A/N: So, here's the last chapter of the fic. I want to thank again to my beta Argallel, who did a great job and to all who found the time to review. Hope you enjoyed reading the fic as much as I did writing it:) Let me know what you thought, and... see you at the next fic.

The next hour was a distant blur to Connor. There was confusion, people moving around him, asking him questions, poking him, and shining that stupid light in his face. And of course there was pain - a lot of it. He felt tears running down his face as he tried to burrow his head in the pillow, wishing for unconsciousness, but everyone around him kept telling him to stay awake. For a moment, Connor really hated this hospital, and everything it represented.

"Dr. Rhodes, I need you to stay still."There was a tinny voice coming from somewhere far away, and Connor opened his eyes in confusion, seeing he was stuck in the middle of a machine.

„What-" he wanted to ask, but there was a coppery taste in his mouth and he felt a tight band around his head, holding him down to the bed, Everything was confusing and he already forgot the question.

"Dr. Rhodes, you need to relax. It's just a CT, it'll be over shortly." Connor recognized the voice of the technician, though he couldn't put a name to it. "Try and hold still, please."

Connor let out a frustrated growl, his hands clenching into fists. He tried to move them but realized he was pretty much strapped down. Despite his best intentions and medical knowledge, his brain wasn't firing on all cylinders, and the reality started mixing with nightmares. The machine vanished and he was back in his house, lying tied up on the floor. But this time the person squatting down next to him wasn't an angry man or a woman in red. This time it was the teenage version of his sister patting him on the head.

"Claire?" Connor croaked, frozen in surprise. "What-"

For the first time, Connor thought that he might've died and gone straight to hell. Reality just kept vanishing, turning into this twisted nightmare and he couldn't find the way out.

"Now now, little brother, stop struggling," Claire softly cooed into his ear, her hand gently running through his hair, hitting the throbbing wound on his scalp.

"Claire, please... untie me," Connor pleaded, the rope around his wrists feeling like jabbing needles.

"Why? So you can run away and leave me alone? Again?" Claire asked as she shook her head.

"I won't leave, I promise." Connor was panting for breath, trying to look up and into his sister's eyes, but she just shook her head, looking at the closet door behind him. Connor had a crawling feeling that she was looking at something specific, or maybe even someone, but he didn't dare to turn around and check it.

"Liar liar, pants on fire," she sung reproachfully. "You promised before, you know. During mom's funeral."

Connor blinked, because it was a memory he had buried long ago, quite literally, along with his mother.

"Don't worry Claire, I promise, I will never leave you. Just stop crying," Claire recounted. Connor twitched, his heart filled with sudden pain. He remembered that awful day, how he couldn't stop thinking about the night his mom died, but Claire had kept sobbing next to him and it sounded just too much like his mother's cries before she jumped. He couldn't take it any longer. So he hugged his sister and promised something he couldn't fulfill. Even at that age he knew he would have to leave to go somewhere far away from the place that ruined his mother.

"I'm sorry Claire," he said wearily. "I tried, I really did. But I couldn't stay. It would've ruined me. I just... I needed to get away."

"Yeah, but what about me, Connor? Did you even think about me when you up and left? When I didn't hear from you for several months at a time? While you were out there discovering yourself, I was left to pick up the pieces and help dad keep his head above the water. Do you know how hard that was? How much it hurt to see you leave?" Her voice rose steadily and Connor could feel her anger rise with it. The temperature suddenly dropped, and he felt like someone had just thrown a bucket filled with ice water down on his head. Connor started shivering, his teeth chattering.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Claire. P-please, just l-let me go," he begged, feeling that he couldn't take any more of this. He wished for all of this to end, whatever the hell was going on. But Claire just shook her head and patted him on the cheek with a smile.

"No way, no how," she sing-songed. "I'll keep you here in the closet, right next to mom. I will never let you go, ever again. See? She agrees with me," Claire said with a smile, This time Connor couldn't stop, he just had to look. Something cold touched his back as he turned his head and came face to face with his mother.

He should've just closed his eyes and stopped the madness, but he couldn't. He couldn't pry his eyes off the bloodied, deformed face of the woman who once sung lullabies to him, who tended to his bruised knees and made the best tomato soup he ever ate. It was his mother.

"Mom?" he asked, his voice choked and barely audible.

"Shhh," She put a crooked finger to her bloodied lips, then leaned over and gave a gentle kiss to his forehead. Connor whimpered but couldn't pull away, frozen in horror.

"Everything will be okay, Connor. I will always be with you."

"Please, mom." Connor's eyes were closed tightly even as he felt her fingers brush over his hair. "I know I should've said something, made you not jump. I just didn't know, I swear. Mom. Make this stop. Please. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for, baby," she said calmly, and when Connor opened his eyes, the blood had vanished and her face was just as he remembered... beautiful and smiling.

"It will be okay. We will meet again, just not yet. Rest, baby. It's time you woke up."

"Mom?" Connor breathed and he felt the ropes around his hands and legs vanish into thin air. He realized that the room was also getting brighter and the oppressing silence was being slowly penetrated by noise. Shuffling feet, squeaking of wheels and an irritating beeping - all of it was getting stronger, louder. Claire was long gone and as the room filled with white fog, he clutched at the hand of his mother, wishing fervently to feel her touch one more time before everything vanished.

