Summary: Nora drives her very sick sister Sadie to a crowded ER after she develops severe throat swelling and loses her voice, while their father, Jack Abbott, is stuck in surgery, leaving Nora to handle the emergency alone as she struggles with fear linked to their mother’s fatal car accident.
Let me know if you want more Abbott + daughters stories 🙂↕️
The waiting room of Pittsburgh Trauma Center was already overflowing when the doors slid open. It was almost time for the day shift to end, but some doctors from the night shift were already clocking in, getting ready to start the night.
Phones ringing. Stretchers moving. Someone from inside yelling for respiratory. It was a mess.
And right in the middle of the chaos, a teenager appeared clutching her little sister's shoulders hard enough to keep her upright. Nora, the middle sister, tightened her grip around Sadie’s shoulders as they moved through the crowded waiting room.
There were too many sick people around, too many strangers, too many angry voices. To say they were scared was an understatement.
After a long wait in line, they finally got to the receptionist, an unfamiliar woman whose badge identified her as Lupe.
"Hi... um..." the teen said shyly. "My sister can't talk."
The girl beside her looked awful. Her watery eyes showed how scared she was and how bad she felt. Every swallow visibly hurt.
"She lost her voice."
The receptionist immediately straightened to get a better look at her.
"How old is she?"
"Ten."
But her sister gave her a soft punch, and the older girl corrected herself.
"I'm sorry, she just turned eleven." And in a quick change of tone, she added, as if it were life-or-death information to share, "Oh, she had a sore throat earlier."
"Okay, okay. Deep breath for me."
The younger girl suddenly coughed hard into her sleeve and whimpered soundlessly afterward. That got attention fast.
"All right, don’t worry. I'll let you in. Where are your parents, honey?" she asked the older sister.
"I drove her here. I have a license, it's not a crime."
"It's okay, honey. You did good bringing her in. You are not in trouble, but I do need to contact your parents. Can you help me with that?"
Nora hesitated, but the youngest girl whispered hoarsely: "Our dad works here."
"Oh, really? Who is he?"
"Jack Abbott. Dr. Abbott, I guess," the eldest answered simply.
“Oh,” Lupe said, clearly caught off guard. She glanced instinctively toward the hallway behind the desk.
The older girl shifted awkwardly under the silence. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, sweetheart,” Lupe answered quickly. “ I’m just not sure if your dad has clocked in yet.”
The younger sister coughed again into her sleeve, shoulders hunching immediately afterward from the pain it caused. Up close, she looked even worse, feverish and exhausted. That alone made Lupe move faster.
“Okay, let me get her checked in.”
The little girl opened her mouth automatically, then winced when nothing came out.
Dr. Langdon happened to be passing by when Lupe caught him.
“Langdon. Can you take this?”
He nodded without really knowing what he was taking.
“You’re going through that door,” she said, guiding the girls.
The waiting room suddenly erupted behind them when somebody near the entrance started shouting about how long they’d been waiting. Security moved in immediately, voices rising over each other.
“You’ll hear a buzz and...”
“I know,” the oldest said softly, guiding her sister through the doors, feeling slightly safer already.
“What’ve we got?”
“Loss of voice, throat swelling,” Lupe summarized, then added in a whisper, “Dr. Abbott’s daughters.”
The doctor blinked. “Abbott has kids?”
“Apparently,” Lupe muttered.
Langdon crouched in front of the younger girl with practiced ease.
“Hey there.”
She stared at him miserably as he guided them inside.
“You think you can open your mouth for me?” the doctor asked once she was sitting in triage. “Say ‘aaaaaaah,’ please.”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.”
Langdon’s expression shifted. No panic, just medical concern. Her tonsils were massively swollen, angry red.
“Okay,” he said calmly. “That looks pretty painful, hm?”
The older sister’s face crumpled instantly at the confirmation.
“Is she going to be okay?”
Langdon glanced between the terrified teenager and the sick child practically leaning into her side for support.
