Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Author's Note: Sorry it has taken me so long to update this story. Thank you for the nice reviews. I hope you enjoy this final chapter.

Chapter 20: A Son's Hurt, A Mother's Heart

Marc slowly opened his eyes and glanced around the room. Where was he? He couldn't remember. He closed his eyes, then opened them again. Through blurred vision, he saw Lu standing across the room staring out the window.

"Mom?" At the sound of her son's voice, Lu hurried over to him. It had been three days since he had awakened from the coma, and for the past three days, he had slipped in and out of consciousness. This was the first time he had spoken.

"I'm right here, Marc." Lu said as she gently touched his cheek.

"Where...what...?" Marc asked softly.

"You're at Rittenhouse. You had an accident." Lu answered.

"You're...you're not working?" Marc questioned, noticing that she was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt instead of her usual lab coat with a stethoscope around her neck. Lu shook her head.

"I haven't worked since you were brought into the ER."

"But...your patients...they need you." Marc said, repeating what he had so often heard her say.

"But you're my son, Marc. You need me more."

"I'm...I'm your one mistake...in high school, you mean." Marc said, closing his eyes as tears spilled down his pale cheeks.

"No, Marc." Lu said firmly. "You are the most important person in the world to me."

"I heard...I heard you tell Dr. Stowe...one mistake in high school..." Lu quickly realized how that must have sounded to her son, and why it would have upset him.

"Marc, listen to me for a minute. I know how that must have sounded to you. But I didn't mean it the way you think I did. I was 16 when I got pregnant with you. I was a kid myself. Back then, it was a mistake. Your dad and I made a mistake by having unprotected sex. I was scared. I knew nothin' about taking care of a baby. Your dad ran out on me. His family offered to pay for an abortion. But I couldn't do that. During the 9 months that I carried you, I thought that adoption was the only option. I knew I couldn't take care of you or give you what you needed. So that was my plan." Lu paused, biting her lip as she searched her mind carefully for the words to make her son understand how very much she loved him.

"But when you were born and they put you in my arms for the first time...I knew I couldn't let you go. I knew that no matter what, I had to do the best I could to give you the life you deserved. I could no longer be the street kid that I was. I was responsible for this beautiful baby boy. I knew I had to do what was right for you." Marc searched her face carefully. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"Then why..."Marc started, then paused. Lu continued.

"Your dad and I may have made a mistake in high school, but that mistake gave me a wonderful son...a son that means more to me than life itself. Marc, never have I ever regretted my decision to keep you. You are my entire world."

"Then why...why did you tell Dr. Stowe...?" Lu took a deep breath, knowing that now she needed to tell him the truth about what was going on that night.

"Marc, that was my first week back at work after my forced leave of absence. And there was something else going on too. I...I guess maybe I should have talked to you about it. But I couldn't. I couldn't talk to anyone about it. Not Lana. Not Peter. Not Nick. Not Dana. Not even you."

"What...what was it?" Marc asked.

"I wasn't feeling well that week. I was tired. I was edgy. By the middle of the week, I realized that my period was a few weeks late. Then it hit me. I was afraid...I was afraid that I could be pregnant...by Rand Kilner. Not wanting to answer questions, I stayed in my office as much as possible. I was afraid to tell anyone. Then I was called to the ER to treat a rape victim. I thought I was doing okay until she said that she was afraid of getting pregnant. Then I froze. Dana ended up finishing the exam. That's why I left the clinic early that day." Lu paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"Dana came over that night because she wanted to know what was going on with me. She said she knew it was more than just freezing in the ER. So I finally told her my suspicions. I told her that I was afraid of being pregnant by Kilner. I told her that if I was, I knew abortion wasn't an option. But I didn't know if I could raise a child knowing how he was conceived. I told her that I didn't know if I could raise another child on my own. I had raised you while putting myself through med school, and I didn't think I could do it again. That's when I said one mistake in high school...but I sure didn't mean that I didn't want you, Marc. I was just scared. The words just came out. I was remembering how difficult it was for us so much of the time. I was trying to raise you, work and go to school. I couldn't give you the things you needed. I couldn't give you the things the other kids had. You so often had to go without. Your dad wasn't around at all back then. Isabel helpedas much as she could," Lu said, referring to the grandmother who had raised her after the death of her own mother.

"I always felt like I was depriving you of things." Lu continued. "And there were times when I wondered if I had done the right things by not giving you up for adoption. I thought that if I had, you would have two parents who loved you and could give you everything a child needs. But I know one thing for sure, Marc. If I had, my heart and my life would be empty. I need you. You are my world. Without you, nothing else matters. Not the clinic. Not my life. Nothin'".

"Are...are you...pregnant?" Marc asked softly.

"No," Lu answered. "The next day Dana did a pregnancy test. It was negative." Marc was silent for a moment as he thought back to the night that he had gone to stay with his dad. He faintly remembered that his mother had been upset when she had come home from Dr. Jackson's party.

"The night of the party. When you came home...you seemed upset. I thought it was because I had called dad." Lu took a deep breath.

"I was upset. I had seen Rand Kilner at the Plaza. He was there with another group, but he had come into our room so we all saw him. And he had the nerve to speak to me. So when I got home, I was very upset. I didn't really want you to go to your dad's, but I didn't have the strength to argue. So I let you go." Marc closed his eyes as he thought about everything his mother had said.

He had always know how difficult it had been for her to care for him while she was working and going to school. But they had always managed. There had been times when he had wanted what other kids had, and was upset when she had had to tell him no. There had been times when he had felt deprived when he couldn't do what the other kids did, or when he wanted things she couldn't give him. But there was one that he had never felt deprived of, one thing that he had always been given.

"Mom, when I was little I did want what other kids had. Sometimes I got mad because I couldn't have things. Sometimes I got mad when I couldn't go to a movie with my friends because we didn't have money. Sometimes...sometimes kids at school teased me because of where we lived or because we were poor. And I hated that. But there was one thing that I knew I always had. And one thing you always gave me, no matter what." Marc finished.

"What was that?" Lu asked.

"I always knew that you loved me. I never had to question it. Even when we didn't have much else, we had love. As I got older, I realized that everything you did, you did because you loved me...working two jobs to support me and put yourself through school. Mom, you gave me the most important thing of all...you gave me your heart." Marc said, staring into his mother's tear filled eyes. Lu leaned over and gently kissed her son's cheek. His words had deeply touched her heart, and she knew now that they would be okay. His recovery would be a long, hard road, but together, and with the help of his father, they would make it.

"I love you, Marc. And we'll be okay. As long as we have each other, we will be okay"

"I love you too, Mom." Lu kissed him again.

"You'd better get some rest. I'll be back in a little while."

"Okay." Lu remained at her son's side until he drifted off to sleep. She watched him for a moment, remembering back to when he was a tiny baby.

"We made it, Marc." She whispered. "Together, we made it." With those words, Lu slipped out of her son's room, smiling for the first time in several days.

THE END