"So you're Carrie, Piney's kid."

Carrie looked over her shoulder, noticing Mary standing by the kitchen table. Their earlier introduction hadn't gone so well.

Mary had taken one look at her and given her the stink eye, completely ignoring her existence. She had even heard her calling Opie, giving him the third degree before calming down. But not before Carrie had heard the word club whore repeated numerous times along with a few other expletives.

"Yeah," Carrie nodded before quickly drying her hands, turning away from the sink. Facing the blonde and heavy set woman, who happened to be her father's ex wife.

Mary looked at her from head to toe, making Carrie feel slightly self conscious. "Well, I always knew that old geezer didn't have a faithful bone in his body," she shook her head. "But I never thought he'd have another kid out there."

"Piney didn't even know," Carrie answered, slowly closing the distance. "This was something of a recent development. I was adopted, so it's fair to say none of us suspected or knew anything."

"Yeah, well that'll teach him about not wrapping his junk," Mary looked away before she sat down at the table. Motioning for her to take the seat next to her. "I hear you're a nurse at ST. Thomas?"

Carrie nodded. "I work in the pediatric unit though," Carrie had an idea of where this might be going. But she didn't want to piss off Opie's mom, so she treaded carefully.

"But you understand the medical jargon. So give it to me straight," Mary paused looking at the tabletop. "What are Donna's chances?"

Even though Carrie understood the jargon thrown around. She wan't sure how to answer that because she was hopeful that everything would be fine. But the truth was they simply didn't know. They didn't know the full extent of damage and Donna for the most part was hanging on.

But how much longer would she hold on?

Carrie was just about to answer when her ringing phone cut off any response she might have had. Glancing at it, she felt her heart stop before it began to race, before quickly picking it up.

"What's going on?"

"They're taking her into surgery. Doctor's feel she's stable enough."

"I'm on my way. I'll see you soon," Carrie glanced at Mary. "She's in good hands Opie and she's strong. She's held on for the past two days, she'll be fine."

"The good news was that the bullet didn't hit the brachial plexus. It just managed to nick the artery but it was clean shot. It went straight through no bullet fragment or shrapnel left over," Dr. Matthews informed them. "She was very lucky but she should make a full recovery and have complete movement of her arm. We have her in recovery but we'll move her into the ICU in about an hour. We'll still have her sedated and intubated at least until tomorrow, I want to keep her under observation for another day. Then we'll transfer her to another room, if all goes well, where she'll remain until early next week. Hopefully by then everything is well and she can go home to finish recovering."

"Thank you Dr. Matthews," Carrie said as he briefly shook their hands, giving them a brief nod before leaving them to wait. Both Carrie and Opie let out a sigh of relief as they sat back down.

"I'm going to hit the road after seeing Donna," Opie quietly spoke as he stared at the floor.

"I'm sorry, what?" Carrie looked at him shocked. "She just got out of surgery Opie. Shouldn't you stay until she's out. I'm sure if you talked to the club-"

"This isn't a club thing Carrie," Opie said cutting her off. "I have to get out of town for a bit. Clear my head."

"What about the kids? Donna?"

"I'll ask Mary to keep an eye on them." Noticing Carrie's look, Opie shook his head. "I have to do this. Staying here is only going to eat at me even more. I almost lost my wife, thats some tough shit to wrap my head around while I'm here."

"Fine, you do what you have to do," Carrie sighed. "I'll keep an eye on Donna and the kids. I'll update you on what's going on. How long are you planning on being on the road?"

"A few days," Opie shrugged before looking at her. "Maybe a week. I'll keep you updated on where I'm at and when I'll be home."

Short chapter. Kind of a filler on Donna before we enter Season 2.

Which officially starts next chapter.

Now since Donna lives, the story won't be completely following canon. I'll still include some of the events that happened in the show depending on which benefit the new storyline. All the events that stemmed from Donna's murder will either not be included or will be modified. But most likely then not they won't happen.

Just a heads up.

Stay safe guys.