Chapter Three: Trust me it's painless

After making sure that my patient was doing all right and that she wanted me to continue I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes as I started the story again from where I had left off. It felt weird to have someone so interested in this part of my life.

I was silent in the car. I did not know what to think, how to act, or even what to do. Here sitting next to me driving the jeep was a brother that up until today I did not even know existed. It was all overwhelming to say the least. Nothing was the same any more, and nothing would ever be the same. I needed to come to terms with this and soon for everyone sake. I thought about getting on a plane and heading right back where she came from; to pretend that none of this had ever happened. Seeing how happy Eleanor Carter was to see me, made me realize that I would end up hurting more people if I got on that plane and left town.

"I'll give you a penny for your thoughts." I heard a voice say breaking the silence that she was collecting my thoughts.

"You wouldn't want to know them." I quietly replied.

"Sure I do." Carter said not taking his eyes off the road in front of them.

"Guess that I am not completely in your head then since you can't read all my thoughts." I said. That sounded like something one sibling would say to another. I can't help but smile a little at that.

"No, I can't read all your thoughts but I can feel what you're feeling now. I know that you are scared and overwhelmed."

"I was thinking about getting on a plane and running away from all of this." I said as my eyes were cast downward looking at the floor mat in the jeep rather than at John.

John let out a small chuckle. "You must be a Carter with that kind of thinking."

"It just might have been so much easier to have left rather than to delve into all of this. I don't know but I get this feeling that I am opening up Pandora's Box." I said now falling back into the nervous habit of rubbing my wrist with the events of today I was certain that I was going to rub it raw.

"I've heard the family compared to a lot of things," He said navigating the streets of Chicago, "but not that."

"I don't know what to say John." I replied, "This is just so overwhelming and confusing."

"I can understand that." Carter said, "but we'll get it all sorted out in the end."

"I know that we will, but please don't be upset with me for finding this all so hard to believe. A few hours ago, I was nothing more than a new doctor looking for work. I was no different from any other Joe out there. Here now I find myself being thrust into a world that I didn't know even existed except in novels and on TV." I wasn't trying to be cold or insensitive at that point, but this was something that you would see as a lifetime movie or movie of the week kind of thing, not something that happened to a small town girl.

"What do you mean by novels and television?"

"John, your home is huge. I have never even driven by anything that big. Let alone, the fact that I have never been inside something that large other than a hotel and that doesn't count because I think just about everyone has been inside a hotel. This isn't the life that I am used to far from it in fact. I feel as if I have been sucked up in some tissue grabbing movie of the week."

"It must seem so unreal to you then. I don't expect you to jump right into the roll of a Carter." He said pulling the car up to the ER. "Mom seemed extremely excited and happy to see you. I haven't seen my mother smile like that in years."

"How can a child be taken from a hospital?" I asked but yet I knew the answer to that one in my heart somewhere.

"It happens, it used to happen, but security is better than it was 32 years ago. I'm just sorry that it took so long for you to find your way back to us. I miss seeing my mother smile like that." He said as he continued to drive them along.

"And to think she might be devastated in a little while. What if I am not a member of your family and this really all is nothing more than coincidence? I don't think anyone has taken that into consideration yet."

"I don't think that anyone has, but once we get to the lab and have the tests done, we should have an answer in the next 24 hours." Carter said. "It's not just shocking for us but for them as well, I don't think they honestly expected you to show up again."

"Okay but Carter I hate needles. I don't mind poking and drawing blood from another person, but I hate to have it done on myself."

"You are a big chicken." Carter said laughing.

"Yes I am." I said rather proudly.

"Don't worry there are no needles involved. The process has evolved a little since then. As a doctor you should know that." Carter stated in a rather than fact tone.

"What can I say; I have never had to send anyone for DNA testing." I said shyly almost embarrassed that I didn't know much about it. There wasn't much of a need for it working in trauma situations.

"Relax would you. I am not judging you as a doctor based on what you know about DNA testing." He said smiling as he parked the jeep and turned the key off. "I was just trying to reassure you that it's painless."

"I know." I said smiling nervously.

Carter reached over and patted her hand. "Let's just go and get it done and then there will be one less thing that is weighing on our minds."

"I'd like to be able to believe that it would not be weighing on my mind as much, but I think that I will be worrying about it until the results are back and we can start to get all of this settled out. Come what may, we are all going to have a lot of adjusting to do."

"That we all we have to do." Carter said as they climbed out of the jeep and headed inside to find out if I was the missing member of their family.

Again I find myself stopping as I remember all of it so clearly like it had happened yesterday rather than a few years ago. Some memories are meant to last longer than others, but I wanted her now to be able to hear the entire story.