Chapter 3: September

ShastenRothe - Thank you for the review. Next chapter up shortly.

MG - I'm glad that you think that the second chapter is even better than the first. I'm also happy that you are hooked on my story. I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a great compliment to an author to say that you love their story. I put bits of the show in to actually show that there actually is life in the ER. LOL. Anabel and Ray will develop more in this chapter. Thank you for your review.

kay-zen - I'm trying not to make Ray as slick as he thinks he is. Trying to show that Ray has to work in order to get Anabel. And even then, he might not get her. Thank you for the totally complimenting review.

Terrible Fish - I try to capture their emotions, and apparently I do a great job. I promise to have the next chapter up very shortly. But you'll have to wait and see if they get together, whether it be permanently or just for a quickie in the janitor closet (hint hint)! Who knows? Thanks for the review.

Jess - Thanks for the review, it made me laugh:)

Summary:

Some coffee, a tragedy, then a little of the Pediatrics Ward

September 3, 2004

The day started out fairly well for Anabel. She got Logan and Tobias to summer rec. on time, for a change, and was early enough to have a cup of coffee before her shift. To top it all off, Ray hadn't talked to her, unprofessionally, since the night that he had kissed her in the Ambulance Bay.

But what she couldn't get off her mind was why she let Ray kiss her? At first she had struggled against him, but then stopped.

'The kiss wasn't that good!' Anabel told herself for the millionth time since that night. 'Yeah, and can't you feel your nose growing?'

But, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how she saw it, Ray came towards her at that moment.

She picked up a chart and tried to look busy, hoping that he would get the hint. Only Ray wasn't too great at picking up hints.

"I've made a decision." Ray said to Anabel as he leaned on the admit desk.

"Oh, really? And what might that be?" Anabel asked him as she put down a chart.

"I'm not going to stop asking you until you agree to go for coffee with me?" Ray said smiling.

"Well you can ask until your blue in the face, because I won't go for coffee with you, ever!" Anabel said in a raised voice and then walked off to Exam 4.

Ray followed her into Exam 4 and asked, "Coffee?"

"NO! Now get out so I can examine my patient!" she said as she shoved him out of the curtain area and then pulled the curtain shut.

Anabel hoped that he didn't mean what he said about him not giving up until she said yes. Because sooner or later, she would cave.

But Ray was true to his word. He didn't give up.

When Anabel came out from Exam 4, he asked again, "Coffee?"

"No, Ray."

Ray was always around to ask her the one word question. Before she went to the bathroom, when she came out from the bathroom, when she was standing at the admit desk, while she was waiting on an ambulance outside, while she was examining patients. He seemed to be everywhere she was.

"Coffee?" Ray asked as a severe trauma came in through the doors of Trauma Room 1.

"Ray, this is not the time," Anabel shouted at him as she intubated the patient.

Thankfully, Ray didn't ask her again while they were working on the patient. But, as soon as the patient was rolled through the doors, and up to surgery, he asked again.

"Coffee?"

"No, Ray." she said, losing her patience.

Ray kept on her like a shadow, asking her the one word question over and over again, until finally they were standing at the admit desk. She was looking over a chart and he was checking the board.

"Coffee?"

"No."

"Coffee?"

"No."

"Coffee?"

"No."

"Coffee?"

"If I say yes, will you leave me alone for more than 5 seconds?" Anabel asked, finally giving in.

"Yes."

"Then yes! I'll go for coffee with you! You understand that this is not a date, and I have to be home at 7," she said. She wanted to be home before Logan and Tobias went to bed. When she told her neighbor that she had to work late, her daughter, Emily, offered to pick them up and watch them while until she got off work. For that, Anabel was grateful.

"Why? Your dad will ground you if you break curfew?" Ray asked light-heartedly.

"Believe it or not, the ER is not my life." Anabel said as she walked away to Exam 1.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Ray stayed away from Anabel, fearing that she would change her mind if he kept pestering him.

