Disclaimer: I own nada! Zippo! Except for Mary, Michael and Tim. Nope, not even the Doc is mine! Hehe

Memories From the Past Awaken

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It was a fairly busy day in the ER, and nothing was out of the ordinary. Mark Green kept getting whisked away to a new patient while Abby Lockhart was busy calming down a girl who had been in a car wreck and was asking for her boyfriend who had died. But Abby couldn't tell her yet because she was still in a very fragile state. Peter Benton was in surgery with Elizabeth Corday and Carol Hathaway. Dave was trying to beg for some time off, Kerry Weaver was busy with all the paperwork people were dumping on her, Luka Kovac was... everywhere and John Carter was helping a not so rich man with is new found illness.

"I hate to say it... again, sir, but I have to know if you have insurance!"

"I... No, I don't. But I know someone who could help me!" the tattered man said.

"Who is he?" Carter asked.

"Well, we don't know her real name, but we call her the Doc."

"The Doc? Why?" Carter asked, slightly puzzled.

"Well, she won't tell us her real name for some reason. She goes around the whole neighborhood helping the people who need it. She delivered my nephew last week! She has real medical training and knows how we feel. She bonds with us. She's a *real* doctor, not like you people who call yourselves doctors." The man seemed to think very highly of this woman.

"Well, than, do you know if I could call her?" Carter asked, checking a clipboard.

"Nope! She has no phone. If you want to talk to the Doc, you're going to have to go see her."

"Then where could I find her?"

"Well, she's probably working now, helping my sister with my nephew."

"OK, then. What was your name again, sir?"

"Tim. Just Tim. We all go on a first name basis where I come from."

"Right. Well, I'm Doctor Carter-"

"John Carter?" asked Tim, an impressed look upon his face, "The Doc talks about you often." Carter was confused. Had he met 'the Doc?'

"Really? What does she say?"

Tim screwed up his face, trying to remember, "Well, she says you're a good doctor. If I were to have anyone in this place, it would be you. Or maybe that Benton character... Or Corday... I can't remember all of them. Oh, and Mark Green." Carter looked at Tim hard and wondering. Who was this girl that she knew all these doctors from County General?

"Are you sure she never gave you a name?"

"Yep! But, she wanted me to give you a note..." the man began to search in his pocket, "Ah, nuts! I can't find it! Sorry. Must have dropped it somewhere."

"That's fine, sir. Um, I'll be right back," Carter said, noticing he was being paged. He left.

"Please, I have to find Michael! He needs me!" a frantic young blond girl begged Abby.

"Don't worry about him now, Mary, first we need to stabilize you," Abby told her, pushing her gently back into a horizontal position. But the girl sat up again, the blood still oozing from a bad cut in her head.

"Please, I need to see him! The Doc would understand..." the girl crossed her arms.

"Ah, yes, the famous 'Doc!' If I had a nickel for every person I have heard say that name today... But what they won't tell me is, what is her name?"

"Well, She won't tell us her name. We all just know her as 'the Doc.' She's an angel, more than a doctor, I think. It's like the Lord himself sent her to us to help poor souls such as ourselves. We don't have very much money, you see, even between the whole of us. But the Doc don't care about money. She cares about us, though. A true angel!"

"Yeah, so I've heard. Well, I hate to tell you, but your 'Doc' isn't here right now so you're stuck with Abby!"

"Abby Lockhart... You know the Doc, too!" the girl said excited, "You could find her and bring her here!"

"I wish I could, but I don't know your Doc. The only doctors I know are the ones in this hospital and a few others, but I'm pretty sure I don't-"

"But you *must* know her! She talks of you sometimes. And she *has* worked at this hospital before! You must know her! You have to!"

Abby looked up at the girl. She had heard some patients of hers speak of the Doc, but she never knew that she used to work in this hospital or that the Doc, whoever she was, knew Abby, "What does she look like?"

"Like an angel..." Mary sighed, dreamily, "Owe, my head hurts real bad now..."

"Maybe you should get some rest..." Abby suggested, but before she could say anymore, Abby had laid back on her pillow and turned her back to Abby who sighed, got up, and left.

"What have we got?" Kovac asked, jogging to Mark Green's side.

"Respiratory embolism caused heart failure. Get me an ACE inhibitor." Green demanded.

Kovac obeyed, but asked, "Are you sure-"

"Yes!" The patient seemed to be having trouble breathing. Green tried to bring the man to consciousness. He succeeded.

"Sir I need you to..." but the man wasn't paying attention.

"Doc? Doc..."

"Yeah, I'm your doctor! Forget the ACEs!"

"Weaver, fine, then let me go to this neighborhood-"

"We need you here, Dave! Don't bother me right now, please. Could you get that?" Kerry asked as the phone rang. Dave answered it and had a brief conversation.

"Ha! I'm getting out of here after all! They need someone to help a woman and her son, both of which aren't doing too well. They need an ambulance. Please let me take this!"

"Fine, go!" Weaver sighed, without looking up. Finally, he was free. He rushed off to help the people in need.

"Dr. Carter?" Deb called. Carter turned, "I found this on the floor. It's addressed to you."