“Has she had any fever today?”
“I don’t really know,” the other girl admitted. “Dad left earlier for an emergency, and I didn’t want to bother him, and then she stopped talking and...”
“Hey.” His tone softened immediately. “You did the right thing bringing her here.”
The sick sister suddenly made a strained choking noise trying to swallow saliva. Langdon’s attention snapped back to her.
“Have you had chills? Felt cold during the day?”
“The school nurse gave her ibuprofen. That’s all I know.”
“Okay. Did it help?” He shifted his attention between the sisters.
She gave a tiny shrug that meant more or less.
“Any allergies?”
The older sister answered automatically, and Langdon studied her for another second. Dark circles under her eyes. Hair thrown into a rushed ponytail. Hands still trembling from adrenaline.
The kid was terrified.
“All right,” he said, standing up. “We’re gonna move you back faster, okay?”
The older sister blinked. “Really?”
Not even during shift change did ER doctors ignore airway swelling in a child.
At that moment, a familiar voice distracted the girls.
“Sadie? Nora? What are you two doing here, sweetpeas?”
It was Dana.
“She can’t talk,” Nora said immediately, her voice cracking with relief at seeing someone familiar.
Dana noticed and hugged her shoulder gently.
“I heard that. Must be scary, but nothing Dr. Langdon can’t fix, right?” she added, glancing toward him.
“Of course,” Langdon answered easily. “Nothing to worry about. I was about to admit her.”
“So, your dad’s tied up in a trauma right now, but I’ll let him know you’re here and being taken care of, okay?”
The two Abbott girls nodded.
“Dr. Langdon’s gonna take good care of your sister, and I’ll be right here if you need anything.”
“Take her to Peds,” Dana told Langdon. “She’ll be more comfortable there.”
He nodded obediently.
“And I’ll tell the dad,” she muttered to herself while walking toward Trauma Two.
Dana found Abbott in the middle of controlled chaos.
Monitors screamed steadily in the background while nurses rushed around the room at impossible speed. Robby stood across from Abbott, both focused entirely on the patient between them.
“Pressure’s dropping again,” Robby warned.
“I know. Clamp,” Abbott answered immediately, extending his hand without looking away from the surgical field.
A nurse placed the instrument into his palm instantly.
Dana stepped carefully closer.
“Jack.”
“Hmm?” he answered automatically, still working.
“Don’t freak out. Your girls are here.”
That got his attention immediately. His eyes snapped toward her over his mask.
“What happened?”
“Sadie came into the ER with fever and severe throat swelling. She lost her voice. Langdon’s already with her.”
Abbott’s entire posture tightened.
“Airway?”
“Stable,” Dana reassured quickly. “He thinks tonsillitis. Maybe strep.”
“How bad’s the swelling?”
“Pretty bad, honestly. But she’s breathing okay.”
“Okay. Who brought her in?”
Dana blinked once, like the answer still surprised her.
“Nora.”
That finally made Abbott pause.
“Nora drove her here!?”
“Apparently.”
For half a second, real emotion cracked through the trauma surgeon composure.
“Claire?” he asked quietly, instinctively asking for the oldest daughter who was supposed to be home with them.
“Nora said she thinks she’s at the library studying, but couldn’t communicate with her.”
Then another monitor alarm sounded sharply beside him.
Robby didn’t even glance up. “We’re not done here yet.”
Abbott looked back at the patient automatically. Too unstable. Too much blood. No way he could walk out now.
He hated it immediately.
“Okay, they’re just fine right now?” he asked, forcing himself to focus again.
Dana nodded lightly, though the hesitation behind it still unsettled him.
Because if Nora had driven Sadie to the ER alone, things had scared her badly enough to override the fear of driving she’d carried ever since the accident that took their mother from them.
Abbott exhaled slowly through his nose and forced himself back into motion.
“Keep me updated.”
“I will.”