When the day was finally over for both Anabel and Ray, Anabel went into the lounge while Ray just did a follow up on a patient.

"Ready for that coffee?" Ray asked as he entered the lounge to find Anabel waiting.

"Yeah, let's go before I change my mind," Anabel said.

Ray went over to his locker, took off his white coat, and put on a jean jacket. He then grabbed his knapsack and shut his locker, locking it.

Ray went over to the lounge door, and held it open for Anabel. With that, they walked out of the ER and across the street to Doc Magoo's.

They sat in a booth at Doc Magoo's waiting on their coffee. Neither one had attempted to make conversation with the other. They just ordered their coffee and that was the only thing they had said since they left the lounge.

'God, this silence is going to kill me,' Ray thought. 'And on top of that, she seems annoyed and distant. Well, I'll just have to make conversation.'

"So about our kiss…" Ray started out.

"What about it?" Anabel asked, unsure of why, in all the random conversation starters there were in the universe, he chose to talk about their kiss.

"Why did you stop struggling?" Ray wanted to know.

"I don't know. Why did you kiss me?" Anabel asked quietly.

"Because I wanted to," he said confidently and without hesitation.

"Do you always do what you want and not worry about the consequences?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah," he replied with a smirk.

At that moment, the waitress brought their cups of coffee.

"Thank you," Anabel said to the waitress as she turned around and left.

Anabel looked at her watch and said, "Can you excuse me for a moment? I have to make a phone call."

"Yeah, sure," Ray said with a smirk.

She got up out of the booth and walked outside, making sure to pull her cell phone out of her purse. She dialed her home number.

"Hello?" asked the voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey, have they eaten yet?" Anabel asked Emily.

"Yeah, they felt like Macaroni & Cheese, so that's what I gave them. Is that all right?" asked Emily.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm stopping for coffee right now, and I was wondering if you would mind staying a little later than I had asked you to?"

"No, it's no problem. Do you want me to give them a bath?"

"Did they get one after you picked them up for summer rec.?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then no. They don't need one. Just give them some apple juice around 6:45 if I'm not home. It'll put them right to sleep."

"Okay."

"Their cups are in the cupboard to the right of the stove and the apple juice is in the fridge."

"Okay, no problem."

"Thanks, Emily. I'll be home shortly."

"You're welcome."

With that Anabel hung up the phone and went back inside towards the booth and Ray.

They made small talk for the rest of the time they were there, talking about nothing in particular.

15 minutes and 2 cups of coffee later, Anabel decided that she needed to get home.

"I'll walk you," Ray offered.

"No thanks, I'll be just fine," Anabel said.

"No really. You shouldn't be walking out on the streets by yourself anyway."

"All right," Anabel said, giving in because she knew he wouldn't give up until she did.

They walk passed uneventfully and before she knew it, they were in front of her building.

"This is me," she said.

"Oh, nice place," he said.

"Well, it isn't all mine," she laughed.

"That's not what I meant," he replied.

"I know. Thanks for walking me home," she said with a smile.

"Your welcome."

Ray took a step towards Anabel, who, in turn, took a step towards him. He leaned down and very gently kissed her on her lips. Anabel didn't struggle like the last kiss that they shared, instead she just opened her mouth and welcomed the kiss.

After a few moments of the soft, yet intense kiss, Anabel pulled back.

"Good night, Ray." And with that, she turned around and walked into her apartment building.

September 24, 2004

"Ray, telephone!" Frank called from the admit desk. Ray put down the chart he was currently working on and went over to the telephone.

"Hello?" he asked curiously.

Anabel walked up to the admit desk right then and saw Ray's face turn from the happy one she knew to one of pain and sadness.

"When?" he choked out.

"What's going on?" Anabel asked Frank.

"Who knows," he answered with his usual sarcasm.

"All right mom. I'll be there." Ray said as he hung up the phone.

With that, he walked outside, not stopping for anything.