"Thanks, Deb," Carter said, taking the yellow envelope. On the front, it had, in blue ink, To John Carter. He opened it.

Dear John,

You probably don't know who this is writing this and you don't need to know. But I had to tell you something that has been bothering me for at least a year, since I last saw you. What if the patients you treated that didn't make it, the loved ones you lost, or even deceased pets still lived on? What would you do to reach that part of them that was still alive? What if I told you that part Lucy Knight still lived on? Would you want to try and find that part of her? You can. Here's how: Have faith. Speak to Alison. She'll lead you to her.

Carter reread the note. He then was on his way back to Tim's room.

"Abby, phone call!" Abby heard Kerry call. Abby picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Abby Lockhart?"

"Yeah, who's this?"

"Well... You may know me as 'the Doc.' That's what people around this area call me."

"I am honored to speak with a doctor who is so highly praised by her patients," Abby said, with a little bit of sarcasm.

"It's not like I'm a saint or anything, but... Um, but *you* don't know me as the Doc. You know me as... someone else..." the woman was hesitant.

"Oh really?" Abby chuckled slightly. She was having fun with this woman, "And what do I call you?"

"You used to call me Lucy." Abby's mouth gaped and her fingers loosened and the phone fell to the floor with a thud.

"Where's Carter?" her whisper was barely audible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ma'am... I'm sorry, but your husband wasn't doing too well..." the woman's eyes filled with tears and she began to cry. Benton sighed. He knew he could have saved him.

"Peter... Do you want to go get a drink?" Elizabeth Corday asked.

"Sure, I'm off- Whoa!" Benton said, as Abby skidded across the floor at a great speed, pushing him out of the way. She stopped.

"Oh, Dr. Benton, I'm so sorry! It's just that I have to find Carter! It's important!"

"Do you know where he is?"

"Yeah, I think he's with that guy with the stomach ulcer."

"What do you need to speak with him about?"

"It's about Lu-" but Abby stopped herself. She knew if she said that she had just spoken to Lucy Knight, Benton would think she was crazy, "It's about a phone call."

"You found her letter!" Tim said, happy and relieved, "She wanted you to read it as soon as possible."

"Mr. Tim-"

"No 'Mister,' just Tim."

"Alright then, Tim, was it she who admitted you to this hospital?"

"What? Oh no, not the Doc. She told us that she 'would never be caught dead here,' incase any of you recognize her. She said she didn't want to be known as the person you knew her as."

"Did she really say 'she'd never be caught dead her?'"

"Yep! And she always emphasizes the 'dead' part..."

"Then who did admit you?"

"It was my brother in law. I've been feeling stomach pains and the Doc was too busy with my sister. Besides, she thought it would be better if I went to a real hospital for once."

"Sir, do you know an Alison?"

"Alison? Sure, that's my sister's name!"

"Do you know anyway I could contact her?" Carter asked, his voice slightly urgent.

"Um, no, like I said before, Doctor, we don't have phones. Too poor, you see. We only live in a trailer park with few luxuries."

"I see..."

"Dr. Carter?" Abby said, sliding to a halt at the door, panting slightly.

"Yes, Abby?"

"Well, um, could I... talk to you alone for a minute?" she asked, hopefully. Her eyes were slightly wider than usual. Carter told Tim he'd be back soon and went with Abby into the hallway.

"What is it, Abby?"

"Well, um, do you remember Lucy..." she trailed off, noticing the sarcastic look on his face, "Of course you do, how stupid of me! Well, um, she *is* dead, right?"

Carter paused before answering, "...Last time I checked..."

"Well, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night and I am *really* gullible today, so maybe it was my imagination or a prank call or something, but I knew I recognized her voice and she said she knew me and then she told me I used to call her Lucy and then I knew it was her voice and-"

"Whoa, Abby, slow down!" Carter said, grabbing Abby's shoulders. Abby took a deep breath and repeated what she had just said more slowly and in smaller sentences.

"Are you trying to tell me that Lucy Knight is still alive, even though Corday and Romano both worked on her *and* saw her die? And we... Most of us, all went to her funeral!"

"I know all of this, Carter, but I swear it!"

"Are you sure you don't know another Lucy? It is a common name and you could have had a patient..." but Carter trailed off because Abby was nodding vigorously.

"I know that voice, Carter, and I only know one Lucy."

"Why are you telling me?"

"I don't know... I guess I just thought you'd want to know..." Abby's cell phone began to ring.

"Hello, Abby Lockhart." She said. Carter watched her eyes widened even more.

"Who is this?... I know, I know, you said you're Lucy, but... I don't understand! You can't be Lucy, you're dead!" Abby looked up at Carter, "I'm going to give you to a man called John Carter... What do you mean? Why don't you want to talk to him?... He won't believe you? I don't believe you... Oh, right. He has to find out for himself. Playing a little game?"

"Give me that!" Carter demanded and snatched the phone from Abby, "Hello?"

"John..." said a voice on the other end.

"Hello?" but the line was dead. He looked up at Abby, shock and hope in his eyes.