Dana started backing toward the door before he stopped her again.
“Dana.”
She looked back.
“Was Nora scared?”
Dana softened slightly.
“Oh, terrified.”
The answer landed somewhere deep inside him, but another alarm cut through the room before he could say anything else.
And just like that, the father disappeared beneath the trauma surgeon again, his hands moving automatically while his thoughts stayed somewhere down in Peds.
As soon as Dr. Shen was able to jump into Abbott’s place, he went looking for his girls.
“Peds,” Dana said as soon as she spotted him. “Do you want me to contact Claire for you?”
Jack simply nodded without breaking stride, already worrying about his oldest daughter too.
When he entered the room, Dr. Langdon was checking Sadie, who sat curled up on the hospital bed with a pulse oximeter clipped to her finger while a blood pressure cuff squeezed her arm every few seconds. Nora hovered protectively beside her chair.
Langdon had a tongue depressor in one hand and a flashlight in the other.
“Okay, one more time for me. Big ‘aaaaah.’”
Then she looked toward the doorway. Her shoulders dropped the second she saw her father standing there.
Like she had been holding herself together the entire time and finally didn’t have to anymore.
“Hey, bug,” he said softly, from his place, forcing a small smile despite the worry underneath it. He didn’t want his girls noticing how worried he actually was.
The little girl’s watery eyes filled immediately, and she started crying silently the second he reached her bedside.
That almost wrecked him on the spot.
Langdon gestured him over.
As Nora stood beside her sister’s bed, Abbott stayed close to her too, automatically rubbing her shoulder.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
She immediately hid her face against his side.
“She lost her voice?” Abbott asked quietly.
“Mostly from swelling,” Langdon confirmed. “Temp’s high too. That wasn’t a problem when she arrived.”
Abbott nodded once, physician brain taking over despite the panic underneath.
“She’s stable, and she should be alright,” Langdon continued, knowing that was the only thing Abbott truly cared about hearing right now. “Oxygen’s good. Breathing’s clear. She had one moment where it got harder for her to breathe, but I think panic made it worse.”
Jack finally exhaled.
“We’re running a rapid strep now. I already ordered steroids for the swelling and fluids because she’s pretty dehydrated.”
But then Nora spoke again, voice breaking.
“She hasn’t really been able to swallow.”
Abbott’s eyes flicked immediately toward his older daughter.
“You should’ve called me.”
Nora looked guilty instantly.
“I didn’t want to bother you during work. I’m sorry.”
Abbott looked at her like the apology itself made no sense.
“For what?”
“I should’ve brought her sooner.”
The exhaustion disappeared from his expression immediately.
“No,” he said firmly. “You brought her when you realized she needed help.”
“But...”
“You did exactly what you were supposed to do.”
The girl looked about two seconds away from collapsing herself.
Langdon gave Nora a long look, like he could practically see the adrenaline keeping her upright.
Before he could say anything, the door opened and Dana slipped inside carrying two hospital blankets.
Langdon stepped closer with a tablet in hand just as a nurse entered to adjust the IV fluids.
“Rapid strep came back positive,” he explained. “Which honestly is the better option here.”
Nora blinked. “Better?”
“Very treatable,” Abbott reassured.
“Her tonsils are angry," Dr. Langdon continued. "But the steroids should start bringing the swelling down soon. Antibiotics, fluids, rest. She’s gonna feel pretty bad tonight, but she should improve fast.”
Sadie made a tiny unhappy sound and leaned harder into his side when the nurse touched the IV line.
“I know, bug,” her dad murmured, rubbing her shoulder carefully with one hand while keeping Nora tucked against his other side. “I know.”
The nurse finished adjusting everything and smiled sympathetically as Dana unfolded one of the blankets and tossed it toward Nora.
The teenager caught it automatically.
“You look freezing,” Dana said.
The door cracked open quietly behind them one more time.
Robby leaned inside still wearing scrubs from trauma.
“Hey,” he said softly.