Anabel, incredibly worried, followed him outside and found him leaning up against the hospital wall with tears running down his cheeks, staring up at the stormy sky.

"Ray? What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

Ray was obviously embarrassed about getting caught crying, so he quickly wiped them away.

"Nothing. Leave me alone." he said as he turned his back to her.

She just went up and gently put her hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to be Mr. Macho with me, Ray. What happened?"

He slowly lowered his head and whispered, "My little sister. She was killed in a car accident today. Drunk driver."

"Ray, I'm so sorry." 'Nobody should have to go through that pain. I wish I could make his pain go away.'

"Yeah. My sister wanted to be cremated so we're going to have a memorial service in her honor in a week. I gotta go and be there for a few days."

"I understand, I'll help cover your shifts. How old was she?"

"19."

"Is the drunk all right?"

"Yeah. They arrested him and I hope they throw the book at him."

"Ray, I'm here if you need me."

For the first time, he turned around and smiled, though fresh tears were starting to form in his eyes.

"Thanks."

September 26, 2004

"Mommy! Mommy!" Anabel heard from Logan and Tobias' room. No sooner than the first 'mommy' had gotten out, she was up and looked at the alarm clock. It said 7:00. By the time the second 'mommy' was out, Anabel was up and out the bedroom door, making her way down to the twin's bedroom.

She flicked on the hall light, and, once she got into the twin's bedroom, she flicked on the small lamp that sat between the two beds on a night stand.

Anabel sat down on Logan's bed first and saw that he was sweaty.

"Logan, sweetie, what's wrong?" Anabel asked, trying to mask her concern with a gentleness.

"I don't feel good," Logan said weakly.

Anabel felt his head and found that he was hot.

"Oh, sweetie, you're burning up. I'll be right back. I'm just going to check on Tobias and get the thermometer."

Anabel got up from Logan's bed and went to Tobias'. She looked him over before asking him, "What's wrong, baby?"

"I don't feel good, either."

She put her hand on his head, and indeed he was hot as well.

"Ok, I'll be right back," she said before she left the room for the bathroom to get the thermometer. After she grabbed the ear thermometer, she made her way to her room to get her stethoscope.

Anabel ran back to Logan and Tobias' room and sat back down on Logan's bed.

"Ok, sit up," she told him.

Logan scooted up in his bed as Anabel put the thermometer in his ear. It beeped not even 10 seconds later, and it showed that he had a fever of 103.9. Anabel put the thermometer down on the bed, and lifted up his pajama shirt to listen to his breathing.

"Logan, sweetie, I want you to take some deep breaths for momma, ok." she told him.

He just nodded and took a deep breath as Anabel put her stethoscope to his chest.

"Good. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out." she said as he breathed when she told him to.

"Ok. Sweetie, momma's gonna have to take you to the hospital, all right? I want to try to get dressed, all right? I have to go over to Tobias."

He just nodded again, and started coughing until he was purple. His coughing spell over for the moment, his color returned to normal.

Anabel grabbed the thermometer and her stethoscope and went to Tobias' bed again.

She took his temperature, and it was 101.2. She told him to breathe in and out, just like she had with Logan, and he indeed was wheezing.

At that moment, Tobias got up and ran to the toilet, where he began to vomit.

By this time, Logan was already dressed, so Anabel just grabbed some jeans and a shirt for Tobias, and made her way to the bathroom.

"I'm sorry, mama. I didn't mean to," Tobias cried.

"Sweetie, it's ok. I'm not mad. I have to get you to the hospital, too. So I need you to help me, ok," Anabel said.

Tobias nodded his head, and she got him dressed and the picked him up and lifted him towards the sink to rinse his mouth out with water.

"Mama, I'm cold," Logan said.

"Ok, Logan," Anabel called out. "Are you cold, Tobias?"

"Mmm-hmm," was all he said as he slightly dozed off on her shoulder.

She went back into their bedroom and pulled out their "travel blankets." (The blankets Anabel covered them up with at night when they moving to Chicago.)