"That *was* Lucy..."

"Oh thank God you're here! Please, my friend and her son are very sick!" A blond woman said, greeting the ambulance. Green had told Kovac that he could handle the patient on his own and so Kovac joined Dave in the ambulance to the trailer park. Dave could another brown haired woman was sweating and was slightly delirious. Her baby son was crying hard and was sweating as well.

"How long has she been like this?" Kovac asked, carrying the woman and her child onto the ambulance.

"Um... I don't know. An hour?"

"What is her name?" Dave asked. They were now in the ambulance on their way to the ER.

"Alison. And the boy is Jason."

"And your name ma'am?"

"Don't have one. You can call me Doc. Can I help?" The woman said. Kovac and Dave, who hadn't taken much notice of the girl, looked up at her. Her long blond hair was in a ponytail and her face was half hidden with a scarf. Kovac and Dave turned back to the patients.

"Michael! Where's Michael!" Mary screamed tears in her eyes. She was having fits.

"Calm down, Mary! Where is Abby!" Carol called.

"I don't know. Carol, could you handle her? I'm kind of busy here." Green said as he passed by.

"I think so. Mary, relax, come on, just relax! Everything will be OK!" Carol managed to lay Mary gently back on to the bed but she was crying horrible, her face was red. She kept screaming Michael's name.

"Breath, Mary, Breath..."

"Michael..." she sobbed, a little calmer. She stopped crying and began to take deep breaths. She paused.

"I... The Doc told me he was dead..." she sighed. Carol frowned, confused, "I saw her in my sleep," said Mary, seeing Carol's look, "He is, isn't he?" Carol swallowed and nodded. The girl began to cry again, but quietly this time and slowly cried herself to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Doc!" Tim exclaimed when the blond woman came into the room. She closed the door and took off her scarf. She smiled at the man.

"Hello, Tim. Are they treating you well here? Who's your doctor?"

"Why, it's your old friend, Mr. Carter!"

"Dr. John Truman Carter..." the Doc sighed, "What I wouldn't give to see him again."

"Why can't you?"

"It's complicated, Tim."

"He wanted to know what you looked like. Could I take a picture?" Tim asked, hopefully. The Doc smiled.

"... Sure, why not?" and so Tim asked for his most prized possession, a Polaroid camera he asked the Doc to bring if she ever stopped by the hospital. The Doc reached into her jacket pocket and took out the camera. She took her hair out of her ponytail, took a deep breath, and said,

"OK, shoot!" there was a bright flash of light and, smiling, Tim looked up. The Doc smiled back at him. It was an instant camera; one for which the Doc always bought film for, knowing Tim and his family needed their money for food and other essentials. She didn't need food, or money, for that matter. As the picture came out, Tim took it and laid it on the table, waiting for it to develop.

"All right, how are we doing?" Corday asked, opening the door and passing the Doc without seeing her. The Doc's eyes widened with fear and she began to move quietly to the door, her scarf lay forgotten on the floor. Still facing Corday and Tim, she placed her hand on the door knob, about to turn it when,

"Doc, don't go! You said you'd give anything to see Carter again, well maybe this Doctor can help you," Tim said. The Doc's heart raced as, seeming to her in slow motion, Corday turned her head to see whom he was speaking to. The Doc turned around, fast, her back now to both of them. She changed her voice slightly. She did not want any doctors at the hospital to recognize her.

"Um, I have to go Tim," she said.

"Wait... Many patients have spoken of you. I want to see the doctor they admire so much," Corday said, smiling. For some reason, the woman's back looked familiar. The Doc's eyes were shut tight, and her fists were clenched. She swallowed hard. The last thing she wanted to do was to get caught. All though her heart told her to turn around and greet a long lost friend, her mind told her to stay away. If she was caught now, it would all be over.

"Uh... I can't..."

"This man says you are looking for Dr. Carter. Can I help you find him?"

"No thanks, Lizzy, I can-"

"How do you know my name?" the Doc cursed to herself under her breath. Corday had a look of suspicion on her face. *At least it can't get any worse, * the Doc thought. But she was wrong.

"Oh, so you know this one, too, Doc? I knew you knew a lot of doctors at this hospital, but I don't know how many." Tim was smiling, so innocently, unaware his favorite doctor was silently panicking.

"Yes, *Doc, * how many doctors *do* you know?" Corday was getting very suspicious.

"Lizzy, I can't talk now. Please, let me go!" the Doc tried to keep the panic from her voice. If she turned around, all would be lost. Corday would recognize her.

"I am afraid I can't let you do that... Who are you? I mean, your real name?" the Doc swallowed hard again. Caught between a rock and a hard place. She couldn't lie to Lizzy. But there was no reason she couldn't just make a run for it...

"I really have to go!" She said, and ran out the door.

"Wait!" Corday called. She sprinted out the door after the Doc, who was pushing her way through the doctors and patients, trying to hide her face. Corday stopped chasing her when she ran out the door, a look of disappointment on her face. Benton came up to her, looking perplexed.

"She passed me," he said, thinking hard at the same time, "And if I didn't know better, I'd say that was Lucy Knight."

