she was in a trance.

"What are you doing?" Abby whispered approaching her. Again she didn't move, stayed silent, lost in an emotional roller-coaster of guilt, love and sorrow, except she didn't feel like she was, she felt numb, she felt absolutely nothing, she couldn't, she wouldn't allow herself to start feeling this. Abby knelt down beside her, laying one of her hands on Amelia's knee she got the first sign of life out of her. Amelia flinched at her touch and looked at her for the first time, as if she'd only just realised that she wasn't alone. "What are you doing?" Abby asked again, a frown creasing her forehead as she looked into Amelia's eyes. Amelia stared back, she opened her mouth to speak, she intended to speak but no words came out. Abby searched her eyes, she could see that Amelia was lost, not just for words, she could see her emotions tumbling over one another, fighting for recognition, for prominence, sending Amelia tumbling though a tide of nothingness. Their eyes remained locked for what seemed to Abby like hours until Amelia looked back into the dark air of the room. Abby shifted until she was sitting cross legged on the floor beside Amelia, she studied her face, her sharp jaw clenched, the muscles visible, her eyes staring blankly out in front of her. "Amelia." Abby whispered.

"I was," She coughed, steadying her voice before she continued. "I was just getting this stuff sorted." She said ruffling the papers in her hand.

"That can wait." Abby told her quietly, placing a comforting hand on her back.

"Is Jasper with her?" Amelia asked looking to Abby for confirmation, Abby nodded her answer; Amelia didn't reply but nodded with Abby. "I should really go." She added moving to stand up, Abby stood with her.

"Amelia," Abby started concern still obvious in her eyes.

"Yeah." Amelia said turning towards her, the front Amelia was trying to put on was convincing but all too obvious to Abby as she watched the denial take hold of her sister.

"Are you, are you going to be ok?" She knew it was an incredibly stupid question, but she couldn't think of anything else to ask. She watched Amelia swallow hard, nod and then she was alone. Sighing she sat down on the couch, her head in her hands.

"Hi." Carter said quietly pushing open the family room door. Abby ran her hands up her face and through her hair as she looked over at him, smiling weakly. "You ok?" He asked, joining her on the couch. She studied his face for a second before nodding, rubbing her temple. "The antibiotics she's been on for the last couple of days probably saved her life." Carter said wistfully. Abby half laughed, the irony evident as she looked out over the room.

"You tell him that?" She asked spitefully, angry at Jasper for his reaction.

"Yeah." Carter assented sighing heavily.

"Did she go in there?" She added referring to Amelia.

"Yeah, I left them to it." He said quietly as Abby nodded again. "Are you ok?" He asked again, his eyes full of concern. Abby half shook, half nodded her head, she actually didn't know how she was, she didn't know how she felt, sighing she looked at Carter and shrugged. "She has a good chance Abby." He said the same almost fixed concern on his face.

"Carter, she's critical, and even if she does wake up there's no guarantee that she's not going to have problems." Abby said sadly, her voice hushed.

"I know." He replied, nodding slightly.

"Yeah." She paused, "Amelia looks like she's in complete denial, and Jasper has the potential to fall apart at any second." She finished shaking her head.

"They're scared for her." He replied by way of an explanation.

"They should be." She said quietly.

"Are you going to call Maggie?" He asked kindly.

"I probably should." She admitted. "God Carter this is so unfair." She sighed.

"I know." He nodded smiling sympathetically at her, as they lapsed into a companionable silence.

As ever cheers for the ongoing reviews and I will get back to you all (at some point, hopefully!) This is actually ch 25 but I deleted ch 1 by mistake so it looks like it's only ch 24 on the preview, title thingy, but I will rewrite and repost it so it's not like anyone's missed anything if you've read up until this stage.

Cheers and as ever R&R xxxK