After she put Tobias down, she wrapped him in his small dinosaur blanket, and Logan in his equally small stars blanket. She picked up Tobias again, grabbed her keys and put them in her mouth, grabbed her purse, opened the door with her free hand and ushered a dawdling Logan out, before she closed it and locked it. Anabel then picked Logan up with her other arm and carried them down the stairs.

"Somebody help me!" Anabel shouted as she carried Tobias and Logan into the ER.

"Anabel, what's wrong?" asked Ray, who usually always took the morning shifts.

"They woke up complaining that they weren't feeling good, so I took their temperatures. Logan's was 103.9 and Tobias' was 101.2. Both have wheezing in all four quadrants and a cold sweat. Tobias has been vomiting, and Logan turns purple whenever he coughs. They lost consciousness about 2 minutes ago." Anabel said as Ray came over and took Tobias out of her arms and took him to Trauma 1. Anabel followed him, but went into Trauma 2 instead.

"Which one do I have?" Ray asked as Anabel opened the doors between the two trauma rooms sot that way she could move back and forth between the two rooms easily.

At that moment, Carter, Jane, and Sam came into Trauma 1, while Luka, Abby and Haleh came into Trauma 2.

"What do we got?" Luka asked.

"Tobias, Ray," she answered to Ray before she went on to explain the symptoms of Logan to Luka.

Sam came over to Anabel and convinced her to stay out of the way while they worked. Anabel was shedding silent tears at this point.

"Are they your nephews?" Luka asked, trying to calm her down as they took an X-Ray of Logan's chest to see what was wrong with his lungs.

Anabel just shook her and head and said, "No. They're my sons. Please, help them."

At the word of 'sons,' Ray's head shot up and everyone looked shocked. But they continued to work on Tobias and Logan.

"Don't worry. They'll be alright." Sam encouraged as she stood next to Anabel.

"Got the X-Ray's for both of them," Haleh said as she handed Luka Logan's X-Rays and Ray Tobias' X-Rays.

The X-Rays showed nothing.

"Do you know if they ingested something that they are allergic to, or anything?" Luka asked.

"They're allergic to strawberries. Last night, I bought some strawberries. I set them down on the counter and went to check the phone messages. I told them not to eat any. I didn't think that they had." Anabel said suddenly.

"What usually happens when the eat strawberries?" Luka asked.

"They get a fever and their chests tighten up."

"Ok, right now they are stabilized. So we are going to get them up to Pediatrics where they are going to monitor them." Luka said.

"Thank you," Anabel said as Haleh and Abby wheeled Logan out of Trauma 2, and Pratt and Jane wheeled Tobias out of Trauma 1.

Ray came up beside Anabel and asked, "Do you want me to go up with you?"

Anabel just nodded her head, and Ray walked her out of the Trauma Room and towards the elevator.

Later That Day

"Momma?" Logan asked.

Logan and Tobias had been admitted to Pediatrics 15 hours earlier, and were put in the same room.

"I'm here, Logan." Anabel smiled.

"Where am I?" he asked weakly.

"You're in the hospital."

"Why?"

"Because you got sick earlier, honey."

"How long do I have to stay here?"

"Just a day or two. They want to make sure you're alright. Logan, last night when you and Tobias were in the kitchen with the strawberries, did you eat any?" Anabel asked gently.

Logan just nodded his head slowly.

"Are you mad, momma?"

"No sweetie. I'm not mad. You can't eat those anymore, ok. They make you sick. All right?"

Logan nodded again.

"Ok."

2 days later, Logan, Tobias, and Anabel finally went home, as long as Logan and Tobias took some antibiotics twice a day. The moment they got home, Anabel put them straight to bed, (because they were sleeping already,) and she fell asleep on the couch, exhausted from the last 3 days of hell.

Next Chapter Summary:

3 visits, a birthday party, and Halloween!

It's the longest chapter, yet!