"What?" Lizzy stared at Peter Benton, shocked and quizzical.

"How about that drink now?" Benton responded, slowly, still looking at the place the supposed Lucy disappeared. They had seen her get into a red pickup truck. Corday followed his gaze and nodded, slowly.

"OK, so, Abby, where did you say this trailer park is exactly? You didn't get us lost, did you?"

"Uh..."

"Great!" Carter said, pulling over and stopping the car. Abby turned the map sideways. A red, fairly old, pickup truck pulled over behind them.

"Do you need help, ma'am?" a woman asked when she came to the passenger's window of their car.

"Yeah, we could-" Abby stopped, staring at the blond haired woman before her. Words failed her, "Lu... Lu..." the woman cursed to herself and stamped her foot.

"Great! Perfect!" she said, sarcastically. Carter didn't see why Abby was so flustered. But he couldn't see the girl's face.

"Look, I don't know what got into her, but we need help to find a..." But words failed Carter too. But the woman didn't swear at him seeing her. In fact she smiled.

"John..." she sighed. Carter found his voice.

"Lucy?" he asked. Lucy smiled. Apparently, Abby found her voice too.

"But you're DEAD!" she burst out.

"I won't deny it," she said. Carter and Abby got out of the car. They were on a highway in the middle of farmland and not many cars passed. But Abby thought she saw something stir in the bushes. She watched them, closely.

"You're not dead, you're alive! Why didn't you tell anyone?" Carter demanded. He was happy to see Lucy, but he was angry at her for not contacting him. Lucy frowned, annoyed at his reaction.

"I *am* dead, Carter! I spoke to Them and I begged Them to let me come see you. They said I could talk to you if no one who knew me saw me. I've been biding my time, helping these people here. I need no money because I don't eat or sleep. Then, Alison had a child. I knew that she was very sick and her child would be too. That's when I knew now was my chance! I could see you! So I wrote you a quick letter and insisted Tim go and see a doctor. I would call Alison later. Somehow, I wanted to let you know I was coming, so I called. You weren't around, so I asked for Abby reluctantly. Things were going fine even with Abby in the picture. But there was a complication. I went to visit Tim after I brought Alison in, and Corday came in. She didn't see my face, but I had to run. I couldn't go back. I was driving back to the trailer park, when-"

"Wait, I thought you came in the ambulance!"

"I did. But... I go up to the hospital now and then... I left my truck there last night. Anyway, I was driving to the park when who should I meet but you!"

"Why did you want to see me?"

"I wanted to see how much you cared for me! After I see you and speak with you a little, I have to go."

"WHAT?!" Carter was outraged, "What you're saying is, you called me up, gave me hope and even some fear, make me drive all the way out here to find you, just so you can play and see how far I'd go? Is that what you're saying? And then you're going to disappear? Look, I don't know what you are, but you definately don't know the difference between right and wrong and it's wrong to play with people's emotions and conceptions and believes!"

"First of all, Carter, I am mortal. I can be scared both physically and emotionally even if I have no need to eat! Second of all, I know the difference between right and wrong, and third of all, I am NOT playing with you!"

"Carter?" Abby said, slightly nervous, eyes still on the bush.

"Not now, Abby!" Carter said, waving a hand at her.

"Lucy?" Abby tried.

"In a minute, Abby! When I am done yelling at Carter!"

"Oh when *you're* done yelling at me? What about when I'm done yelling at you?" Carter asked, and went behind Lucy who circled around to see his face. He shouldn't have for the second he put his foot down on the pavement of the highway, a cold, metal bullet embedded itself into his back.

"OK, Carol, how's Mary doing?" Mark said, coming into the room.

"She's sleeping. How's your patient?"

"He'll survive," Mark said, "He's asleep, too."

"Good..."

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Mark asked. Carol sounded weary and worried. Carol gave him a weak smile.

"I've just been working a lot this week, that's all," she said.

"No, that's not all. You're not telling me the whole story."

"Sure I am!" Carol looked at Mark and laughed, finding it difficult to believe that Mark Green knew that she wasn't just tired, of all people. *Is it that obvious?* She asked herself.

"No you're not."

Carol sighed, "It's just... Have you seen Abby? Or Carter? Abby was supposed to be in here with Mary, but she's disappeared and so has Carter."

"I'm sure they're both fine! There's nothing to worry about."

"The last time I saw Carter was this morning around eleven. And Abby I saw around twoish... Maybe I'm overreacting, but I have a bad feeling..."

"You're right, Carol, you are overreacting! Trust me, I'm sure they are both doing great! They can take care of themselves!"

"Really? When was the last time you saw them?" Carol looked up at Mark.

"Uh... You know what, I don't know..."

"Watch out!" Mary sat straight up in bed, blurting out those words.

"Mary, are you OK?"

"I just had the worst nightmare!" Mary breathed.

"Calm down, Mary, do you want to talk about it?"

