Chapter Two

Sam picked her head up at the mention of her name. She knew she had heard it, but she was unsure of from whom and why. "Hmm?" she asked curiously. She looked over to the gurney, shocked, surprised, and horrified to see her little boy there. "Alex," she called as she rushed over to him, enveloping him in a tight hug. "What happened? Are you ok?"

"You're embarrassing me," the young boy said through gritted teeth as he tried to push his mother off of him.

"But other than that?" Sam asked as she pulled away from him. She grabbed hold of the side of the gurney and, along with Abby, began further pushing Alex into the emergency room.

"I'm fine," Alex grumbled. "My leg just hurts like hell."

"Language," Sam warned in the tone of voice only a mother could have.

"Bite me," Alex shot back. "This really hurts," he said as Abby and Sam moved him into Exam One.

Sam nodded sympathetically as she wrapped her free arm around Alex's shoulders. "I know it hurts," she said as she played the sympathetic mom role. She was not sure if she was behaving correctly. Sure, she was concerned about Alex, but she also did not want to be known as the weird mom who embarrasses her child.

"What do you know?" Alex asked miserably as he looked up at his mother.

"I know you're not screaming in agony, so it's not as bad as child birth," Sam responded with a small smile.

Abby chuckled slightly as she listened to the conversation. "And I know that you dislocated your right knee," she said as she rose from her kneeling position in front of Alex. "We'll get you some morphine and take care of this right away," she promised.

"You're treating me?" Alex asked with slight disappointment and a raised eyebrow.

Abby nodded slowly. "Why, do you not want me to?" she asked.

"It's fine," Sam assured her co-worker. "Just get the morphine."

Alex rolled his eyes at his mother. "It's not fine," he argued back. "I want Luka," he protested.

"Luka's in a trauma right now," Sam informed Alex as she tried her hardest to keep her patience. "Abby's just as qualified to take care of you. You can either wait here for a long time for Luka, a long time in which you will be in pain, or you can let Abby treat you, and you'll be out of here in about twenty minutes," she listed Alex's options.

"What'll it be?" Abby asked curiously from the doorway. "Either way, I have to know right now."

Sam said nothing, only turned to Alex to let him know the final decision was his.

Alex considered his two options. He shrugged. "I guess you can treat me," he told Abby. "Besides, she's kinda hot," he added quietly to Sam.

Sam smiled slightly. "Well, I wouldn't look at her that way, but you can go ahead and think that. Just warning you you'll have to fight a few med students and a surgeon for her."

"Wait, you know about that?" Abby asked, abruptly turning around to face Sam.

"Pretty sure the whole staff knows about it," Sam informed her co-worker. "Jake and Dubenko aren't that great at keeping their feelings subtle."

Alex rolled his eyes again. "Um, hello, my leg!" he interrupted.

"Right," Abby said. "Be right back," she promised.