"What?" Kerry and John asked together, as they walked to Sam.
John grabbed the letter from Sam reading it
"Dear, Jenna, I know you've been waiting for this for months, but I have finally found your brother. His name is John Carter and he is a Doctor at County General in Chicago. I will contact you later on this week and help you with arrangements to get down there and a place to stay. If you need anything else please call me, my cell is 555-7789"
Sincerely Harold.
"What the hell is this?" John asked "Is this some sort of joke?"
"I don't know, but you know policy Carter" Kerry explained. "Go send Kovach in, we'll do a DNA test, until we find out if she's you sister or not, until then you are off the case.
"Policy? Kerry, I don't have….. a sister." John trialed off
"What is it John?" Sam asked.
"No way, the only sister I had…..I was told she died at birth. It's impossible" John exclaimed.
"Stats are dropping….she's seizing!." Abby yelled as an alarm went off.
John started to go towards Jenna but was stopped by Kerry. "John, until we figure out who she is, you are off the case. Get Kovach." She yelled running to help Jenna.
John angrily stormed out of the room. "Luka, you need to get in there, I explain later." John yelled as he went into the Doctors lounge. John stood there for a moment, reading over the letter again. "This can't be right" he mumbled.
It was a couple hours later, Carter sill sitting in the Doctors Lounge looking over a chart.
"John? She's stabilized and she's resting for now, but still hasn't come to since her seizure. We still don't know what is exactly wrong. Test results are back, they're all skyrocketing. We're waiting for a surgical consult to rule out appendicitis, and I'm going to try to rule out meningitis too. Are you alright?" Kerry asked. "We can do a DNA test, find out who she is…."
"She's my sister." John whispered. "I called my parents, to find out what was going on. When I was seventeen, my brother died of cancer, right after that my mother gave birth to Jenna, she was three weeks early. My mom couldn't deal with having another kid, she felt like Jenna would replace my brother. So my parents put her up for adoption." John explained.
"That's terrible." Kerry exclaimed.
"That's only the beginning. I phoned Harold, the guy who wrote her the letter. He gave me information on where to find past charts on medical history and filled me in a little bit of life history. I had the charts faxed over too. Since birth she's been in foster homes. 6 foster homes, until she was 13, now she's living in a group home. Since she was 14 she's been looking for her real family. Harold was a private investigator, who worked undercover at the group home, helping the kids there find their families. When she was 15 she found out the truth about her real family." Carter trailed off.
"And?" Kerry asked.
Carter pushed another piece of paper, and old chart from some other hospital. "That is from the same day she found out who her family was, and why she was put into adoption.
"Patient brought it, unconscious" Kerry read "Attempted suicide? This poor girl."
John nodded. "I can't believe my parents. The Carter family is the wealthiest in Chicago. We have more than enough money for twenty kids. Yet they throw her away like a piece of trash? No one knew about her, not even Gram."
"Carter…..I know this is hard on you."
"Yeah, hard on me? What about my sister? I can't imagine what it felt like when she found out the truth about my….our family."
"John, why don't we get a family councilor down here, when Jenna wakes up and is in more stable condition , you can talk to her, explain things." Kerry said softly.
"I don't need one Kerry, I already know what I'm going to do. When I talk to her I'll ask her to come live with me. I have more than enough money from what Gram left meI have access to the Carter Family funds. I'm going to give her what she deserves."
"John don't you think you're being a little irrational? You barley know her."
"Kerry, what would you do if you were in my position?"
Kerry sighed, "I'd do the same thing. Just be careful, and try to find this group home, you'll probably need social services too, if your sister agrees to come live with you, then there will be papers to sign."
John nodded "I'm going to go check on her."
"Yeah, go ahead, take time off, if it does get busy I'll page you or get someone else to pull a double. I still need you for Pratt's shift tonight." Kerry replied softly.
"Thanks Kerry" John replied walking out of the lounge.
John walked into the exam room, just as surgeon Dr. Romano walked in. "Carter, this is the consult?"
"Yeah, this is Jenna, ruling out appendicitis" John replied
"Oh, so this is the one who is, supposedly your long lost sister?" Romano asked, as he examined Jenna
"Yeah, she's my sister. Little hard term to grasp, but…." John trialed off.
"Here's the portable ultrasound you wanted, Dr. Romano" Sam announced as she entered the room.
"Well thank you, I asked for that ten minutes ago, but its only a patients' well being nothing to rush for." Romano exclaimed in his usual sarcastic tone.
Sam glared at him, as she went to Jenna. "Temp's. 104, well it's going down at least." She mumbled.
"She's not out of the woods yet" Dr. Romano exclaimed. "Appendix is inflated" he said, pointing the picture on the screen.
"Is that what's causing the fever?" Sam asked, checking Jenna's pulse.
"Could be part of the reason, don't think it could have caused it to be that high." Dr. Romano mumbled as he scribbled something on her chart. "Has Kerry or Kovach ruled out meningitis?"
"Not yet, she's going to wait to see how her stats are, she was severely dehydrated and malnourished when she was brought in., also could have caused her fever." Sam exclaimed, leaving the room.
"Right, page me after she's tested for meningitis, I could probably schedule her for later tonight or tomorrow." Romano exclaimed. "Has anyone found past charts?"
"Yeah, I had them faxed over; Kerry is looking them over in the Lounge."
Romano nodded, "Must be hard, finding out you have a sister you never knew about. Good luck with whatever you decide to do"
John nodded, looking at Romano awkwardly; it was very rare he ever showed his soft side.
"Oh and Carter, don't be telling everyone I have a soft side, I have a reputation to uphold". Romano said leaving.
John smiled, as he sat down beside Jenna's bed, resting his head against the wall.