"Sure... It was the Doc. She was arguing with a brown haired man and that woman who was in here before. I can't remember exactly where they are... that woman... Abby, I think her name was told the man something, but he wouldn't listen and neither would the Doc. Then, the man fell down dead. It was horrible! Blood was coming out of him from all over! The Doc was hysterical! I've never seen her this way before, miss, it was as if she'd lost a brother."

"Well it was just a dream, honey, nothing to worry about," Carol said, dismissing the thought that any of this could actually happen. No one could tell the future. Why should she worry? After all, she probably didn't even know who the man in the dream was...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is my sister OK, Doctor?" Tim asked Corday when she came in.

"How did you know about that?" Corday asked.

"I figured that was why the Doc was here... Do you know what's wrong with her?"

"Dr. Dave and Dr. Kovac are working on her and your nephew. I'm sure they'll be fine. They just seem to have a disease... Tim, could I ask you a question?"

"Sure!" Tim replied.

"When did the Doc first show up in your life?"

"Hmm.... About ten months ago maybe?"

"Hmm..." Corday thought.

"Hello!" Kerry said, annoyed into the phone. She was getting pretty angry. Carter and Abby were no where to be found, people kept dumping work on her, and no one seemed to notice her today. Even when she asked for someone else to pick up the phone no one heard her.

"Kerry? Oh thank God someone's there!"

"Abby? Where are you! You left without telling anyone where you were going!"

"We did tell someone! We told you! You nodded and told us to get out of there. You were in a pretty bad mood." Kerry rolled her eyes.

"What do you want?"

"We need an ambulance, and fast! Carter's been shot!"

"WHAT?!" Kerry screamed and stood up. Half the people around stared at her but she took no notice.

"Where are you?"

"I... I don't know!"

"What do you mean you don't know! You're supposed to know where you are!"

"Stop yelling, you'll attract attention!"

"SO?!"

"Calm down! He'll be fine. I can take care of him for now, but I need equipment. Lucy can-"

"Who's Lucy? I sure hope you aren't hallucinating, Abby, what did you have to drink?" No everyone in the room was looking at Kerry and Peter Benton came over, hearing Abby's name.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"Shhh!" Kerry told him.

"I sure hope you aren't shushing me, Weaver, because you're the one who's shouting! And I am NOT hallucinating!"

"Not you, Peter! And you haven't answered my question! Who's Lucy?"

"Uh, Lucy Nickels. She's visiting... She works at... Um, San Francisco Memorial. But still, we need help."

"How can you not know where you are? We can't have people driving around town looking for you!" there was a pause on Abby's end as she spoke to Lucy.

"Uh, Lucy says we're-" but what she said next was muffled.

"Abby, could you repeat that, I can't hear you?"

"Kerry? Are you still there?" Abby asked.

"Abby?" but the line went dead.

"What is going on? Where's Abby?" Peter asked.

"I have no idea..."

Abby began to pace up and down the street.

"Why did my batteries have to go out now?" Abby asked herself, tossing her cell phone back in the car.

"Why can't you drive him?" Lucy asked, sobbing. She was trying hard to control herself. She and Abby had bandaged his wound with some torn cloth from Lucy's shirt.

"Lucy, we're low on gas! We got lost three times trying to find this road and when we did, we weren't even sure it was the right one!"

"It's the right one if you want to go on to the trailer park. We're closer to the hospital then you think."

"Look around you, Lucy! We're in the countryside! I don't even think we're in Chicago any more!"

"We are still in Chicago and we aren't far from the city if *you* bother to look around! See it's over there! And the park's that way!" Lucy said, first pointing to her right, then to her left, "How much gas do you have?"

"We're running on empty!"

"NO! He can't die yet, he just can't! It's all my fault!" Lucy began to cry again.

"Snap out of it! You're a doctor... Or at least you used to be! It's a perforating wound! I'll try and find a pay phone!" Lucy took a deep breath.

"No, Abby, I need your help. Please!"

"Fine, I'll stay for a while until you have things under control," Abby promised and sat down next to Lucy to help.

"Lucy... Abby..." Carter's eyes opened.

"It's OK, Carter, we'll help you," Abby said.

"I still haven't finished being mad with you..." Carter whispered to Lucy, who smiled weakly at him.

"Entrance wound?" Abby asked, turning to Lucy.

"Uh, back...scapula,"

"Exit wound is the clavicle. OK, We have this under control, Lucy, everything will be OK."

"But we need more equipment! I... I don't know what to do!" Lucy was really panicking.

"I thought you were a brilliant doctor who never panicked? That's what your patients say anyway!"

"Well, that was them! This is Carter!"

"Then pretend it isn't. Keep it professional, Luce, you never used to do this, before! I mean the panicking."

"I've changed in the past year... I'm not who I used to be..." Abby looked up at Lucy and saw the tears in her eyes.

"Yes you are. Mary was right, you *are* an angel."

"Yeah, in that sense... but she wasn't far from the truth, either..."

"Relax, Mary, it was just a dream! Really, she's getting all scared over this dream!" Carol said to Mark.

"Mark..." Corday appeared at the door, "Have you seen Carter recently?"

"No, and neither has Carol. We haven't seen Abby either, this is her patient."

"They've been gone for hours! I hope they're all right..." Corday said, worried. Mark sighed.

