Chapter 8 Dr. Mat's Surprise

Disclaimer: I do not owe any of the 7th heaven characters besides the ones that I create myself.

As you remember in the previous chapter, both Annie and Eric flew out to New York to see their daughter, Mary, who was in the hospital. Mary's husband whom she left a little over a year ago was already in the hospital and was in the room with Mary a waiting for her brother, Dr. Mat, to come in to do more tests. Well, read on to find out what happens when Mat meets with Mary and Carlos and the rest of his family. See what also happens when the rest of the children find out the real reason why their parents flew out to New York on such a short notice. Hope you enjoy it.

After seating in the corner chair for a while, Carlos was getting very anxious but also very tired and not even noticing it himself, he started falling asleep. His head started hitting his chest and next thing he knew he was completely asleep. But all of a sudden he started hearing strange noise. He quickly opened his eyes and was shocked when to his surprise he was his own brother- in- law entering the room.

"Mat?" asked Carlos in a shock more from being suddenly woken up than from seeing Mat in the room. "What are you doing here?"

Mat looked blankly at Carlos, not even sure what to say in response.

"Well…" he started to say. "I have been working in this hospital for a while now. Ever since Sarah and I moved, I got a position here. But let me ask you" Mat continued, "what are you doing here?" He really stressed the word you.

"Didn't you know who your patient is? I really thought you would have known before you came to treat her. She happens to be your own sister, Mary." Carlos said it all calmly as a matter of fact. Mat looked at Carlos in a shock, like he was just fooled. He was obviously shocked for two reasons: one he did not know anything about his sister for over a year now. As sad as it might sound he did not think of her as often now as he did when he first found out that she left her family and disappeared. He really wanted to know how and why Carlos found out about Mary but at the same time he knew that time was of an essence and that he could not afford to loose any if he wanted to in fact see his sister alive. He asked Carlos to step out of the room and quickly and carefully started performing the much needed test on her in hopes to find out what was wrong with her and why she was admitted into the hospital.

Chapter 9 Carlos and Mat finally talk

After another hour, Mat finally came out of the room. He went straight to Carlos who was asleep once again. Mat was nervous and sweaty. Even though the results of the tests have not yet come in, he already did not have a good vibe about Mary's condition. He also wanted to get any other pieces of information that might be vital that Carlos knew that he was lacking.

Gently he nudged Carlos who quickly woke up. They both decided that for the confidentiality purposes they are to go to an empty conference room where they could discuss all the necessarily details. They took the elevator downstairs where they found a small tiny room with a round table and couple chairs. Both Mat and Carlos went in and shut the door behind them. Very nervous and finally needing the answers, Mat spoke up first.

"Carlos, I know you want to know the results of the tests that I did while in the room. But unfortunately they will not be ready for another couple of hours or so. But meanwhile if you do not mind, can you please fill me in as to how you found out about Mary's whereabouts." Right away Carlos started filling Mat in on how this very early morning his mother was reading the New York Times and found an article that she was interested in and spotted the picture of Mary on the bottom of it. Even though it was not a clear shot, she was able to recognize Mary right away. He pulled out the folded piece of the newspaper and gave it to Mat to read.

After couple seconds Mat looked back at Carlos. He still did not have all the answers he was hoping to get but neither did Carlos. Both guys looked at each other and took deep breaths not sure what to say or to do next. All they could really do now was to wait for test results and for Mary to be in a more stable condition to be able to explain herself to them. Once again both Mat and Carlos were seating in silence not saying much to each other; just thinking about Mary and her future and both praying that God could grand her one. All of a sudden Mat's beeper went off and he was called to go into another project. He told Carlos that he will be back as soon as he can and he will discuss more details as they get them. Carlos was left alone once again. He was left alone to his thoughts and decided that the best thing to do for now was to try to calm down and relax and not to think about Mary until he gets more answers but… the task at hand was not as easy as he thought.

Mat went back to Mary's room. Went he walked in, to his surprise, she was finally awake. The nurse and another doctor were next to her bed. She seemed alert enough and her eyes were fully open. "That is a good sign." Mat thought to himself and he neared the bed. As he came closer he could see that Mary had many small scars on her face and that her right check was swollen.
"Hi Mary." Mat said rather simply. He did not want to tell her yet that he was her brother but was sure that sooner than later she would be able to recognize him. After having a brief conversation with the nurse and the other doctor and filling them in on some more important details of the patient, Mat asked to be left alone with Mary at least for a brief period of time.

As soon as he was left alone with Mary, Mat made sure that the door to the room was securely closed. He came to Mary's bed once again and once again started by saying: "Hi Mary, I am Dr. Mat. How are you feeling today?" Right away he could see tears in her eyes….

Chapter 10: Mary's surprise.

With her eyes now full of tears, Mary looked up at Mat. She looked more like a child than a grown up woman. Neither of them was sure where to start. To begin with Mat was not all that sure the reason for Mary's tears and not knowing whether or not she has recognized him, did not want to shock her more than needed. Still looking shocked and scared, Mary decided to speak up first. "Hi Mat," she began as she lowered her eyes. "I am not sure where or how to start but I think I might as well tell you the whole truth because sooner or later you will find it out any how."

