Silence. That was the main feature of the ICU ward. Although machines beeped and ventilators hissed and whirred every hour of the day and night, there was always an overwhelming sense of silence. A sense of people being there, but their minds being elsewhere.

The nameplate read 'Lockhart, A'. The figure in the bed - small, thin, and so completely unlike the headstrong doctor that worked in the ER a few floors below – lay still. Perfectly still. Then her eyelids fluttered.

'Carter!' Frank shouted over the reception desk. 'It's ICU…she's awake.'

Carter signed off on the patient he was working on and grabbed the phone from Frank. 'She's awake? How is she? Is she still ventilated? Has she said anything?'

'Ok Dr. Carter,' the voice on the end of the phone said. 'She's ok. You need to calm yourself down though! She's awake and conscious. She isn't on the ventilator at the moment but she's completely exhausted so we're letting her sleep. You're more than welcome to come and see her, but if she's still asleep you mustn't wake her. She needs a lot of rest.'

'Ok…yep…yep…alright…thank you!' Carter put the phone down and took a deep breath. 'She's ok. She's awake.' The relief was immense…but he was still worried. He knew he was going to have to ask her why she did it. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know the answer. Walking slowly over to the elevator, he called Susan over as she walked past. 'Hey! Susan! I'm going up to see Abby…she's awake, the ICU nurse just called.'

'Oh thank goodness.' Susan's relief was clear. 'You're going up now? Don't you think she needs some rest?'

'I want to see her…. I've got to know why…' Carter didn't finish.

'Carter…you've got to be kidding me. Listen, it's none of our business. Maybe she will never tell us why she did it. As long as whatever it is gets sorted, that's what we need to be concerned about.' She stopped and looked Carter right in the eye. 'Don't you dare go around thinking that she did this because of you, Carter. And don't you dare go around thinking only you can make her better. That is just big-headedness, you know.'

Carter was shocked…mostly because he hadn't realised Susan could read him so well. 'Kinda presumptuous of me I guess?' He asked sheepishly.

'Carter…just be there for her, yea?' He nodded in reply. 'Give her my love, tell her I'll come up and say hi when my shift ends.' The elevator had arrived by now, so Susan smiled and went off to her next patient.

Carter noticed the quietness of the ICU compared to the ER.

'Abby Lockhart?' He asked the nurse at the desk.

''Down the hall on the left. She's still asleep, let her rest ok?' Carter nodded and walked down the hall. Turning the corner he saw he lying in the huge bed. She was sleeping peacefully, seeming a lot more comfortable without so many tubes and wires connected up to her. As he was standing in the doorway, he heard the nurse walk up behind him.

'We're still looking for her family. She has a mother and a brother, right?' Carter nodded. 'We've been trying to track them down but we've had no luck so far.'

'Yea that doesn't surprise me. I'll see if I can get hold of them somehow.' The nurse nodded and walked back to her desk.

Carter sat down next to Abby's bed. Slowly he reached out and held her hand. 'Hey Abby', he whispered, trying not to wake her. Now he was here, he felt awkward…he didn't know what to do.

'You gave us a scare back there, y'know? Everyone was worried…Susan was really cut up. Hey, you even made Kerry speechless, that's gotta be a first, right? I don't know why you did this Abby…maybe I'll never know. But…well you know I love you. I know stuff didn't work out between us, but you'll still be one of the best friends I'll ever have. Jesus Abby…why couldn't you have talked to someone? Why this?' Carter didn't want to wake her, so he stopped himself before his voice got too loud. He remembered what Susan had said…about Abby having to work things out for herself.

'I hope you do something about this Abby. We'll be here, we'll support you and love you, but you've got to do this yourself.' Abby squirmed and her eyes sleepily opened.

'John…' Abby spoke softly. 'I'm so sorry John…I've been so stupid…'

'Hey…shhhh, don't get yourself worked up. You just concentrate on making yourself better, then we'll sort out the next step.'

'I'm glad you're here John.'

Carter just smiled. Abby was back.