"Does every woman in this hospital think they're going to die or something? Really, Lizzy, as I've been telling these two, they will be fine..."

"Wait!" Carol said, "Mary, did you recognize the man in your dreams?"

"No... I've never seen him before..."

"What did he look like?"

"I told you; he had brown hair, brown eyes... Oh I don't remember well..."

"Mark, Lizzy... Do either one of you have a picture of Carter?" Carol asked, slowly.

"Oh come on, Carol, you don't actually think this girl dreamed about Carter, do you?"

"Well, I don't know! That's why I need a picture of him to find out! And we think he's with Abby, don't we?"

"Well, Tim took a picture of him for the mysterious Doc... He gave it to me for a while..." Lizzy looked through her pockets, "Ah! Here it is..." she handed it to Carol and Carol showed it to Mary. Mary was just about to say something when,

"Uh, if I'm interrupting anything, I'm sorry, but we have a problem," all eyes turned to Peter who had just entered the room.

"Yes?"

"...Abby just called..."

"Yes..." Mark said.

"Carter's been shot."

"I told you! I told you he died!" Mary gasped and burst into tears.

"Oh dear..." Corday sighed, "Another one gone..."

"Huh? He isn't dead yet. Abby and Lucy are trying to keep him alive." Peter said.

"Lucy?" Carol, Mark, and Lizzy said together.

"Yeah, Lucy Nickels. She has some medical experience. Abby's friend."

"I'm sorry, sir, but you have it wrong!" Mary said, "Mr. Carter may not be dead, but I know who he's with and he's with the Doc! And that Abby lady. No Lucy. I don't know what you are talking about!"

"Where are they?" Corday asked Peter before he could say anything to Mary.

"That's the problem; we don't know." At this, Carol turned to Mary.

"Mary, think hard, but where were they in your dream?" she asked.

"Um... they were... On a road somewhere..."

"Where, damn it!" Peter demanded. Mary gave him a cowering look.

"I... I'm not sure... I think... maybe it was the road to the trailer park..."

"Do you know what it's called?" Lizzy asked.

"Um..." but she shook her head.

"I need a map and an ambulance!" Peter said, and left.

"What's going on?!" Dave asked, watching four doctors run by, but Luka thought he was speaking of the patient.

"She's delirious! Dave, she thinks you're-"

"Don't you hurt her! Stay away!" Alison screamed, her words were slurred as if she were drunk.

"No, not her! Them!" Dave said, pointing after the passing people.

"I don't know..." but as Dave and Luka watched their co-workers, they didn't see Alison sneak up behind Dave and grab him around the neck. Dave grabbed at her fingers. She was suffocating him and Luka was still looking after the doctors. Dave coughed and gasped, trying to get Kovac's attention.

"Fine, go get a glass of water, Dave, you sound terrible, and watch the patient, I'm going to go see what's- WHOA!" Kovac turned to Dave and saw him fighting for air.

"Don't hurt my friend! You won't go near Lucy, no, not you, you murderer!" Alison screamed and tightened her grip.

"Why does this hospital get all the crazy people?" Kovac asked, trying desperately to pry her hands off of Dave.

"HELP!" He screamed. Dave fell unconscious and Kovac had no other alternative then to put the woman unconscious and so, hit her on the head with a clip board very hard. It was the only thing he could think of at that crucial moment. She passed out, fast, still sweating like crazy.

"Dave, come on, wake up!" Kovac tried, desperately, to revive him, but for the moment, he was out cold.

"DAMMIT!" he swore.

"Carter... NO! His heart rate's failing!" Lucy began to panic again.

"Just shut up and do something about it!" Abby screamed.

"What do I do!" Lucy screamed back.

"I don't know!"

"AH!"

"AH!" Abby was panicking, too. Lucy closed her eyes, tight and shook her head. She then slapped Abby. Abby began to take deep breaths.

"I needed that," Abby said.

"You're supposed to be Miss Calm-and-Collective! I'm the panicky one! Are you stealing my job?"

"No, but could we switch for a while?"

"OK, Abby, why don't we both play the part of Miss Calm-and-Collective. Business, remember? You weren't like this when we were stabbed, were you?"

"Well, I didn't start screaming, but I wasn't exactly normal... And besides! We were in a hospital with other doctors and equipment and stuff! Here, we're on a dusty road side with no equipment, no doctors, and no ambulance on the way! The only thing we did was worry everyone at the hospital!" Lucy took a deep breath, pretending not to have heard.

"STOP THE TALKING START THE WORKING! CARTER'S DIEING HERE!" She screamed half to herself. Abby took a step back, but got the message and began to work.

"Your shirt is soaked! It won't take anymore blood!" Abby said, referring to the sleeve wrapped around Carter's wound. She looked up at Lucy expectantly who gave her a 'don't go there,' look.

"Oh no, here," she said, ripping off her other sleeve, "But no more! I'm not stripping here!" Abby gave her a disgusted 'how could you even think of that now,' look.

"Hey! It's a car!" Abby said, excited, "Maybe they can help!" but Lucy was watching the car as if it was a hearse come to take Carter away.