Mary took a deep breath. Right away Mat noticed that it was still hard for Mary to speak and that she was struggling but he was not sure yet as to why. The test results would be reviling the answers soon.

"Don't worry for now." Mat started to respond but saw that Mary now had her face buried in her lap and was crying more. "It is ok." Mat continued to assure her. "You are here and I will do whatever needed so that you will be fine soon." He told his sister but the sad reality struck him other wise. While he was standing and comforting his sister, he heard his beeper and knew that he would have to leave her for a short while. He also knew that Carlos would be very anxious to see her but did not want to overwhelm Mary now and decided that it would be best to let her rest for a while longer while he went to get her test results.

Mat left the room telling Mary that he will be back as soon as he can. On his way back he once again visited with Carlos to tell him good news about Mary who has woken up and was doing pretty good considering her condition just couple hours ago. Carlos was happy and was even more eager to see Mary and to talk to her however Mat told him to wake for a while longer until he got the test results. Then after discussing the results with Mary, Mat promised to go get Carlos and bring him into the room. Carlos agreed with him and told him that in the meantime he will go and call his mother to let her know the good news. Mat also asked him to call his own parents in Glenoak to let them know about Mary and her condition. He decided that for now it would be best not to tell either Annie or Eric any of the shocking details about how and when Mary was found by the local bar the night before. Neither Mat nor Carlos knew that both Annie and Eric were already well on their way to the hospital and that both of them were aware of Mary's well being. With those words and much more positive thoughts in his mind Mat left Carlos and went to obtain the test results in hopes that all of them were positive.

I hope you like those three new chapters. Write back and let me know what you think. I am going to start on another chapter and hopefully update soon. So write back with your ideas and suggestions. All are welcome as long as they are positive and nice.

Chapter 11 Mary's story:

Mat quickly walked to the lab room where he was greeted by the lab technician.

"Good morning Sir" said Jose with a heavy Spanish accent. He was new to the hospital and did not know many names yet so instead he referred to people as Sir and Mam.

Before Mat was able to respond, Jose handed him the result papers. "Those are for the room number 11" said Jose. "They look bueno." Jose added.

"Gracias." Mat said smiling. It has been only a few times that he has spoken with Jose but already he has picked up quite a few phrases in Spanish. Mat took the papers and quickly took a glace at them. "Positive, positive, good…" he said to himself as he headed towards the door. As Mat was taking the elevator to go talk to yet another doctor about the results, he was smiling to himself. Even though he did not know the whole story yet he had a good vibe about his sister's health. He knew that no matter what happened she was and is a strong individual and would be on her feet rather fast.

Mat headed over to the main room where he quickly showed the result papers to Dr. Miller. Dr. Miller was an older lady and was working in New York Hospital for over 20 years. In fact Dr. Miller was Mat's supervisor but she was a sweet easy going lady and Mat loved working with her. While Dr. Miller was looking over the result papers and putting them down in Mary's file, Mat informed her about the happy and shocking news that Mary was his sister. After hearing the story, Dr. Miller went over to Mat and gave him a big hug. She knew a lot about Mat's life and knew how much his family meant to him. She let Mat go to talk to his sister to be able to catch up on life. But she also gently reminded him that if Mary seemed tired not to overwhelm her and to take it slow and easy. Dr. Mat thanked Dr. Miller and was on his way to see Mary again. As much as he wanted to let Carlos see his wife, he decided it be best to talk to her alone first for at least couple of minutes and after letting her know that Carlos was here to see her, see how she feels about it first and then bring him in.

Slowly and carefully Mat walked into Mary's room. Mary was still lying on her bad, her eyes still open. When she heard the door open she turned her head towards it.

"Mary, it is only me, Mat" he said in a quite voice as to not to scare her.

"It is ok" Mary answered. "Come here and seat down. I need to talk to you." Mat walked over to Mary and pulled the chair next to her side.

"I owe you a story. It is a long one. But I will tell you a short version. I am sure you will have to hear more details when I would have to face my other family." Mary started crying once again. Quickly, she turned her face away from her brother. It was evident that she felt shame and pain. Mat took her hand in his to comfort her.

"It is ok. It is all behind you. Whatever it is, I am sure God has already forgiven you for your foolish acts. Now stop crying and tell me how you ended up in this hospital and how come you were admitted under a different last name." Mat had much more questions for Mary but knew it best to let her tell the story all by herself.

"Well," Mary started slowly. "After loosing my job one day, I came home and decided that I was not a good enough wife or a mother. With my job as a pilot I was barely ever home and spent little to no time with my husband or my son." Mary looked away.

"I know it was not easy. Mary we talked every day." Mat responded. Even after a year, he was pleased with the impulse decision that Mary made but seeing her now, he did not want to start of on the bad note, so instead he decided to let her continue the story and deal with the after math of it later.

Chapter 11: While Mary's story goes on: