Stood in the elevator, Carter rubbed his hand across his face. It seemed the further up the hospital chain of command you went, the more time you spent in meetings rather than doing anything with the patients.

Carter reached the ER and stepped out the elevator. His first thought was that it seemed really quiet to him. As he walked past the reception desk he looked at the faces of the staff. They were looking at him in a really distressing way. Something was wrong. Something big.

'What is it…what's going on?' Carter asked, completely confused. He saw Luka moving towards him. 'Is something wrong? He asked. 'What? What is it?'

'Carter…' Luka spoke softly, 'it's Abby. She was brought in just now. She's in Trauma 1.'

'What?' Carter sped off down the hall, calling to Luka as he went. 'What happened? Was she in an accident? Is she alright?'

'She took an overdose.' Luka said. Carter stopped suddenly.

'You're kidding? How? Why?'

'We've no idea. She's not conscious. We're waiting for her to be taken up to ICU.'

Carter turned, and slowly walked into Trauma 1. What he saw made him stop breathing. Abby was lying on the bed, hooked up to a ventilator and monitors. Carter knew exactly what each machine was for, but for the first time he felt as though he wasn't a doctor, but a desperately scared relative. He walked slowly up to the bed, never taking his eyes off Abby's face. Sitting down on a stool near her head, he gently brushed her hair away. She looked almost grey, so tiny and vulnerable against all the machines. He didn't know how long he had been sat there when he heard a door open. He looked up. It was Susan.

'Her crits are stable. We've pumped her stomach. She just needs some good care now.' Susan didn't know what else to say, so she gave her usual medical spiel.

'What did she take?' Carter wasn't sure he really wanted to know, but he asked anyway.

'Sleeping pills and alcohol.'

When Susan told him this, he closed his eyes and put his forehead on the bed. 'Oh Abby', he whispered. 'I tried to help you, I really did.'

'None of us knew it was this bad Carter. She kept it well hidden from all of us.'

'She's never been one to open up to people,' Carter whispered. 'Even when we were together…well I had to force her to say anything.' He felt Susan's hand on his shoulder.

'We can't help her unless she wants us to, Carter. It's hard, but she's got to get help herself. All we can do is support her and love her the best we can.'

'Yea I know, you're right.'

'She's going to be ok. She's tough. Physically she'll get out of this. But then it's up to her to work out what she wants to do. There are trained people in this hospital that will help her. But she has to make that decision on her own.'

'So, we just sit here and wait for her to do it again? What if it's worse the next time? How can she expect us to just sit here, waiting for her to do something else stupid…' Carter stopped. He turned to look at Abby. He felt so scared for her, but he just felt so angry too. 'I'm sorry' he said, more to Abby than to Susan. 'I just don't know what to do…'

'It's hit us all really hard.' Susan said. 'When they brought her in…I couldn't stand it. I just couldn't work on her. It was too hard.' Susan began to get upset at the conflict between her professional and personal interests.

'Hey…I would've been the same, Susan.'

Just then the door opened again. Sam slowly walked in. 'They're ready for her upstairs now. I'll take her up.' She was followed into the room by Frank.

'Um...there's a multi-vehicle MVA pulling up. We need all hands on deck.'

'I'll take it' Carter said, going to follow Frank out the door. Before he left, he stroked Abby gently on the head. 'Get them to call us as soon as she wakes up', he said to Sam before walking out.

'Dr. Lewis, I need to take her upstairs.'

'I know. Let's go.' Susan and Sam wheeled Abby out into the corridor. Every member of staff watched with a worried look as she went by. Kerry, who had just arrived at work, was about to go into the lounge to get changed. Her jaw dropped when she saw Abby on the trolley. Arriving at the lift, Carter rounded the corner.

'Susan, we need you.'

'Ok I'm coming.' Giving Abby a light kiss on the forehead, she turned to go. Heaving a sigh, she watched the lift doors close.