"We have to get out of here!" she said urgently. It was a black Mercedes and it looked sleek and clean. Lucy didn't like it.

"Why?" Abby didn't understand, "They could get us to the hospital!" and, though Lucy tried to stop her, she ran to the middle of the road and began to wave her arms.

"HEY!" she screamed, "STOP! We need help! Please!" but the car just kept on going. Abby didn't move. She thought the car was slowing down. Lucy was terrified! She knew who was behind the wheel of that car and she knew there was danger ahead.

"ABBY GET OUT OF THE WAY!" she screamed, and dived at her. She got Abby away from the car just in time. Abby watched in horror as the car passed right over the spot she had been standing in two seconds before. The car slowed down and stopped. A tall man with blond hair and a black suit stepped out of the car. Lucy scowled at him from below. When she pushed Abby out of they way, they had both fallen over.

"Hello, Lucy, it's time you go back where you belong," he said, viciously, and took out a gun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 5: Lucy's Assassin

"Don't we even have a God dammed map around here?" Peter screamed.

"I'm sorry, but- did you here that?" Lizzy asked, after a scream.

"Kovac can handle it, it's probably just a patient. Peter, I think I have a road map in my car..."

"Perfect! Thanks, Mark!" Peter said, and he followed Mark and Carol out. Lizzy paused, looking back down the corridor. There was something about that scream...

Kovac put Dave on another bed and tried compressions. He put Alison on her bed. As he tried to get Dave to breath again, Alison sneaked up behind him and hit him on the head.

"Stop helping him! He's a killer!" she screamed. She hit him again and he fell to the floor.

"Luka? Dave? Are you in here? OH MY!" Corday gasped, lost for words. Before her was a frightening scene. Luka Kovac was laying, spread-eagled on the cold hard floor and their patient, Alison, was poised over Dave Malucci with a scalpel, anger written all over her face. She immediately ran to her and took the scalpel away from her. *Not another schizophrenic,* she thought.

"Relax! Stay away from him!" She screamed at Alison.

"He wants to kill Lucy!" Alison cried. Her expression changed and she dived into Elizabeth Corday's arms, tears staining her cheeks. Corday tried hard to comfort her.

"It's all right... No one wants to hurt or kill anyone here..."

"But he does! Lucy told us all! She said that one day he would come for her!"

"This is the Lucy Nickels I've heard of?" Corday assumed. Alison looked up at her, confused.

"I guess... Remember, we have no last names... Lucy's the Doc. She told me her real name was Lucy when she was helping me."

"Look at that man there," Lizzy said, gesturing to Dave, who was still unconscious. She did as if she never seen him before.

"Yes?"

"That is the man you tried to kill."

"What? No, I tried to kill him!"

"Who?"

"Daniel Atkins!" Lucy screamed.

"In the flesh... Or not..." replied the blond man with the gun.

"Go to Hell!"

"Thanks, but I've been there already. You want to give it a shot?" he laughed, believing he was funny, "I've been trying to track you down since you ran away. But you already know that!"

"Lucy, what is he talking about?" Abby asked.

"I lied. They didn't release me. I begged for them to, I even offered them the deal that I told you they agreed to, but they, um, never actually agreed to it... I ran away. They sent him after me. A cold-blooded assassin. He goes after the... 'stray angels.' But I'm not ready to leave yet."

"Too bad..."

"WAIT! You hurt a mortal! Look!" Lucy pointed at Carter, "he needs help! You can't kill a mortal!"

"I can do what ever I want. And besides, I was aiming for you. It was his own fault he got in the way."

"Abby, go help Carter and try your phone again."

"But-"

"I can handle Dan..." she said, her tone made it clear that there was no arguing with her.

"The only way you can handle me is to let me kill you. Then, we can all get back to our happy lives," he sounded slightly sarcastic, saying the last sentence.

"Or deaths..." Lucy scowled, angrily. But her attention turned to Carter when he began to cough up blood. That's when Atkins took his chance. Lucy screamed.

"OK, what's the way to the trailer park?" Benton asked. He requested to drive the ambulance.

"Turn now. I think this should be the road..." Carol said, looking at the map. They weren't far from town, but they were already in farmland. Even when they turned down the road, they saw three stopped cars in the distance. A black Mercedes the most noticeable. As they got closer, they saw two bleeding bodies on the concrete road. One male, one female. Another woman was running back and forth between the injured male, and a fourth person, barely keeping calm. She then went over to the fourth person, a male. They recognized the woman. It was Abby. Benton speeded up the ambulance. When he got there, he saw the other male with a gun, pointing it at the bleeding female. Abby was trying to get the gun away from him.

"Carol, call the police," Mark said, stepping out of the car with Benton. She took out her cell phone and began to dial. The man with the gun looked up and laughed at them. He kept his gun firmly on the blond woman.

"Ha! You think you can stop me? This woman needs to die," he laughed. Her face was obscured by her hair and blood. She was not conscious. Neither was the bleeding male, which they realized was Carter. Benton made his way over to him while Mark tried to reason with the gunman.