Abbott looked up immediately. “What happened?”
“Relax,” Robby answered. “Nobody’s crashing for at least five minutes.”
Dana snorted quietly.
Robby’s eyes moved toward Sadie curled against Abbott’s side.
“How’s she doing?”
“Strep,” Langdon answered. “Looks worse than it is.”
“Good.”
Then Robby looked back at Abbott.
“Shen’s covering Trauma Two. I’ll handle the board for a while.”
Abbott frowned automatically. “Robby—”
“Jack,” Robby interrupted gently. “Stay with your girls.”
Silence settled for half a second.
Then Abbott nodded once.
“Thanks.”
Robby shrugged lightly before glancing toward Nora.
"Hey, you,” Robby said with a small smile. “You picked a hell of a night to visit.”
That finally earned a tiny exhausted smile from the teen.
Only then did Abbott really look at his older daughter.
Not just glance at her. Actually look.
She was still in school clothes: Pale, shaking, completely drained.
Langdon looked between the sisters and then toward Abbott.
“I think your youngest is gonna be okay,” he said carefully. “But your oldest might pass out from stress before she does.”
A tiny laugh escaped Dana.
Even Abbott let out a tired breath through his nose.
Nora looked embarrassed instantly. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not,” Abbott said gently. “Doctor’s right.”
And somehow that almost seemed worse.
Because the second somebody finally said it out loud, Nora’s face crumpled. Not dramatically, just exhaustion finally winning.
“I got scared,” she admitted quietly.
Abbott didn’t hesitate.
He reached over immediately, pulling her fully against his side while Sadie stayed tucked against the other.
“You did good,” he said firmly. “You hear me? You did everything right.”
And for the first time since walking into the ER alone, Nora finally let herself stop being the adult in the room.
“I’ll call your sister so you can go home with her.”
“I don’t want to go with Claire,” Nora whispered. “I want to stay here with you and Sadie.”
Abbott looked down at Nora for another long second.
She was still clinging weakly to his side, exhaustion practically radiating off her now that the adrenaline had finally burned out.
“I’ll just sit here.”
“That’s not happening.”
“I don’t wanna leave Sadie.”
“You’re not leaving her,” Abbott reassured softly. “I’m staying.”
Jack and Dana exchanged a look, and he instantly understood there had still been no luck reaching Claire.
Nora noticed her sister had fallen asleep.
Before she could protest again, Dana pointed toward the hallway with her coffee cup.
“Take her to the lounge before she passes out in my department.”
Even Langdon nodded in agreement.
“C’mon.”
Nora followed reluctantly, still wrapped in the hospital blanket Dana had given her.
The doctors’ lounge was quieter than the rest of the ER. Dimmer lights. Half-finished coffees abandoned near computer stations.
Abbott guided Nora toward the couch tucked against the wall.
“Sit.”
“I’m not five.”
“Could’ve fooled me twenty minutes ago.”
That earned the tiniest exhausted huff of laughter from her.
Good. Still functioning.
Even as she sat down, it was obvious she wasn’t fully there anymore. Her movements were slower, delayed, like her body was starting to shut down now that the adrenaline was gone.
Abbott disappeared briefly toward the vending machines and came back with crackers and a sports drink.
She stared at them and rolled her eyes weakly but obeyed, pulling the blanket tighter around herself while Abbott sat beside her for the first time all night without rushing somewhere else.
The silence between them felt different now.
Not panicked anymore. Just tired.
“She really scared me,” Nora admitted quietly after a while, staring down at the unopened crackers in her lap. “She couldn’t breathe right for a second and then she stopped talking and I didn’t know what to do.”
Abbott’s expression softened immediately. He stayed silent, sensing there was something else his daughter wanted to say.
“It took me a long time to bring her because I didn’t want to drive. I tried, but I just… couldn’t until she got worse.”
Nora swallowed hard, her eyes fixed down.
“I kept thinking maybe I was overreacting.”
