Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Setting: Philadelphia, Lu's apartment

Chapter 3: DISCUSSIONS

"Hey Mom, you're home early." 14 year old Marc greeted his mother when she entered their apartment.

"My last patient cancelled so I made a break for it before I could get paged to the ER or somethin'," Lu answered. "Besides, I thought maybe we could talk." Lu poured herself a glass of Pepsi and sat down at the table across from him.

"Okay, what did I do now?" Marc questioned.

"What makes you think you did anything?" Lu asked. She smiled to herself as she realized that she had had those same thoughts earlier today when she had been called to Dr. Jackson's office.

"Well, for one thing, you hardly ever get home early. So I must have done something." Lu shook her head.

"No, you didn't do anything. But there is something that I need to talk to you about." Marc closed his math book.

"What?"

"What are your plans for this summer?" Lu asked. Marc shrugged.

"I don't know. Same as usual, I guess. You know, spend time with the guys, spend time at Dad's. Nothing out of the ordinary. Why?"

"How would you feel about spending some time in California?" Lu questioned.

"Are you serious?" Marc asked. "Why? We don't even know anyone in California. Do we? And how long are we talking about here?"

"A month or two." Lu replied. Marc was silent for a moment as he thought about what she had said. His mother very seldom even took time off from the clinic. And now she was talking about spending a couple of months in California? This was weird, he told himself. Something was going on.

"Mom, what's this all about? What's going on?" He questioned. Lu took a deep breath, then explained the situation to her son. When she finished, she waited expectantly for his response.

"Well?" She asked when he didn't say anything. Marc shrugged.

"I don't know, Mom. Two months is a long time. What about your patients?" Marc finally asked.

"Dr. Campbell and others will cover them for me." Lu answered.

"Do you want to go?" Marc asked.

"I'm not sure what I want to do yet, Marc. But this would be my chance to help other people. I would hate to see another free clinic close like mine did. But I won't do it if you don't want to go." Marc was thoughtful for a moment.

"I could maybe stay with Dad." Lu bit her lip.

"I'm sure your dad would be happy to have you stay with them for a couple of months. But I wouldn't like having you gone for that long." Lu said softly. Mother and son sat there in silence, each thinking about the situation at hand.

Meanwhile, in Glenoak California, in the Camden home...

"Eric, please tell me you didn't tell Hank that that doctor and her son could stay here." Annie Camden said hopefully after Eric had told her about the visit he had received from his sister's husband.

"No, I didn't." Eric answered. "I told him that I would talk to you and let him know."

"Good," Annie said. "Because the answer is no. We've already got a full house. The last thing we need around here is two more people. Especially another teenager. Why would Hank even ask?"

"Because they don't have room in their apartment for two more people." Eric replied. "And because he knows that we often have extra people staying here. Annie, this may be the last hope of keeping the free clinic open."

"Well, what is so special about this doctor?" Annie questioned. "What do you know about her?"

"Apparently she had started the South Philly Women's clinic, and when it went under, she merged her practice at Rittenhouse hospital. Hank feels that she might be able to help them keep the clinic open because she's been through it. Will you at least think about it, Annie?" Annie sighed heavily.

"Ok. Fine. I'll think about it. But I won't promise you anything." Eric leaned over and kissed her.

"Fair enough." Eric kissed her again.

"Thanks, honey. That's all I ask."