"You're lucky. She isn't dead yet. This stupid one hit me when I shot and so I got her in the left shoulder. You can watch her die," he smiled.

"OK, put the gun down, we can work something out..."

"Mark you're no cop! The police are on their way," Carol said, coming up to him.

"The police!" the man laughed, "HA! You really think they can stop me? You mortals are so stupid!" he turned to the bleeding girl who was regaining consciousness slowly, "I can't believe you wanted to come back, Lucy! If you ask me, it's the stupidest thing you could ever ask for!"

"What the hell is he talking about?" Mark whispered to Carol.

"Why the hell are they so mad at her for anyway?" Abby screamed. The man turned to her, "All she wanted was to see Carter again and all she's done was help people who couldn't afford it! If you ask me, she deserves to get what she wants for once!"

"But it isn't my decision! They ordered me to bring back a run-away and I am going to do it! Say good bye to your friends, Lucy Knight," but before he could shoot her again, there was another gun fired from behind and he fell to the pavement. Behind him, they saw Dr. Corday with a gun.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?" Mark screamed. Then he saw there was a police officer with her. The gunman fell to the ground and disappeared.

"OK, this is really freaky now!" someone said.

"Dave is having difficulty breathing, Luka is unconscious and the Doc and Carter are bleeding lethally all thanks to him!" Corday said. Everyone was shocked at what she said. Even Benton looked up from treating Carter at her words, "Now I don't know what is going on here, but I know that Lucy, alias the Doc, will explain it to us! After she has recovered of course!" Lucy looked up; her face was still undistinguishable. Her eyes were tired, but grateful. They took Carter and Lucy into the ambulance and that's when they realized.

"Oh my God this isn't Lucy Nickels! It's Lucy Knight!" Mark exclaimed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucy opened her eyes and saw Elizabeth Corday over her. She felt blood seeping out of her. Why did this all seem so familiar? Was it a dream?

"Don't worry, Lucy we aren't about to lose you... Again..." Corday said, noticing she was awake. No, this wasn't a dream. It was real. She was back in the ER and they had recognized her. She was ruined! *I'm dead for sure* she thought, then added, *Stupid figures of speech!* Soon, her eyes became too heavy to keep open and she fell asleep.

Lucy opened her eyes again. She was in the OR, she could recognize it any time. She felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder. For a minute, she had forgotten everything. Then, she remembered. She sat straight up.

"CARTER!" she shouted, then screamed in pain, realizing she shouldn't have sat up so fast. Abby came running in.

"Oh Lucy! I'm so glad you're Ok!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, if you count me being in extreme pain, Ok, then yeah, I'm just peachy!" she snapped at Abby, then bent her head and apologized.

"You know, they've never worked on an angel before. It was quite a change of pace..." Abby smiled weakly.

"How's Carter?" Lucy asked. Abby's smile faded. Lucy's eyes widened and she shook her head, not wanting to even think what she was thinking.

"No..." she whispered. There was a long moment of silence but Lucy soon noticed Abby was trying hard not to smile.

"What?" Lucy asked, angry that anyone could be happy about someone's death. At Lucy's tone, Abby began to laugh out loud.

"The look on your face! Oh... I'm sorry, but... No, that's not it! Carter's not dead!"

"I COULD KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!" Lucy tried to strangle Abby, but the pain in her shoulder was too much. She gave Abby a mockingly angry look, "You're lucky I'm in pain!" she said, then they both smiled, "But I'm glad he's alright..." they shared another silent moment. Then, Elizabeth Corday came in.

"OK, I do not know what is going on, but you look exactly like Lucy Knight!" she said. Lucy turned to Abby with a 'you tell her' look.

It was a long afternoon. Person after person from Lucy's past came in and kept asking where Lucy had come from because she was supposed to be dead. Usually, she told the straight truth even though she was sure most of them didn't believe it, but sometimes, she would exaggerate a bit to make it more believable. She recovered quickly and after about three weeks, she went into Carter, who was still recovering.

"How did you recover so fast?" he asked her. She laughed.

"I'm an angel, Carter. I can do anything!"

"Isn't that the truth!" Carter replied, "You're going to stay now, right? Have another chance? It will be like nothing ever happened, like you never left..." but he trailed off at the look on her face. It was a sad look full of longing, "You can't stay, can you?"

"No..."

"Why?"

"Because I have to go back. They'll send someone else after me soon..."

"I never knew heaven could be so cruel!"

"It isn't. They just get mad when you run away,"

"I can see."

"You don't have to worry about me. They won't punish me. I have a good case on my side and that's probably why they haven't sent anyone else to retrieve me yet. Because Abby was right. All I wanted to do was see you again and all I have done was help people in need. They realize that and so, they gave me what I wanted. You have to promise me Carter, that you won't be depressed anymore. And if you are sad, talk to someone about it. I'm always with you, you know that, and so there's no need for you to be sad."

"Thanks Lucy," Carter smiled. Lucy smiled back.

"I love you, John Carter"

"I love you, too, Lucy Knight..." he watched as she slowly disappeared, back to wherever it was she came from.

The End