“You weren’t.”
“What if I waited too long?”
“You didn’t.”
The answer came so quickly that Nora finally looked up at him.
“You recognized something was wrong. You stayed calm enough to get her here safely. You answered every question they asked you. That’s exactly what you were supposed to do.”
Nora stared at him silently for a second.
Then, very quietly:
“I hated driving here.”
That almost made him smile, though it was laced with sadness.
Dr. Abbott simply nodded, understanding more than he could put into words.
The exhaustion was hitting her harder now. He could practically watch it happening in real time.
Her sentences started coming slower, like she had to think before answering.
Her blinking slowed.
Her shoulders slumped farther into the couch.
The sports drink stayed untouched in her hands.
“Nora.”
“Hm?”
“Drink.”
She obeyed automatically without even opening her eyes all the way.
Abbott watched her for another second before glancing down at his phone, trying once more to reach Claire, a quiet edge of desperation building as his messages still wouldn’t go through.
A few minutes later, he realized the room had gone completely quiet.
He looked over. Nora was asleep.
Abbott’s face softened instantly. He knew better than anyone how anxious she could be ever since her mother's accident. Hospitals, emergencies, even the sound of monitors sometimes still put her on edge.
And yet she had driven her little sister to the ER alone, answered every question they asked her, and held herself together for hours because somebody had needed her to. She was brave.
But seeing her asleep like that now, all he could see was a little girl again, one who never should’ve had to go through any of this by herself.
The lounge door opened quietly.
Claire rushed inside still carrying her backpack, hair messy from running her hands through it too many times.
“Dad...”
Abbott looked up immediately.
“My phone was off,” Claire blurted out before he could say anything, already wincing at her own words.“I was studying on campus and I didn’t see Nora’s texts or yours until Dana found me.”
Her eyes immediately landed on Nora asleep on the couch.
“Oh my God.”
Guilt hit her face instantly.
“She had to drive herself?” Claire asked quietly, understanding the meaning of it.
Abbott studied his oldest daughter for a long second.
He could yell.
Tell her she should’ve answered. Should’ve checked her phone. Should’ve been home. But she already knew all of that. The thought still sat heavy in his chest, worry for her lingering underneath everything else.
“Next time,” he said tiredly, “keep your phone on. I was worried about you.”
Claire nodded immediately.
“I will. Promise.”
"We'll talk at home."
Behind them, Nora shifted slightly against the couch cushions but didn’t wake up.
Claire’s expression softened.
“She completely crashed, huh?”
“She’s been running on adrenaline for hours.”
Claire carefully stepped closer and crouched beside the couch.
“Nora,” she whispered gently.
No response.
“Nora.”
A tiny groan.
Claire smiled faintly despite herself.
“C’mon. We’re going home.”
Nora barely opened her eyes.
“I don’t wanna.”
“You’re literally asleep sitting up.”
“She’s exaggerating,” Nora mumbled toward Abbott without lifting her head.
Their dad snorted softly: “Get up, drama queen.”
Claire pulled the blanket tighter around Nora’s shoulders while helping her stand.
Half asleep, Nora instinctively leaned against her older sister the second she was upright.
And just like that, the balance shifted back into place.
Claire taking care of Nora, Abbott staying with Sadie.
Before they reached the door, Nora looked back blearily:
“Call me if she gets worse.”
Abbott’s expression softened immediately.
“I will.”
Claire adjusted her grip around her sister’s shoulders.
“Bye, Dad.”
“Drive safe.”
Nora jolted fully awake at that, a flicker of fear crossing her face.
“I’m driving, silly” Claire answered instantly.
“Good,” Nora muttered.
Dr. Abbott watched them until they finally disappeared down the hallway together, before the trauma pager at his waist vibrated again.
And just like that, the father had to become the trauma surgeon one more time.
Thanks for reading. If you liked it, it would help my soul if you give it a like, comment or share. 😌♡
