CHANCES OF THE HEART (Part 5/5) (missy@ipax.com.au) Spoiler warning: This has very serious spoilers for the 5th Season right through to Point of Origin, so anyone not wanting to be spoiled, you have been warned. This is the last part and I hope you have all enjoyed it. Now I can start going to bed at a more reasonable hour :) I really must stick to writing stories fully before posting them out DISCLAIMER: The characters that you recognise from ER are the property of Michael Crichton, Warner Bros, Constant Productions and Amblin Television and to the actors who so marvellously portray them. Season 5 spoilers up to and including Point of Origin. Regular beats and pulsations of various monitors in the SICU blended into one. Nurses kept a close eye on their charges, taking regular vital checks and marking them on the charts. They worked silently, not disturbing the sleeping and medicated patients. Kit carefully inserted the readings on the chart and was about to put back onto the foot of the bed when Elizabeth Corday appeared at her side. "How are her vitals?" "Good." Kit passed her the chart for inspection. "How long has Dr. Weaver been here?" Elizabeth gave the diminuitive sleeping figure a concerned look. She was sitting on a seat beside the bed, her head resting on her folded arms. "Since about nine o'clock last night. She finally fell asleep about two," Kit said quietly. "Thanks Kit." Elizabeth began her routine check of Margaret O'Neill's wounds, replacing the old bandage. As she did so, she also took the opportunity of a closer inspection of Kerry. The head lac now had a large gauze bandage covering it but the bruising extended far beyond that. She frowned at the pallor of her skin. She wondered when was the last time that Kerry had taken a proper holiday. Kerry began stirring from her slumber and Elizabeth continued with her work, still watching Kerry through the corner of her eyes. "Did Carter teach you that move?" Kerry asked, light sarcasm filtering her words. She sat up, brushing her hand across her tired eyes and took a deep, refreshing breath. "I beg your pardon?" "Don't worry about it." Elizabeth leaned across the bed and gave her hand a squeeze. "She is doing well, Kerry. Considering her age and the nature of her injuries, we could not have asked for a better result. "Yes, all things considered." "We need to keep her in SICU for another three days and then if everything is progressing well, we will transfer her to the surgical ward." Kerry nodded. She had already guessed that this would be the case. "Are you alright? Do you want to speak with someone?" "No. I've already talked with Carter. I'm fine. It's my mother I'm worrying about." "Kerry, if you need any help, need anything done, I can help. We can all help." "Thanks Elizabeth. At the moment, I just want to stay with my mother." Kerry gripped her mother's hand within her right hand, softly stroking the fine delicate skin. - 0 0 0 - "Hey Carter. You look like hell. Busy night?" Jeanie came through the door to the lounge, finding Carter slumped over a stack of charts. His head rested heavily on his folded arms. "Since when do you do chart review?" Jeanie opened her locker door and placed her bag in. "What?" Carter started at the interruption, flexing his neck before massaging it. Knowing Jeanie's relationship with Kerry, he hesitated. "Umm, yeah. I was giving Dr. Greene and Dr. Weaver a hand. Jeanie, can I talk to you for a moment." "What is the matter?" Jeanie slipped on her lab coat and draped her stethoscope around her neck. "Last night we had a couple of MVA brought in," Carter paused, carefully formulating his words. "One of them was Kerry Weaver. She's alright. Just a head lac and effusion of her elbow. I've aspirated it. But the other victim was her mother." "Her mother? But she died last year...... I don't understand." "Kerry has been searching for her biological parents. She met her mother for the first time tonight." "Oh, Kerry. I didn't even know she was searching for her birth parents. How is her mother?" "In the SICU. She has got a linear fracture of her skull, a ruptured spleen and crushed ribs. Benton and Elizabeth did the splenectomy last night." "How is Kerry?" "She is trying to put on a brave face. I think she could do with some friends right now." Jeanie nodded and made her way out of the lounge, leaving Carter to think once more about the events of the night. So much had happened in the last twelve hours. Only twenty-four hours before he had been snuggled in his bed, trying to ignore the beeping of his alarm and Kerry's voice reminding him of the time. Now, here he was trying to fulfill the rigours of the position of an attending physician. Pulling another chart off the pile, he got back to work. If doing chart review would help ease Kerry's worries, he was willing to do it. - 0 0 0 - Jeanie made her way straight up to SICU. She watched Kerry from outside, absorbing the solitary figure sitting beside the bed of the elderly woman. As she watched her, she thought about how long it had been since they had last talked, really talked and she found she could not remember. Thinking about it now, she realised how much she had missed Kerry's friendship, her support and her practicality when things seemed at their worst. Pushing the door open, she approached the bed. "Kerry." "Jeanie. Hi." Kerry was surprised to find Jeanie by her side. "How is she doing?" "Good. Her crit and platelet counts are within range and her vitals are stable." "What about you? Carter told me about the effusion." Jeanie pulled up another chair beside the bed, facing it towards Kerry. She caught hold of Kerry's chin lightly with her fingers and turned her face towards the light. "That is a pretty nasty bruise." "I got off lightly. My car is a wreck." Jeanie nodded, "I can imagine." Kerry caught the look in her eyes and a common link was once again united between them. "Thanks for coming up, Jeanie. It means a lot to me." Jeanie gave a warm smile. "That is what friends are for. How much sleep have you had?" "Three and a half hours." Elizabeth Corday approached them both from the opposite side of the room where she had been drawing blood for the early morning lab work-up. "Why don't you take a few more hours in one of the exam rooms. I'll stay with your mother for you," Jeanie offered. "I want to be here when she wakes up." "We'll call you the first sign that she's coming around," Elizabeth cajoled. "I don't expect her to regain consciousness until this afternoon. The last thing she needs is you sitting there looking like death warmed up." "You promise that you'll call me if there's any change, good or bad." Elizabeth and Jeanie both nodded. - 0 0 0 - Mark opened the door to Exam 4 and looked in. Kerry was curled up on the gurney, a blanket draped over her. He was hesitant to wake her after she had finally given into the exhaustion. Elizabeth, however, had been insistent upon Kerry being brought back up to SICU. "Kerry." Mark softly shook her on the shoulder. "Hmm. Mark?" "Elizabeth just called from SICU. She wants you to come up." Mark had never seen someone fly off a gurney as fast as Kerry did. Within moments she was out the door, leaning heavily on her crutch as she ran down the hall to the lift. - 0 0 0 - "Kerry! Slow down." Elizabeth called out as she caught sight of the red-haired attending running towards SICU. "What happened? Is she alright? What......" "Kerry, Kerry. She is fine. She is regaining consciousness." Elizabeth smiled at her. "Go in and see her." Kerry hesitated. She felt a lump rising in her throat and a nervousness had her hand gripping and releasing the handle of her crutch. Her heart seemed to jump in her chest as she slowly made her way towards her mother's bed. Jeanie saw her coming and stood up, "She's awake." She discreetly left them together. "Kerry. My child. You are alright. When you weren't here, I thought you.... I thought I had lost you, just when I had found you." Tears were rolling down Margaret's face. "I love you, Kerry. I always loved you. I never wanted to give you up but I had no choice." "Shhh. It doesn't matter. I am just glad that you are alive." Kerry sat down on the seat and clasped Margaret's hand, tears springing at the corners of her own eyes. Margaret raised her other hand gently wiped away the tears. End Part 5/5 Author's Note: I would like to thank Dawn for her discussions on adoption and the reactions of adoptees which influenced this story and also to Michelle for initially issuing the GF challenge.