"You're not alone, Connor. Never alone," she said, and Connor hoped with all his heart that it was true. "It's time to wake up now, Connor," was the last thing she said and for once, Connor decided to listen to his family.

When he opened his eyes, he was lying in a different bed, hooked up to more machines than he was before, but the crippling pain he remembered was gone. The headache was still there, but it was much less pronounced, and Connor didn't have the urge to smash his head against the wall.

"I think our sleeping beauty has decided to wake up." A familiar voice spoke from his left side, and in the next moment, there were two faces leaning in his sight.

"About time too," Ethan said with a grin as Maggie put her hand in Connor's and gently squeezed. Connor blinked and squeezed back.

"Hey," he croaked, then grimaced at the taste in his mouth. He felt like he just woke up after a three day drinking binge. "Water?" he asked, but Maggie was already handing him a spoon with some ice chips.

"Thanks," he muttered, then slowly reached up towards his head. He felt the bandage and something else, but Ethan pulled his hand away before he could examine the object.

"Careful," Ethan said and maneuvered Connor's hand back to the bed.

"Did my head explode?" Connor asked with a grimace and Maggie chuckled.

"It might feel like that, honey," she said, then shook her head. "But no. It's just the ICP monitor."

"Still bleeding?" Connor frowned, wishing this nightmare could finally be over.

"Not anymore, but you gave the night shift quite a scare. Your blood pressure shot up despite the meds. The bleeding got worse. Roscoe decided to operate. So they stopped the bleeding, but I'm afraid you're stuck with the ICP monitor for a few days, just to make sure."

"Awesome," Connor sighed and blinked. "How long was I out?" He wanted to ask more questions, like how did the surgery go, if they did a full craniotomy or just drilled some holes in his skull. What meds were they keeping him on, if the fuzzy feeling was due to brain damage or just the meds. Frankly, he didn't have the energy or capacity to grasp the answers to his questions, not now. He recalled most of the last few days and hopefully he would be able to retain this conversation as well. Right now he would be happy with simple questions and answers.

"They took you into surgery right after the CT. You had a small seizure in there, but Roscoe and Jacobs are pretty sure that it shouldn't be an issue anymore." Ethan yawned, and Connor frowned. "Sorry," Ethan apologized, hiding another yawn. "I got the call that you were going to surgery around 1am."

"You been camping out here since then?" Connor asked, surprised. Ethan just shrugged.

"Couldn't really just go back to sleep after that, could I?"

"I read the text from Amy around five, you were already out of the surgery by then," Maggie said and winked, when she saw Connor's questioning glance. "What, you didn't think I wouldn't be keeping tabs on you? I'm the ED head nurse. I am supposed to be on the top of the gossip ladder."

"Uh, thanks, I think," Connor said after a moment, still trying to get his head around the situation. "So what's the time now?"

"Just before seven am, which means we'll have to head back to ED. And let Jacobs know you're awake. Last I saw him he was busy talking to your dad on the phone," Ethan said and Connor couldn't stop the grimace. He knew there was a conversation that needed to happen between him and his father, he just didn't think today was the right day for it.

"Think I'll just go back to sleep, preferably for the next week," Connor said with a sigh and was a bit surprised by the quick peck on the cheek Maggie gave him.

"Sleep is the best medicine right now, Dr. Rhodes," she said with a smile. "I'm happy you're alright." Then she gave him a quick swat on his shoulder and Connor yelped.

"Ow! What was that for?" he protested.

"For scaring us like that. Start bleeding in the middle of the night, duh." She was still muttering on her way out of the cubicle, and Ethan watched her with an amused grin.

"Hope you won't be kissing or hitting me," Connor said a bit grumpily. Ethan just quirked his eyebrow and grinned.

"I'll save that for the girls, thanks. But you owe me a drink, man. As soon as you're off the meds, that is."

"I'll buy you two," Connor answered with a smile that turned into a yawn.

"I'll get going and let Jacobs know you're awake. Glad you're okay, buddy."

Connor nodded and closed his eyes. He wasn't even sure what being okay entailed, not after everything he saw in the last two days. He didn't know why the attack brought up the memories of his mother's death. Somewhere deep inside, he was wondering if it was really all just a dream, or if there was some chance that he actually spoke to his mother. Sadly there was no way to know for sure if everything was just the work of his imagination or not, and Connor was a bit glad for it. Maybe he could push it back again, lock it up in the closet and throw away the key.

Or maybe...

Maybe it was time to deal with everything that happened twenty years ago. After all, he came back to Chicago to face his demons. There was no way to know how much time anyone had on this earth, these last few days should've taught him that. And he owed an apology to his sister, for a promise he couldn't keep.

When Dr. Jacobs appeared a few minutes later, Connor opened his eyes and looked at the doctor.

"Can you call my father, please? I need to talk to him."

Dr. Jacobs looked a bit stunned, but quickly nodded.

"There's no need to call. He's already on his way to see you."

"Oh, okay," Connor said with a sigh. The oncoming conversation wasn't going to be easy and maybe he shouldn't be doing it under all those drugs, but he knew that they've already lost a lot of time and if he waited any longer, he might lose the courage his mother's words gave him. After all, his work family was there for him. It was time to get back his blood family as well.

The End